winch wiring

[BREL]

I have fitted the wired RC4WD winch controller to my TRX 4 defender and was wondering could I leave the signal wire connected to the receiver and then power the winch directly from the main running battery using the red and black wires from the receiver plug, because using the receivers 6 volt does not give it much grunt
I did have the wireless kit, but lost the remote on a run a while ago




picture from RC4WD website

[ferp420]

i dont know the specs on that stuff but i dont think it can handle pack voltage might be worth looking in to before you burn up a bunch of stuff
if you cant find the information i would test it on cheap electronics incase it takes out the whole show

[BREL]

It is supposed to be rated from 6v to 11v
I am using 6 and 7 cell 7.2 and 8.4 Ni-MH batteries, I don't like or trust Lipo packs ( something to do with them going wrong on charge)

[SleptOver]

Originally Posted by BREL

It is supposed to be rated from 6v to 11v
I am using 6 and 7 cell 7.2 and 8.4 Ni-MH batteries, I don't like or trust Lipo packs ( something to do with them going wrong on charge)

My experience is that they will not handle 3s/11.1 v despite being rated for it.

The 4 I have fried, tended to let out the magic smoke immediately on being connected.


What I did for a while, was to use a small 2s lipo just for the winch.

It should also be noted that the single motor ebay winches, are not that strong, even when fed 9v+ I bought a dual motor one, and it's extremely strong in comparison. It will happily lift my whole rig vertically.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223968798599

[BREL]

Originally Posted by SleptOver

My experience is that they will not handle 3s/11.1 v despite being rated for it.

The 4 I have fried, tended to let out the magic smoke immediately on being connected.


What I did for a while, was to use a small 2s lipo just for the winch.

It should also be noted that the single motor ebay winches, are not that strong, even when fed 9v+ I bought a dual motor one, and it's extremely strong in comparison. It will happily lift my whole rig vertically.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223968798599

I'm not going to use lipo batteries just 7.2 or 8.4, 6 or 7 NiMH cell packs, I'm using a RC4WD winch. All I want to know is can I leave the signal wire in the receiver and connect the red and black to the 7.2 or 8.4 volt NiMh batteries

That a nice looking winch on eBay but it is too wide to fit on the front of my TRX4 Defenders bumper

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by BREL

IAll I want to know is can I leave the signal wire in the receiver and connect the red and black to the batteries

you might have to use a extra ground wire but most likly it will work



try it
if its glitchy or dosent work try splicing a second ground wire i would splice as close to the unit as you feel comfertable doing so to avoid any extra electrical noise

[SleptOver]

Originally Posted by BREL

I'm not going to use lipo batteries just 7.2 or 8.4, 6 or 7 NiMH cell packs, I'm using a RC4WD winch. All I want to know is can I leave the signal wire in the receiver and connect the red and black to the 7.2 or 8.4 volt NiMh batteries

That a nice looking winch on eBay but it is too wide to fit on the front of my TRX4 Defenders bumper

Fits my TRX-4





I'd be wary of voltage differentials. So you don't feed 11.1v into the receiver.

[Greatscott]

Your be bang for the buck for winch controllers is a HW1060 ESC. Just remove the red wire from the servo plug and get a splitter for your battery to feed both ESCs and you are in business.

I have had about a 25% success rate with those RC4WD controllers, and no matter how you wire them, they don't provide much power at all.

[BREL]

Originally Posted by SleptOver

Fits my TRX-4





I'd be wary of voltage differentials. So you don't feed 11.1v into the receiver.

nice looking truck

this picture will explain why the two motor winch won't ft my truck

[BREL]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

Your be bang for the buck for winch controllers is a HW1060 ESC. Just remove the red wire from the servo plug and get a splitter for your battery to feed both ESCs and you are in business.

I have had about a 25% success rate with those RC4WD controllers, and no matter how you wire them, they don't provide much power at all.

I shall keep the HW1060 ESC in mind if the RC4WD winch controller goes pop and lets the magic smoke out

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by BREL

I am using 6 and 7 cell 7.2 and 8.4 Ni-MH batteries, I don't like or trust Lipo packs ( something to do with them going wrong on charge)

you really should rethink the lipo its life changing

if you treat them right there safer than lead acid batterys that are standered in just about every vehicle on the road

and every cell phone outhere uses lipo batterys ever had a phone go up in smoke

like any other battery as long as you follow the basic rules you have nothing to worrie about

[SleptOver]

Originally Posted by BREL

nice looking truck

this picture will explain why the two motor winch won't ft my truck

Yeah, I actually also have one of those exact bumpers..



I plan on using it on my new build. Nice looking truck, looks "rugged"

[SleptOver]

With regards to Lipo's

I always use a https://www.ebay.com/itm/185641613335 of sorts to both store, and charge my lipo's

If you have a decent quality charger, you are mostly there.

a few simple rules:

1a. Never store a fully charged lipo, make sure it's at storage charge before storing. - A good charger, can also discharge a lipo to the recommended storage voltage.
1b. Only fully charge a lipo, max a day or so before you are planing to use it. charging is fast, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to fully charge a battery from storage.
2. Never charge a lipo outside of a flame retardant bag.
3. Never charge it unattended.

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by SleptOver

If you have a decent quality charger, you are mostly there.

a few simple rules:


1. Never charge it unattended.

ill add never charge a damaged pack



never charge at a rate above what the pack is rated for



and if the pack gets hot while charging its done put it in a lipo bag and store it till you can recycle it

[amigaman]

Originally Posted by SleptOver

1b. Only fully charge a lipo, max a day or so before you are planing to use it. charging is fast, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to fully charge a battery from storage.
2. Never charge a lipo outside of a flame retardant bag.

I'm sorry to have to burst your bubble but there are two caveats:
It takes much longer to charge a lipo from storage to full. Storage is about 10% state of charge, charge time definitely depends on charge current, but most chargers in the two to lower three digit price range can only do charge rates in the 1-2C range. 1C means you need about one and a half hour to pump your lipo up to 100%, 2C may lower that to about one hour. That's physics you can't cheat, higher rates will even have a worse ratio of charge current to time shortening. And of course there are a lot of Lipos that won't like more than 1C, and even if they do it shortens the life time.


If you're faster, you either
- do not storage low enough, or
- stop charging too early, e.g. it's not full, or
- have the balancing phase shortened or even omitted.


And second: such a bag does do a sh*t.
An exploding Lipo is a burst of hot gas with flames. The bag just directs it somewhere, usually out of the side of the flap. You're dealing with a flamethrower then instead of some really high barbeque, btdt.
You still need to redo your home if this happens inside, so the bag is only to conveniently store Lipos, but even that is bad because usually they're made of cheap glass fabric that breaks and loses glass pieces from the flap, penetrating your skin and irritating it when taking out the batteries.


You're either paranoid and use a metal box with fire retardand innards and filtered blow holes, like the Batsafe box, or cheap and have an ammo box without seals (but that is the same as the bag: the fire will just blow out the small slit between box and cover.
Or, you just store them in a standard box that prevents mechanical damage, some plastic is good because you can't have a short circuit.
Lipos explode on charge or mechanical damage, and short circuit.
While charging you NEED to be close so you can react immediately, and have measures ready for when it happens. Like Sand, fire extinguisher or by doing it somewhere where nothing happens except fireworks.
Mechanical damage and shorting happens when you're crash driving usually, so no danger for your home. Your surroundings may have a problem, but you're prepared ;)


When stored (regardless of the charge state) absolutely nothing happens when they're not damaged, shorted or overheated.


So, the rules where i live (germany) are
- never charge unsupervised
- never charge unprepared
- never charge without balancing
- never charge with too high rate (if you have the time even slower, it makes them live longer)
- check your devices regularly (most fires are f*cked chargers, recently a friend had an Imax B6 blow up, luckily the battery made some weird noise prompting emergency procedure, nothing happened except some good measure of adrenaline)
- charge only shortly before use
- take care for mech damage and shorts (carry in padded plastic box, caps on plugs)
- always store on 3.8 or slightly less volts (no danger when there's no charge, problems are always electric in nature)
- never discharge too deep (always use a lipo alarm on the vehicle)
- always look at the pack before using it (charging or driving): weird shape (swollen, broken seals) or damages (dents, marks, slits) and off it goes into the recycling
- a damaged pack is a bomb. store outside in a non inflammable container covered in sand, with the flamethrowing in mind: nothing in range that can get burnt or will take damage from the poisonous smoke. Connect discharge (like a small lamp) until deeply discharged (days) and recycle.


This is not to induce fear, it should induce respect. Lipos are not more dangerous as gasoline (may burn, explode and poison), lead acid batteries (H2/O2 explosion hazard, chemical burns from the acid, electric fires due to high currents) or nickels (steam throwing caustic liquid, also fire from shorts). You just need to handle them correctly, as every storage of energy in whatsoever state.
Everyone has a phone, no one cares that there is a Liion inside that may burn. Some exploded, most don't care.
A lot of people have a vaporizer nowadays instead of cigarettes, some even have a "mech", that is a battery, a switch and the glow wire and no protection or other curcuitry at all. Explosions are happening, but are few, no one cares.
A hell lot of cars have Lithium based batteries, some burn, usually after a fatal crash or on charge. Just like gasoline cars sometimes do. No one cares.
Why the fear for RC lipos? If you don't buy the cheapest sh*t you won't have problems if you care for them.
I have like two digits of kilograms of lithium batteries around me, and never had one blow up. Some identified as ballon animal and were recycled, and some were mistreated as to see what happens, and always needed a mech or electric start before giving a show.


Still, if someone does not want something like this in the home, i can live with that. Wonder if he has some phone, earbuds and other wireless modern stuff around the house, i'll do.
I'll never go back because weight is lower and power is way higher, so truck performance is no comparison between Nickels and Lithiums.


An, last not least, on topic:
I have a lot of friends using a cheap chinese 5€ ESC "with no brake" from ebay that comes in shrink wrap and works on 2S or 3S.
The "WOOW BOOB" is usually sold or not even bought at all and immediately replaced by this. Although every cheap ESC that can take your battery will do. A lot better than any winch controller, except for the remote control people that need a keyfob for the winch because the car remote has no free channel.
And to connect it to the battery there are some adapters on the market, or you could use some electrical stuff, we here often use these https://www.wago.com/de/installation...emme/p/221-413
Also available in 5 pins (replace last digit with 5) if you want to add lights or sound, and 6mm²/10AWG (replace 4 with 6), this version even works on some bashers.

[SleptOver]

Well, first off. lipo fires, if you charge them batteries as you should, and keep them from damage, is extremely rare.

I have been playing around with lipo's for 20+ years. And I have never experienced a battery running away.

I have intentionally made a few of them go off. Driving a nail through a pack is a good way with most older lipo's. Throwing a pack into salt water is another :P

The lipo-safe bag is there to prevent your house from burning down.

It will of course not help against smoke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSnYDvj3BDs

that's why you don't leave it charging unattended. If it does catch on fire, you can hopefully throw it out a window or at the very least open one.

[BREL]

Originally Posted by amigaman

An, last not least, on topic:
I have a lot of friends using a cheap chinese 5€ ESC "with no brake" from ebay that comes in shrink wrap and works on 2S or 3S.
The "WOOW BOOB" is usually sold or not even bought at all and immediately replaced by this. Although every cheap ESC that can take your battery will do. A lot better than any winch controller, except for the remote control people that need a keyfob for the winch because the car remote has no free channel.
And to connect it to the battery there are some adapters on the market, or you could use some electrical stuff, we here often use these https://www.wago.com/de/installation...emme/p/221-413
Also available in 5 pins (replace last digit with 5) if you want to add lights or sound, and 6mm²/10AWG (replace 4 with 6), this version even works on some bashers.

thanks for the info on LIPO battery's

I'm using a ten channel fly sky FS-I6X stick radio not the car type because I prefer a stick radio, I tried to use the original radio that came with the truck but found it difficult to use.

and the switches and knobs do the following from the left
Switch A, throttle hold which is set to 75% in either gear
Switch B, diff locker for both diffs with two channel set to the switch
Pot VRA, spot lights on the U frame on the bumper
Pot VRB, gear change
Switch C, winch control, centre off, up reel in, down reel out
Switch D, winch motor isolator
Left stick, up/down throttle, side to side not used
Right stick, up/down not used, side to side steering

[ferp420]

with all those gadgets you could be browning out and nothing is wrong your just not getting enuff voltage through the reciver from the esc try unhooking un neccissary accsessories and see if the problem goes away if it dose you need a bec for the extra load from all the stuff

also check your end points on the shift servo and diff lock servo if ether of those bind up at all that could cause a brown out

[BREL]

Originally Posted by ferp420

with all those gadgets you could be browning out and nothing is wrong your just not getting enuff voltage through the reciver from the esc try unhooking un neccissary accsessories and see if the problem goes away if it dose you need a bec for the extra load from all the stuff

also check your end points on the shift servo and diff lock servo if ether of those bind up at all that could cause a brown out

thanks for the advice on the gadgets but apart from the spot lights and the winch the rest came with the truck

I have reduced the end points on some of the servo's and whilst checking the truck over. I found that the rear diff locker wasn't working properly, due to the 3mm E clip falling off the locking cable outer, that stops it going in to the diff case when you lock the diff

[BREL]

I tried the revised wiring with the black and red connected directly to the battery and the white to the receiver and it worked ok, but the front spot bar kept flashing as the winch was used, so I put everything back to how it was and the lights don't glitch anymore so I may need to put an extra ground wire from the controller to the receiver, after that I don't know what to do apart from get an ESC