How to Wire Two Electric Winches to a Vehicle with Dual Batteries

Updated 10/04/2017 | Published 10/03/2017

Question:

Are the Circuit Breakers mounted separately? How come you dont show the circuit breakers are they automatically reset if tripped or do you have to manually reset the circuit breakers. How much do they cost? Are they breakers or in line fuses. Why not use one circuit breaker for front and rear the winch can only be plugged in at one point not at two places? Just uses the front circuit breaker and parallel the front and rear connectors from that breaker?? I could draw it up for you but would have to scan it the send as attachment it.

asked by: Doug O

Expert Reply:

When wiring two separate winches to a vehicle with dual batteries, you will need a circuit breaker for each winch. A circuit breaker is designed to protect the vehicles circuitry in the event of a short in the winch wiring. Almost all winch circuit breakers are equipped with an auto-resetting feature.

If the winch you have did not come with a circuit breaker or you simply need to replace the circuit breaker, you will want to use one rated for the maximum amperage draw of the winch. If you can tell me which winch you have I would be glad to offer you the correct circuit breaker. I have attached a list of circuit breakers with varying amperage ratings for you.

A circuit breaker acts similar to an in-line fuse in that the current is broken when the maximum power draw is exceeded. However, unlike an in-line fuse a circuit breaker will not need to be replaced if tripped. It is not recommended to plug both winches into the same circuit breaker.

For example, if you have two electric winches with an 80 amp maximum draw and you wired both of them to a 160 amp circuit breaker, either amp could draw more than 80 amps which could damage the winch. In order to easily remove either winch from the vehicle, I recommend using the Bulldog Winch Quick Connects part # BDW20133.

I have attached our "How to Wire an Electric Winch" help article for you also.

expert reply by: Conner L