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Cheapass Wireless Winch Remotes That Work AWESOME!!!

145K views 57 replies 32 participants last post by  csmoffshore  
#1 · (Edited)

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Discussion starter · #2 · (Edited)
How to wire it:

Get access to the wiring for your winch, depending on the winch, might be external like this one, or you may have to work a very small amount at it like on a Warn 9500i.

1. 7 pin winch remotes tie the relay ground inside the wired remote. I personally can see absolutely no reason for this, so I just tie the relay grounds to a good ground on the winch. In the case of this 8274, that means figuring out which is the ground (the orange wire here) and running a jumper between there and the case ground located at the bottom of the motor (where the large ground comes from the battery). Attention warnindustries, why do you guys wire it this way?

2. You'll need to wire the wireless remote control box using three wires, a B+ (12 volt positive), a "winch in" wire, and a "winch out" wire. In the case of the 8274, the "winch in" is green, and the "winch out" is white. I used about 10 feet of 6 conductor 20 gauge stranded wire that I already had, so that leaves me options for using the remote for other stuff on the Jeep later. After you connect it to the winch relay, you're done in here...button it up and tie it down and route the wire in some loom back to the inside of the vehicle where the wireless remote control box will be mounted. It's not waterproof, so you'll want it high and dry inside the rig somewhere.
 

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Discussion starter · #3 · (Edited)
At the remote box

Next you'll need to open up the remote box and remove the jumper pins for the first two remote relays. This makes them momentary. You can see the first two pins pulled in the upper left of the picture.
 

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Discussion starter · #4 · (Edited)
Wiring the wireless remote box

1. Connect the positive you brought back from the winch to the one each of the gray and brown leads, this will be the "line" side.

2. Connect the "winch in" (green in this case) wire to the remaining gray lead from the wireless remote control box

3. Connect the "winch out" (white in this case) wire to the remaining brown lead from the wireless remote control box

4. Connect the black wire from the wireless remote control box to a good ground

5. Connect the red fused wire from the wireless remote control box to a switched positive. You don't want it connected all the time because it will draw a bit in standby mode and may draw down your battery over time. I have a master switch in my rig that turns on a large relay that runs all of my accessories except the winch, which is where I connected it.
 

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Discussion starter · #5 · (Edited)
The remote

Now that you're done wiring, mount the box (you can use the provided velcro mount, that's what I did) and tie all your wires down properly.

This is the remote. It has four positions, but I've only used two in this case. When you want to use it, turn it on with the slide switch on the front of the remote. At this point pushing the 1 button brings the winch in and pushing the 2 button brings it out. Your wired remote should still work fine too.

The remote uses a single 23A battery, I bought a spare for my rig and keep it with the spares for my welding helmet, flashlight, etc. in case I leave it on by accident.
 

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Discussion starter · #6 ·
Other ideas

I showed this as the most simple winch remote wiring (obviously not in my rig, so it could be easily seen for the pictures).

In the actual rig I used the 3rd position to run my LED driving lights so I can turn them on remotely when I am out winching...turn them on when I am working, turn them off when I don't want to be blinded.

In a buddy's rig who has the Warn Endurance 12.0 with the auxilary cooling fan, I used the 4th switch so he can remotely turn the cooling fan on and off. This was done pretty easily using a Bosch 5 pin 30 amp relay inside the remote box. In the case of this winch, the ground on the fan is switched, so I used the remote to drive the relay that completes the ground and runs the fan. It has a 15 amp fuse on it from the factory, so I didn't want to take a chance on overloading the 15 amp capacity of the remote, so I added the 30 amp relay.

Note: Every time you cycle the power to the wireless remote control box, all the relays re-set to open.
 
Discussion starter · #8 · (Edited)
Holy shit, I shoulda searched back 6 freakin' years. Oh well.

So riddle me this: Why do winch manufacturers tie the ground thru a double pole switch in the wired remote?

Buehler?
 
Discussion starter · #11 · (Edited)
Interesting, good explanation...

I don't know what the extra 2 pins are on the 7 pin.
On a lot of winches they're empty, on Warn "Endurance" series with the cooling fan, there's an extra switch on the handle to manually turn the fan on and the empty pins are used to overide the thermal fan switch and run it constantly.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
For you guys running wireless remotes, do you have an "off" switch or something for when you're not using it? I'd be worried that somebody else's remote (or keyless entry, or garage door opener, or pacemaker, or something) might cause my winch to suddenly start reeling in or out when I don't want it to.

Do the wireless remotes have some way to prevent this?
Mine are all wired through a switch on the dash that turn on the receiver. All my rigs have a master switch that turns on "everything" to avoid battery drain when they're parked, that's what I wire it to. Nice to get in and turn on one switch for my ham, stereo, etc. too.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Let us know what the real world range of this one is. I have 200' of rope on my winch, so they controllers that advertise 50' or 65' aren't going to cut it for me. I like the range of the OP's controller, but the actual remote seems too small, hard to use with gloves and easy to lose.
I have my remote on a lanyard that I clip to my bibs in the snow or a belt loop if I'm in summer garb. Convenient to get to and I don't lose it. Range on the Pilot version is at least 200'...I've had 125 feet of winch rope with a 100' extension out on multiple occasions with no problems.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Discussion starter · #51 ·
Back from the dead again...

So I put a gigglepin GP-100 on my snow rig. Awesome winch, but now with 300 feet of winchrope I've exceeded the distance my cheapo remote will reliably work. Back to the drawing board.

I tried Badlands and HF, but they fell short to, by about a hundred feet, just like the pilot.

Found this a week or so ago and tested and installed it today. It works! 400' plus away and still working!

https://www.gamainc.com/product/rf12v-2-asl/

I ordered it long range and rechargeable remote. No longer cheap, but it works amazing.
 
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