Important warning!
JK Newbie
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: naples, florida
Your disconnect switch should be on the Positive wire (red) not the Negative wire (Black). The black wire is already connected to the chassis of the jeep as a ground. If the red wire's insulation gets compromiseddue to a pinch, chagging or overheating and the iinner conductor come into contact with any metal on the vehicle you will get a big arc whether or not your disconnect on the negative wire is on or off.
JK Newbie
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Philadelphia, PA
Further...Warn and a few other companies tell you to check your winch cables every 90 days whether you were on the trail or not. A lot can happen between point A and point B...takes 20 seconds and it could save your JK! A lot of good advice on this thread.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 288
Likes: 0
From: Kingsport, TN
Originally Posted by evansje01
Your disconnect switch should be on the Positive wire (red) not the Negative wire (Black). The black wire is already connected to the chassis of the jeep as a ground. If the red wire's insulation gets compromiseddue to a pinch, chagging or overheating and the iinner conductor come into contact with any metal on the vehicle you will get a big arc whether or not your disconnect on the negative wire is on or off.
JK Freak
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 652
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
Thats what I did under the hood. Cheap insurance in my book but still good practice to inspect them every so often. A 12 volt 600 amp battery can create some serious heat and damage as you can tell from the stories above.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Denver, Colorado
Forum Friends,
Please take a minute to read this as it may save you from very costly damage or worse.
As some of you know, few weeks ago we ran Fordyce Trail in the Lake Tahoe area. Our good friend HONEY BADGER suffered a vehicle fire due to his winch power cables being pinched and overheated softening the insulation. At the pinch the insulation wore through and arced and caught fire.
Today I was tinkering with our Jeep and decided to make sure our winch power cables were free from restriction. When I started wiggling them I found the hot wire pinched and while I was wiggling it acred and smoked!!!
Obviously I couldn't get it unhooked from the battery fast enough! We were WAY too close to suffering this same fate.
PLEASE take a few minutes to check your cables to make sure you do not have this problem. I will be getting new cables along with extra heavy duty insulation.
Rather be safe than sorry.
Please take a minute to read this as it may save you from very costly damage or worse.
As some of you know, few weeks ago we ran Fordyce Trail in the Lake Tahoe area. Our good friend HONEY BADGER suffered a vehicle fire due to his winch power cables being pinched and overheated softening the insulation. At the pinch the insulation wore through and arced and caught fire.
Today I was tinkering with our Jeep and decided to make sure our winch power cables were free from restriction. When I started wiggling them I found the hot wire pinched and while I was wiggling it acred and smoked!!!
Obviously I couldn't get it unhooked from the battery fast enough! We were WAY too close to suffering this same fate.PLEASE take a few minutes to check your cables to make sure you do not have this problem. I will be getting new cables along with extra heavy duty insulation.
Rather be safe than sorry.
