hooked up my winch and ran both the black(-) and red(+) wire back to the battery. but that made me wonder--why. couldnt i just ground the winch right there to the chassis. I am not seeing why i really needed to run the ground all the way to the battery? Just curious. Anybody?

 

Make absolutely certain its a good ground, and not a ground that is going to get torn off, or doesnt make good contact, or might be painted under, Any good BARE metal ground would work though, but Hey, why not go back to the battery?

 

I just like cleaner looking engines bays and think that less is better. Then i also started thinking about wiring in a second battery in the rear of the truck. So basically it is just to make sure it is well grounded? Thinking i should have grounded to the frame.

 

It would seem to me, that a clean bare metal spot on the fram would make a good ground....

 

tidbit...

Blame Ben Franklin for this..

The electrons actually travel UP from the GROUND....

So the GROUND wire is usually more important than the "hot" wire.

If in fact you were to ground the winch to the frame - how do those electrons get from the battery to the frame - why via the existing WIMPY OEM "ground" wires between the battery to the frame...... which will soon wither under the assult...

 

good point--I think i will upgrade the grounds and just leave the winch attached directly to the battery--Damn Benjamin LOL.

Thanks for answering my call of curiosity

 

Yeah, a winch draws so much you want the best connection you can get and that is directly to the battery.

 

I've heard it competently argued that it's the "holes" that move down from the positive post rather than the electrons leaving their "homes" and doing the traveling.

EDIT: Tho this has absolutely no bearing on the condition of the circuit. A stable circuit is essential (meaning "ground it good", LOL)

 

Yes, generally best to run power and ground cables between the battery and winch. With the ground cable, you are ensured of a good connection. If grounded to the frame or body, you don't really know how good a connection there is and it can change over time. Also, steel is not as good a conductor as copper. And if you have a marginal ground return path, you might experience heating in the steel with prolonged winching, since you can be pumping 2-4 KW of power to the winch. I run both my cables to a 350amp quick disconnect so I can easily pull the winch or disconnect it if there is a problem.