Is My Winch The Culprit? - ATVConnection.com ATV Enthusiast Community

bradjacob · #1 (**permalink**) 11-02-2009, 10:00 PM

2006 Brute Force 650i.

My battery died after two years. Completely dead, won't charge, nothing. Is my winch somehow draining the battery slowly? I installed it correctly, with maybe one 'questionable' connection to the key-switch, so when the key is off, the winch will not work.

Just wondering if anyone else is seeing this, or maybe most of us are making a common mistake?

Thanks for any info!

DODGE57HEMI · #2 (**permalink**) 11-02-2009, 11:55 PM

If its a lead acid battery have you been keeping water filled in the battery? (IE like little red caps on top of the battery?)

stendori · #3 (**permalink**) 11-03-2009, 05:48 AM

if the battery didn't get charged correctly when it was brand new is will killl the life of the battery, if winch was used alot and no time to charge up the battery will hurt the life of it as well. if you had a short then it wouldn't take no time to drain the battery, but chances are it would be dead when you went to start it each time.

MrSub · #4 (**permalink**) 11-03-2009, 09:02 PM

If you have a warn winch they had a recall on the the solenoid. The 8 post one would stay on all the time and get hot and possible catch fire. On my atv it drained the battery every couple of days if I would not ride it. Just a thought

0010 · #5 (**permalink**) 11-03-2009, 10:06 PM

To check to see if something is still 'on' when it is supposed to be off, use a multi-tester to check current draw accross the battery(when you get a new one). If there is current draw, even a small amount can run down a battery pretty quickly.

If there no current draw, then it is a bad battery. If there is, start checking the current draw accross each component. When you find the component that is drawing current, you probably have found your problem.

I'm not sure if the electronic dash uses any power to keep the memory for Odo, hours, clock, etc... but if so, it would be VERY small amount.

Once you get a new battery, if you don't find something using power, check your voltage after each ride. If you are getting lower and lower readings, it might be the 'alternator' (do these have alternators is the car sense - I haven't really looked!).

Good Luck.