P500 Unanswered wiring/electrical questions: Winch, EZsteer, fuse, breaker, etc.

[Chooch360]

Gents, I feel like I've searched threads and youtube videos as much as I can and still have a few general questions.
I'm attaching some pics of the components I've purchased and what I'm wiring as of right now.
*Components: Badlands Apex 5500 winch (long spool), EZ-Steer, OEM access harness, fuse panel, 300A circuit breaker (winch max 291A), 4ga jumper cables for power, underhood +/- terminals, wire loom, copper connectors, No-Ox to prevent corrosion, heat shrink, bullet connectors for OEM accessory harness
1) If I go to the trouble to run 4 ga from the battery up to the solenoid does it make sense to make up my own 4ga from the solenoid to the winch or just use the ones that came with the winch that are slightly smaller gage?
2) As for the inline circuit breaker, does it matter if you mount it closer to the battery or up under the hood? I prefer underhood to keep dry...
3) The winch came with a Battery Disconnect switch. Does this still need to be installed if I have a circuit breaker?
4) For the Ground, I don't think there is any reason to run that back to the battery, correct me if wrong, so I was just going to ground it underhood from the frame to my new neg. terminal. Does this ground need to be 4ga also?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Remington]

Don't overthink it dude! Your gonna need a 5th soon! 🤣
Before I touch this, look up some P5 build threads Trigger build or my pld P5 Bumblebee build. Infact any P5 build, they will have step by step how there's where done. Also, note you don't need that huge battery disconnect, I have one for my TH for 2 deep cells. your circuit breaker should be under the hood, preferred spot.

 

[KYhillbilly]

If winch has a wireless controller you will need a disconnect as the wireless controller is always on and will drain the battery, If no wireless controller then its not necessary.

 

[Hondasxs]

If winch has a wireless controller you will need a disconnect as the wireless controller is always on and will drain the battery, If no wireless controller then its not necessary.

I disagree.
The wireless controller should be wired into a to key-on source, so it only has power when the key is on.
This is very very important for safety reasons.
If yours is drawing otherwise you need to look into what the power source is and alter it.

 

[Hondasxs]

1) If I go to the trouble to run 4 ga from the battery up to the solenoid does it make sense to make up my own 4ga from the solenoid to the winch or just use the ones that came with the winch that are slightly smaller gage?
2) As for the inline circuit breaker, does it matter if you mount it closer to the battery or up under the hood? I prefer underhood to keep dry...
3) The winch came with a Battery Disconnect switch. Does this still need to be installed if I have a circuit breaker?
4) For the Ground, I don't think there is any reason to run that back to the battery, correct me if wrong, so I was just going to ground it underhood from the frame to my new neg. terminal. Does this ground need to be 4ga also?

1. 4, 5, or 6 gauge is fine. use whatever fits you and the crimps/ends you have to fit to make it look clean.
2. A circuit breaker should always be as close to to the power source as possible. But this is hard to do on a 500. Under the hood would be fine. Glad you got a 300. most people guy a 100 and that's nowhere near enough.
3. The additional disconnect is up to you. If the breaker is accessible then why can't you just use it as a disconnect?
4. A good clean frame ground is fine. 4, 5, or 6 is fine.

 

[trigger]

Under the seat is the best place I found for the circuit breaker. That's about as close as you're going to get to the battery and yes, 300a is the way to go. I don't do the wireless remote so no need for a kill switch. I have all of my accessories ran through a second 300a CB and can use that to kill power to those. 4 gauge is pretty heavy, it'll work but is usually harder to work with unless you go with welding cable. I also used a Blue Sea ground and power block for ease of adding or disconnecting accessories. Sounds like you're on the right track. 👍

 

[Hondasxs]

I disagree.
The wireless controller should be wired into a to key-on source, so it only has power when the key is on.
This is very very important for safety reasons.
If yours is drawing otherwise you need to look into what the power source is and alter it.

I wish to add,
Unless you wired it to constant power.
If you direct wired it to constant then of course you need to add some sort of switch/cutoff/disconnect.

 

[Chooch360]

I disagree.
The wireless controller should be wired into a to key-on source, so it only has power when the key is on.
This is very very important for safety reasons.
If yours is drawing otherwise you need to look into what the power source is and alter it.

Sounds good on maybe wiring it into the accessory harness foe key-on power, but as of now I don't have a wireless remote for the winch.

 

[Chooch360]

Under the seat is the best place I found for the circuit breaker. That's about as close as you're going to get to the battery and yes, 300a is the way to go. I don't do the wireless remote so no need for a kill switch. I have all of my accessories ran through a second 300a CB and can use that to kill power to those. 4 gauge is pretty heavy, it'll work but is usually harder to work with unless you go with welding cable. I also used a Blue Sea ground and power block for ease of adding or disconnecting accessories. Sounds like you're on the right track. 👍

Thanks Trigger! Is the blue sea ground & power block pretty much the same as the pos/neg terminals I bought or is it different somehow?

 

[Mudder]

Have a wireless winch remote running off key-on sub harness -no issues and prevents inadvertent use (nice safety measure if kids are pushing buttons). My switched waterproof breaker is near the battery zip-tied on the back side of the passenger seat frame member, easy access via front of rear fender, no issues x 5 years. Did not run a separate ground from battery, used an underhood frame ground spot. And as said above, I use the waterproof switched breaker as a disconnect if working on my 6 guage wire add-on accessories terminal posts under the hood. Best of luck, many ways to do it.

 

[GrnP500]

A word to the wise. I used low cost jumper cables for my cable too, cause I'm cheap. I found cheap jumper cables are copper plated aluminum. They shortly corroded apart. I then bought copper cable.
I also put breaker on frame below/behind passenger seat as did Trigger and Mudder. Read their builds. If you need photo of breaker placement let me know. (Attach with zip ties)

 

[Mudder]

A word to the wise. I used low cost jumper cables for my cable too, cause I'm cheap. I found cheap jumper cables are copper plated aluminum. They shortly corroded apart. I then bought copper cable.
I also put breaker on frame below/behind passenger seat as did Trigger and Mudder. Read their builds. If you need photo of breaker placement let me know. (Attach with zip ties)

Great point. Also used full copper cable, (priced per foot off roll) from auto store.

 

[trigger]

Thanks Trigger! Is the blue sea ground & power block pretty much the same as the pos/neg terminals I bought or is it different somehow?

Nah, just an unfused bus bar to connect to, lots of connections for a lot of accessories.

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[Brmcg324]

I ran two long wires from battery to the engine compartment to the power terminals on the winch solenoid. I think I wired the plus motor lead, from the winch, through the inline circuit breaker that came with the winch. Then I used those power wires and terminals on the winch solenoid to be my “high power” pick-off my light bar and anything else that draws too many amps for the OEM accessory harness. It has worked great! I intend to add a disconnect switch at the seat like Trigger suggests. Finally, I added a third party winch remote that is wired in parallel to the dash mounted in/out switch and the hardwired remote that came with the winch. Have not had a problem with remote draining the battery, but other people had that problem. I am an electrical engineer but I am impatient and hack my wiring together to make sure everything works, before I try to make the wiring look nicer. It is a good idea to run a negative return wire back to the battery because the winch can draw over 100 amps while it is pulling.