Winching with one vehicle battery

[WoodyWolf]

I am about to fit a Warn HS9500 CE winch to my 200tdi Disco and am wondering whether it will be ok to run it from my main battery. It is an Optima Red Top, I will only use it for occasional winching if i get stuck. the warn recomend a minimum of a 650cca battery. Any opinions will be welcome, cheers.

[Stumpy Doofleer]

I have a come up winch 9000lb which is connected to my normal battery, I thought about getting a seperate battery, but was told it's not needed if your only using it occasionally. I always keep the revs up when winching though, hope this helps.

[AJC]

When I first fitted my winch, David Bowyer (http://www.dborc.demon.co.uk/) (the winch guru) siad there was no need for an additional battery if only used occasionally.

AJ

[Widget]

Would agree with that. For occasional use a single red top is fine. Some will tell you otherwise based on the requirement to winch at 75ft per minute all day in winch challenges.

Horses for courses and all that...

[Ben_J85JTY]

I had a Warn M8000 with single battery which I used a fair bit. It only failed on me once. Course, that did leave me still stuck with no way of starting the engine again but thats a diffferent matter!:rolleyes:

[WoodyWolf]

Cheers for the replies guys suppose I'll stick with the single redtop battery for now. I have seen on some BB that optima do not cover there redtops for winching is this true?. And reference getting stuck with a flat battery i could always carry my booster pack(something else for the boot).

[streaky]

I have seen on some BB that optima do not cover there redtops for winching is this true?.

The Optima Redtop is not classed as a deep cycle battery, so winching on it would be reducing the lifespan of the spiro-cells. They don't distort in the same way as lead plates on a regular D/C battery but the life span would be considerably reduced through constant deep cycling.
It would still work fine as a winch battery, but it probably wouldn't last so long as a proper purpose designed deep cycling unit.
One thing to remember is that many people use a single regular cheapo battery for all purpose use AND winching....but how often do they have to replace it?

You have to wonder how would the agent know that you've been winching on it? Unless you actually drove up to the dealer in the car and said "hey..replace that under warranty please". He takes a peek at the winch on the front which is wired up to the RedTop and says " sorry mate, you've been winching on it"..... ask him for a statement from the manufacturer that says it's not covered for winching.

Personally, I think the warranty would be valid. I have four Optimas in my trucks and never have I seen a statement which says that the Red ones are not warrantied for winching.

Regards.

Streaky.
www.teamsaluki.com (http://www.teamsaluki.com)