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Winch Motor Lifetime

 
 
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Martin.Spamer
Gate Opener


Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Odometer: 20
Location: Kingston upon Hull



PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:14 pm    Post subject: Winch Motor Lifetime Reply with quote

How long should an electric Winch motor last?

That is a question that has been on my mind during the last week. I bought my branded winch in spring 2007. It was used a few times that year, once or twice a day about once a month at the most. The winch failed at my club's Summer Bank Holiday weekend in 2008 at just over a year old. I replaced the motor with an up-rated version. That worked fine for about 14 months and has just failed.

Other members of my Club have had similar premature motor failures even with top branded winches.

How long should an electric Winch motor last? Is my expectations that they should last much longer than a year unreasonable?
Should I expect winch motors to be a consumable replaceable item like wheel bearing and filters ?

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Martin Spamer
Hull 4x4
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terence
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

which brand ?

i have a motor that wasnt new to me on an 12 year old car and its been there ever since , never gets used , always outside, works every time i test it.


i dont see why would fail unless its a poor chinese copy

lack of maintainance kills most things.
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mike.
Mud Obsessed


Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Odometer: 4010
Location: wirral



PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

what did the motor look like when you took it off? was it corroded, burnt or just worn?
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Roger
Mud Obsessed


Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Odometer: 2050
Location: Redditch Worcestershire



PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it is made correctly i.e. assembled from materials that we would class as meeting or exceeding a British or ISO standard and it is designed to be fit for the purpose in mind, then as long as it is run within the usable parameters, it should be able to run continuously for years.

In a commercial environment such as an air conditioning fan, the motor will be expected to run for years without problem. The giant generators for the production of electricity will run for years without problems.

The technology to make efficient, long lasting motors is with us. In the design of a winch motor, certain vulnerable areas are sometimes either overlooked or skimped on. These points are waterproofing, overheating, bearings, windings and comms.

If you buy a cheap winch, the money you save is the difference between a reliable unit and suspect one.

Yes I know some people strike lucky and they will swear by the cheapo winch that they bought for peanuts from a market stall, but the proof is the number of dissatisfied users who have been let down by them.

Remember, cheap in, cheap out.

Roger
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Martin.Spamer
Gate Opener


Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Odometer: 20
Location: Kingston upon Hull



PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mine was Champion 12000EWX, after the first failure the motor was clean and the plastic insulation on the bushes had melted. Don't know about why it's failed this time but it was stripped, cleaned with WD, gearbox repacked with grease and sealed with silicon. There was no sign of water dirt penetration and it was never overloaded.

The other brands are, another 12000EWX which did show signs of water penetration. A Warn 8274, some T-Max and some Chinese specials of ebay.

The expensive branded winches have been no more reliable than the cheapos from ebay. The only benefit being you can get a new motor rather than having to get whole new winch.

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Martin Spamer
Hull 4x4
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Roger
Mud Obsessed


Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Odometer: 2050
Location: Redditch Worcestershire



PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you saying you cleaned the inside of the motor with WD40?

WD40 is inflammable, and could also be causing short circuits within the unit.

Roger
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Rich.
Off-Road Guru


Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Odometer: 1165
Location: Newcastle


1998 Suzuki Vitara

PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hear its a common problem with champion's, their motors are notouriously bad for reliability. They have a good warrenty though, which is at least some consilation.

Personaly i dont rate champion winches, iv herd far too many bad things about then and seen them pack in at the most dangerous and inconvienient of times, regardless of how good their warrenty is. Imagine traveling across the country for a winch challenge to find your motor packs in on the second punch, a warrenty isnt going to get you all that money back.

I run superwinches on mine, the rear one is 8 years old and i just put some new bushes in the other day, purely because i snapped the little wire when i was servising it, i couldnt ask for a better winch. However the front is getting an 8274, due to competition purposes, however i know id be using a superwinch if only they did a fast competition winch.

Rich

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Martin.Spamer
Gate Opener


Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Odometer: 20
Location: Kingston upon Hull



PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Roger wrote:
Are you saying you cleaned the inside of the motor with WD40?

WD40 is inflammable, and could also be causing short circuits within the unit.

Roger


WD40 is a time proven product for cleaning alternators and starter motors therefore I can't see it being a problem with winches. It evaporates after repelling water and dirt. Flammable vapours certainly doesn't persist for 6month since it was last stripped, cleaned and checked. Even if this had caused premature failure that is only one of several failures.

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Martin Spamer
Hull 4x4


Last edited by Martin.Spamer on Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Martin.Spamer
Gate Opener


Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Odometer: 20
Location: Kingston upon Hull



PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vit Rich wrote:

I run superwinches on mine, the rear one is 8 years old and i just put some new bushes in the other day, purely because i snapped the little wire when i was servising it, i couldnt ask for a better winch. However the front is getting an 8274, due to competition purposes, however i know id be using a superwinch if only they did a fast competition winch.


That's good to hear, the short list for my new project are superwinch and goldfish. Warn are nearly as expensive as hydraulic, which I also considered but it would take a long time for the expense to pay back, compared to replacing motors every year.

I would still like to hear about the experiences of others on this subject, good, bad experiences.

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Martin Spamer
Hull 4x4
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Rich.
Off-Road Guru


Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Odometer: 1165
Location: Newcastle


1998 Suzuki Vitara

PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do a search mate, there was a large topic on it quite recently.

Im still sticking with superwinch mind, after reccomending them to many people everone whos listened and got one hasnt had a single problem, the 5 or 6 that went different ways, mostly cheap chineese or champion, have had nothing but trouble, or there not happy with line speed or actuall pull capacity in the real world.

My friends have bought champions with the reasoning 'They have good warrenties' but as i said above, a good warrently dosnt get the petrol money or time back after a 400 mile trip to be let down by a knacerd winch when you get there, or when your halfway up a steep hill and it suddently stops. Buy a superwinch and forget about it, saving a few quid now will genrally end up costing you more in the long run. As i say, my 8 year old superwinch dosnt miss a beat, and to be honest i dont service it as much as i should.

Having said all that, iv heard alot of good things about goodwinches, and have a friend with one on a traybacked challenge truck, which again hasnt missed a beat, but is much younger than the superwinch, time will tell.

Rich

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SwiftFab - Custom built Vehicles, Modifications and restorations, get intouch for details.

Lifes simple, You make choices and you dont look back.
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.
Difflock Royalty


Joined: 19 Jun 2002
Odometer: 40007
Location: Northern Ireland's Gold Coast


2009 Land Rover 110 CSW

PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I also give my vote to Superwinch
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RichardD
Marshall


Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Odometer: 22856
Location: State of Confusion



PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Come Up and Superwinch are almost identical and my much abused motor died after I let all the smoke out after 4 years. Now running a Bowmotor - very nice.
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winchman
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Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Odometer: 2757
Location: Village Near St.Helens Merseyside



PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A winchmotor should last forever, if
You keep it clean and dry, oh and its up to the job and not made from Swiss Cheese and plastiscene.
Oh and you dont cook it by running it too hot, winch motors dont have cooling fans, most people forget these motors are only rated for occasional use just like a starter motor, some are as low as one drum of wire per hour.
You do get what you pay for, IMO Come up are the best value for money winch, Warn 8274 are easy to repair and quite robust.
Remember you dont see electric winches on proper recovery vehicles, and other vehicles that use them daily, fire engines, National grid etc.
Hydraulic winches should last forever, assuming you servce the gear box.
People take a winch that was never designed to be submersible and dunk it in water then wonder why it wont work.

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It will come in handy even if you never use it
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