Helped a friend of mine over the weekend with a new battery for his truck (not JK) and he happened to mention something about winches having to be hooked up to the main battery posts, not the secondary ones like the JK accessories run from.

My winch came with eyes on the leads that fit the secondary posts, not the big ones.

Is he full of it?
I think the winch would come with bigger eyes if they were to go on the main terminals.

 

I have always connected to the secondary leads. Never had, or heard, of any problems... Maybe I have just been lucky.

 

mine is on the second terminals. no problems so far

 

Thanks guys, I figured it was fine but just wanted some reassurance.

 

Your buddy is correct. The secondary post aren't made to handle the current load of a high amp accessory like a winch. If you go to the Optima battery or most manufacturers and look at the install directions they state that you shouldn't use the secondary terminals for high amp loads. I know it's in the Optima info for sure but I haven't looked at to many other manufactures. If I new how to cut and paste it I'd get the info in here for you.

 

There's a ton of stuff on the 'net about not hooking a winch to the side terminals. The battery top posts go straight in, but the side posts have a lead that can overheat due to the amp draw of the winch, and that could potentially cause a fire. I couldn't find anything directly from Optima, but there are several sites that referenced either having the warranty voided for "abuse" or had email from Optima saying to not use the side terminals for high draw loads like a winch.

I came across several articles that suggest moving the vehicle main supply to the side posts and use the top posts just for the winch (too much trouble in my book).

A good article on the subject:

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/Battery-Tech.htm

Just for grins, how many of you out there hooked up to the side terminals not realizing this issue? Anybody actually burn up a battery?

 

It seems I shouldn't have dismissed this so quickly.
There is more on that link about using a winch, but here is the specific info:

"Note: If you have an Optima battery or any battery with side terminals (flush on the side and used with a small bolt or connection), it's recommended that a winch is NOT connected to these smaller terminals. In most cases they can not handle the full amperage draw of a winch. Use of these small terminals can damage your battery and potentially cause a fire."

I don't want to go look under the hood since it is dumping snow at the moment, but are the smaller posts on the JK batt. as bad as the small side posts that are described here? Or are they just simply in a different spot and not any better?

 

I second that...

Those who were lucky typically did not use their winches at load enough to notice....after all, how many of us are going to be able to TELL if there was a problem, unless something burst into flames, etc.



Its like people who hooked a snatch strap over a hitch ball to pull/be pulled out of something...."And never had a problem".

Either the damn thing flew off like a cannon ball, or it didn't...it all depended upon the pull.

It was still a bad idea, even if the ball stayed on and "you were lucky".

And some winches use a lower amp load than others, like permanent magnets vs series wound units, etc...

So YMMV.



I always use the main terminals to avoid the potential problem.

 

how about the blue optimia battery is has 2sets of top posts and I saw somewhere they are powered 100% where as the side posts on the yellow and red are only 70% thats why they cant handle the draw of the winch..

check this link out too, it has a letter from optima tech support

http://www.stu-offroad.com/recovery/winch/warn-1.htm

 

I asked Optima if it is OK to load everything (starter,winch, lights) on the top. They said "We would recommend that you connect all your cables to the main top
terminals. There is no advantage to using the sideposts."

Those sideposts are for GM vehicles, and every mechanic I've spoken to said they're a PITA, and why would I want to use them? They're out of the way and harder to reach.