I am looking at the idea of adding a winch since I was offered one a very good price. But will I need a dual battery setup to handle the draw from the winch? I am running a diehard platinum battery (1200 cca) that is almost new. If I need to do a dual battery I am going to pass on the winch deal. Thoughts?

 

Many winch units need a 650 to 800 CCA battery, and there are guys who run just one battery. But consider all the electronics in the D2, and if you place a really heavy load on the electrical system and make the ECU or something else go crazy, a tough but fun situation could become a lot more difficult.

 

1200 CCA should be enough of a battery to handle your own personel winch issues. If you try to winch every body on the trail, you may want to consider a dual set up.
I know the battery yoiu are referring to and it will take a number of hard 400 to 450 amp hard pulls.

 

The winch is only for self recovery/ worst case senerio and will reside on the shelf for a few months till I get the mount figured out.

Thanks for the quick input guys. Some folks may use winches all the time, but I hope to not have to use it.

 

I was watching Gearz the other night and the guy said that was a common misconception. Most people believe you need a dual battery when in fact, you really need a more heavy duty alternator for heavy drawl wench setups. Hope this offers some insight

 

I have the Columbia overland dual battery tray and only one dh plat battery. I have winched plenty of people and myself. Of people. With some longer expedition trips in the works I will be upgrading the alternator to 300amp and adding a second dh plat and a VSR

 

Good point. I overlooked the alternator.

I am not sure I want my wench's to have a heavy drawl.


Which alternator are you looking at?

 

Any commonly available alternator is not going to keep up with a winch's draw (anywhere from 350-450 amps at stall). All it will do is make your battery last a little longer and recharge it sooner.
If you're just using the winch for occasional short pulls a single battery is fine. The longer the pull or the worse the stuck, the shorter the time the battery will last.

For comparison, I ran my Warn 8274 on a Land Rover in the 70's with a single deep cycle battery and a 60amp alternator.

 

Spending the money for a high out-put alternator is a waste of money.
The biggest issue with any electric motor is the lack of total amps required under load, yes, a bigger alternator can do that but so so can i serious battery like a Yellow Top or Sears Marine Platinum for normal pulls or duals when you are making 10 or more pulls in a row, then the electric motor gets hot as do the batterys and failures start to occur.

 

I prefer all my wenches to have a heavy drawl.