Parasitic battery drain, possibly from the winch

Irun

Irun

A vicious cycle of doing, undoing, and re-doing!
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
8,063
Location
Virginia
After eliminating variables, it appears as though my Warn 9.5XP may be what's been causing my battery to go dead in less than two weeks. If I leave the winch attached, directly, to the battery, after two weeks the battery voltage drops to 10.2 volts. If I disconnect just the winch the battery voltage will read 13.2 to 13.4 volts after two weeks. What should I be looking for here? If it helps, the connections are all clean and solid, using the Warn supplied cables.
 
Rut Row said:
have you considered disconnecting the winch and see if the drain stops?
Click to expand...

When I read Irun's post, I interpret it differently than you:

Irun said:
After eliminating variables, it appears as though my Warn 9.5XP may be what's been causing my battery to go dead in less than two weeks. If I leave the winch attached, directly, to the battery, after two weeks the battery voltage drops to 10.2 volts. If I disconnect just the winch the battery voltage will read 13.2 to 13.4 volts after two weeks. What should I be looking for here? If it helps, the connections are all clean and solid, using the Warn supplied cables.
Click to expand...

Isn't he saying that he's already done what you're suggesting?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rut Row, Irun, Zorba and 1 other person
Well while being pretty rare, parasitic loss is easy to diagnose. First thing to ask is if you have any wireless or add on controls attached? These are usually the main culprit that I have found. After that it is just a matter of checking all the connections to make sure nothing is out of place and there is no corrosion. If you find nothing out of place and still see a loss then the contactor will need to be replaced or you can just add a power disconnect instead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Irun, John Cooper and Rickyd
Irun said:
After eliminating variables, it appears as though my Warn 9.5XP may be what's been causing my battery to go dead in less than two weeks. If I leave the winch attached, directly, to the battery, after two weeks the battery voltage drops to 10.2 volts. If I disconnect just the winch the battery voltage will read 13.2 to 13.4 volts after two weeks. What should I be looking for here? If it helps, the connections are all clean and solid, using the Warn supplied cables.
Click to expand...

How much is the winch drawing? You have a meter that measures amps right?
 
Because I only use the winch once in a blue moon I always disconnect it from the battery. My TJ will sit for a month or more so I also have a battery disconnect switch.

IMG_2259.jpeg
 
Blackjack said:
Well while being pretty rare, parasitic loss is easy to diagnose. First thing to ask is if you have any wireless or add on controls attached? These are usually the main culprit that I have found. After that it is just a matter of checking all the connections to make sure nothing is out of place and there is no corrosion. If you find nothing out of place and still see a loss then the contactor will need to be replaced or you can just add a power disconnect instead.
Click to expand...

I bought the winch new two years ago and it has one pull on it. All the connections are good, so I may need to just add a disconnect.
 
Top Bottom
Back