# atv winch power



## tinkenboutit (Aug 13, 2005)

2005 Polaris 500. 3000 lb winch. Was working great. All of a sudden if I try to raise or lower the blade, the engine dies. If I hook a battery charger to the winch, it lifts and lowers no problem. In other words, if I idle the atv with the charger hooked to the battery, no problem. If I try to run the winch from the power of the atv, it idles good until I try to use the winch. Battery voltage is 12.5 volts so I think the sealed battery is ok. What could cause this? :crying:


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

thinking your charging system on the ATV is Bad.

quick check would be with ATV running unhook Battery from ATV and if it dies then your ATV is not Charging up.

though due some background checking on your ATV I think I read someplace to have your ATV running without a Battery to dump your charging system to is also very bad for the ATV charging system.

if bad charging system when you use the winch your using all the power the battery has and there's none left to power the ATV hence the ATV dying on you.

just my thoughts.


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## tinkenboutit (Aug 13, 2005)

Thanks. When idling, I get a battery reading of 12.5 v. at 3000 rpms it drops to around 6 volts.


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## whitegoldrider (Jan 24, 2014)

Lemme guess, your winch is wired directly into your battery?


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## tinkenboutit (Aug 13, 2005)

whitegoldrider;1763994 said:


> Lemme guess, your winch is wired directly into your battery?


Yes. Something that is going to change tomorrow morning. I had the battery load tested and even though my volt meter shows 12.5 volts, the load test showed the battery was dead.


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## whitegoldrider (Jan 24, 2014)

That should do it. If it's not already, seal the solenoid while you're at it.


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## tinkenboutit (Aug 13, 2005)

whitegoldrider;1764194 said:


> That should do it. If it's not already, seal the solenoid while you're at it.


What's the best way to seal the solenoid, by the way?


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## whitegoldrider (Jan 24, 2014)

I've heard of the off road guys opening up solenoid and applying silicone sealant on male/female, lead connections and also along the edges where the casings join up. I suppose you could also apply sealant on lead connections from winch/battery especially if you don't have boots on them. Just remember you gotta scrape that stuff off if you ever need to work on it/troubleshoot. Personally, I would just buy a sealed one from an auto parts or atv shop. They are relatively inexpensive.


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## tinkenboutit (Aug 13, 2005)

It was the battery.  :Thumbs Up:


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