Remote wireless winch controls

[David_S]

Anyone installed a remote wireless winch control system? Which one did you use? What sort of money are they? And what should you look for when purchasing other than

1) Range
2) No of channels
3) No of transmitter units included
4) Power source for receiver (12V?)
5) Robustness and "weatherpoofness" of receivers and transmitters

Thanks
David

[stu]

i thought warn and T-max have wireless units now as an upgrade / option.

[David_S]

Thanks, I'll check them out but has anyone practical experience with a system?

David

[MightyMouse]

A Jaycar 2 channel wirless garage door control would be an option...

12VDC
2 Key fobs
2 channel
2 Independant relay outputs with NO & NC contacts

Every time I walk under my garage door - I think "I must do that...."

Havn't tested the range but might be worth a look see if the genuine parts are exxy.

[David_S]

A Jaycar 2 channel wirless garage door control would be an option...

I was just researching Jaycar when your post came up. Most of their remote kits seem to be for switching on and switching off a device. I.e press the button and the relay closes, press it again and the relay opens. With a winch you want a relay which will close as long as you press the button and open when you release it. I haven't found one which will do this yet. Still looking. Anybody know of one? Most Jaycar kits have a range of around 50m which is fine and cost around $120. Commercial systems I have found are around $500 so a jaycar kit looks attractive.

David

[Gutless]

Just watch the time delay. Some units I have seen have up to 2 seconds delay from release of button until the winch stops.

[David_S]

Just watch the time delay. Some units I have seen have up to 2 seconds delay from release of button until the winch stops.

Thanks

[Bruceh]

Got mine from extremelimitsoffroad for about $100.
Works great. Easy to fit and never had a prob with it.
Works up to 30mts.

What gutless siad, there is a little lag once you stop it but nothing you don't get used to that's for sure.
www.extremelimitsoffroad.com.au

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Wireless-Winch-C ... m153.l1262

[David_S]

Got mine from extremelimitsoffroad for about $100.
Works great. Easy to fit and never had a prob with it.
Works up to 30mts.

This looks a more sensible price. Can you operate the transmitter with gloves on - it looks a bit fiddly in the picture? They claim 50 metres range - is the 30m you quote more realistic? And lag is not something you want with a hi-mount, there is enough run on with mine as it is. But as you say you would probably get used to it. Did it come with one or two transmitters?

David

[[gubeaut]]

mate i have a tmax wireless remote on my 11000lb had the winch three years and been through 4 boxes winch is good but anyone who knows me knows how much shit i have been through.But honestly the biggest problem that i have with them (tmax ones) is that because there is no solenoids if the box goes you can't fix them without replacing the whole box plus the reciever and the remote because they are all linked as one unit.Not goog when you are in coffs for a 4by trip and the box goes ,even the last one i had go in brisbane and it took one month to get a new one from aunger (the distributers)

[MightyMouse]

A Jaycar 2 channel wirless garage door control would be an option...

I was just researching Jaycar when your post came up. Most of their remote kits seem to be for switching on and switching off a device. I.e press the button and the relay closes, press it again and the relay opens. With a winch you want a relay which will close as long as you press the button and open when you release it. I haven't found one which will do this yet. Still looking. Anybody know of one? Most Jaycar kits have a range of around 50m which is fine and cost around $120. Commercial systems I have found are around $500 so a jaycar kit looks attractive.

David

My Jaycar one is definately 2 channel momentary - but if you can get the real thing for the right price........

[Bruceh]

Got mine from extremelimitsoffroad for about $100.
Works great. Easy to fit and never had a prob with it.
Works up to 30mts.

This looks a more sensible price. Can you operate the transmitter with gloves on - it looks a bit fiddly in the picture? They claim 50 metres range - is the 30m you quote more realistic? And lag is not something you want with a hi-mount, there is enough run on with mine as it is. But as you say you would probably get used to it. Did it come with one or two transmitters?

David

I was only guessing 30mts. Put it this way it's far enough. It would be a little tricky with gloves on as the buttons are like remote std like buttons if that makes sence. I usualy just have one glove on when playing with the remote.
It would be less lag on the remote than a hi-mould. Came with only one transmitter. Good tip is to also have a spare transmitter battery in your glovebox just in-case.
Bruce

[bigcam]

just remember too is its momentary then the batteries get chewed much faster, instead of a 1 second transmit it could be minutes long reducing battery life significantly... carry spares!!!

[mousee]

Hi ya'll,

I have been running the Stuts t-max remote for a few years now and have yet to find it's range max. Been away several hundred feet and it still works flawlessly. Very little delay, if any. The only downside is I go through batteries quite quickly...
I got it a few years ago for like $80us, they may have come down in price now...

[David_S]

All good info - thanks guys,

David

[Mick.]

Hi ya'll,

I have been running the Stuts t-max remote for a few years now and have yet to find it's range max. Been away several hundred feet and it still works flawlessly. Very little delay, if any. The only downside is I go through batteries quite quickly...
I got it a few years ago for like $80us, they may have come down in price now...

I had the T-max cordless remote on my 11,000 winch to and never had no dramas with it. I never did find the max range either and it had very little delay too.

If you get a flat battery with these you can just plug the remote directly into the cordless box and use it the conventional way. So getting flat batteries was never a problem.

I payed about $400 aus when i got mine so they have come down a bit in price.

Cheers Mick.

[me3@neuralfibre.com]

www.oatleyelectronics.com always has this type of stuff

maybe it's com.au

Paul

[mousee]

I had the T-max cordless remote on my 11,000 winch to and never had no dramas with it. I never did find the max range either and it had very little delay too.

If you get a flat battery with these you can just plug the remote directly into the cordless box and use it the conventional way. So getting flat batteries was never a problem.

I payed about $400 aus when i got mine so they have come down a bit in price.

Cheers Mick.

The one I have is the keychain style, I can't just plug in. My business partner is running the tmax integrated wireless and it works great too. It came with the winch when he got it. It does have a tad bit of a delay, but not much. I don't know what he paid for it though...

[full-boost]

http://www.ironmansuspension.com/access ... winch.html

check this out.

[MissDrew]

I have a high mount that used to have a remote on it. It was all on the back of a tilt tray.
They were winching a car up on the tray and it wouldn't stop. Car got pulled up real hard against the head board. The winch just kept going till it burnt out the motor and cooked all the wiring.

I'd be very care full if yo have a wire less remote on your winch

[[gubeaut]]

i had that happen to mine the first time just lucky i was up the hill and i was putting the cable on the drum.it pulled the hook through the fairleads totalled the winch and stopped after the hook pulled the wires and shorted it

[David_S]

.......The winch just kept going till it burnt out the motor and cooked all the wiring.

......it pulled the hook through the fairleads totalled the winch and stopped after the hook pulled the wires and shorted it

Good to be aware of these bad experiences. Thanks.

If I installed a wireless remote I would put a switch in the cockpit to switch the winch operation between either cockpit control (or corded remote) or wireless control but not both simultaneously. That way you could stop the winch if it ran away on you and also prevent the scenario where you could have the wireless control winching in and the cockpit control out which would almost certainly let the smoke out of your motor.

I have wired my present winch controls so that they only operate with the ignition key in either ACC or IGN. So you can kill the system by turning off the ignition. This system also stops vandals playing with your winch by shorting the control contacts if you have your control pack mounted externally.

David

[Mick.]

I have a high mount that used to have a remote on it. It was all on the back of a tilt tray.
They were winching a car up on the tray and it wouldn't stop. Car got pulled up real hard against the head board. The winch just kept going till it burnt out the motor and cooked all the wiring.

I'd be very care full if yo have a wire less remote on your winch

My neighbor warned me this could happen when I fitted mine so I put a kill switch on the dash which killed the power to everything if something like that happened.

The other main reason I fitted this was so if your remote is bouncing around in the centre console it cant possibly activate the winch. This wouldn't be a good thing if your doing 100km/h down the free way and your winch cable unravels and raps around your wheels.

Cheers Mick.

[MightyMouse]

Wow that really surprising that these remotes can "run on"..... Makes you wonder about the quality of the design given the security and reliability of automotive remote key systems from the OE's.

What happens if two people are winching at the same time ?

This happened last week - bloke had his near new ***** ute towed to the dealer as his remote wouldn't open the car or start it. When at the dealer, problem was verified - but now other cars nearby in the workshop wouldn't respond either !

They pushed it out and the others were now OK, but it still wouldn't start - WTF. Owner was told it would take some investigating so he rang the missus and unloaded his stuff and his daughters dolls house in the back.

Before he left he tried it again, and you guessed it - it worked fine.

While everyone was scratching their heads one of the guys commented on the dolls house and that it even had a doorbell - a WIRELESS DOORBELL.

Guess what - the doorbell button was being pressed when it was loaded in the ute and as it was on the same frequency as the vehicles security ( which is natural as there are prescribed frequencies for remotes ) it was blanketing the area with its transmissions.

One very owner and some VERY relieved technical people.

[mousee]

Yeah, I installed a switch as well after I sat on the remote and paid out a big rat nest of cable... lol I just switched out the wireless circuit though, never thaught about vandals... good idea.
btw I didn't mention it cause I just thaught I was a dumbass...lol

[Wish I had coils]

be very carefull with them i had one on my winch (came with the winch)

it worked once then the second time i tried to use it, it would not stop even the hand controller would not reverse it so i had to discconect it at the battery. i stopped useing the remote after that.

Then I was being snatched out of a bog hole and the snatch strap broke and flew back smashing the controll box and shorted out the remote control part of it and the winch start pulling in. It was just lucky that i had the winch not in gear.

Had i friend with one also and remote had pushed in his center console aand pulled in untill it laboured up so much that it stalled his motor and burnt the winch out and the whole time had no idea till he stopped to see what was wrong with his car.

Just my experiance with them.

[David_S]

.... never thaught about vandals...

The really nasty trick is for vandals to run your winch cable out loop it back over your truck, connect it to your towbar and then winch - ouch!

So if you have an external control box make sure it is not live when you park your truck and also make sure there is a switch under the bonnet on the main battery cable to the motor which can be turned off when not winching or some jumper cables can be used to operate your winch off the motor terminals.

Best system is to relocate the control box and solenoids under the bonnet.

Also liked MightyMouse's story of the doll's house. Just shows you can't be too careful.

David

[David_S]

[...or some jumper cables can be used to operate your winch off the motor terminals.

The above is not quite true as the battery supply goes to the solenoid pack first and from there to the motor. So if your solenoids are under the bonnet you do have some protection.

David

[GUJohnno]

Just fitted up an Ironman winch which has a remote control with it as standard. Seems to work quite well, also easy to use with gloves on.

Note the ON/OFF switch to stop unwanted use.

One thing to note with the Ironman winches, they now come with the "Titan" style competition solenoids in a water proof control box.

[Cossie]

I can see the novelty appeal, but what is the real point to a wireless?

Surely you are in the vehicle steering, braking or attempting to drive as well as winching? So why not run the hand control through the window or put incab switches in the dash?
You have a winch bitch to run up the hill with the cable while you power out or freespool the winch.

Warn are also doing a wireless remote kit now: http://www.warn.com/truck/accessories/w ... trol.shtml

Apparently you can plug the controller in if you are unable to use the remote (flat batteries etc)

Probably more reliable then the chinese shit thats flooding the market too.