Need Some Help Finding The Right Switch For A Rig I Made Lol

rb-86 · April 13, 2011

Okay so me and my friend modified the round plug for hooking up the trailer wiring. I needed to run power to a winch that my godfather bought me for my boat trailer. The trailer doesn't have brakes or reverse lights. So at my truck we disconnected to brakes and reverse and replaced it with insulated wire from the battery and a negative. At the trailer we wired a round plug with the lights and where the brakes and reverse went we put a positve and negative. It worked great and I love it. It's been that way for a year now. But lately I've been wanting to instal some sort of switch that I can run all of them too and choose between my brakes or winch. Something with a "ON, OFF, ON" or just to choose between "A" or "B". So when I tow my boat I can switch it to "winch" or when I tow a trailer with brakes I can switch it to "brakes". I forgot I had done this rig and went to tow a buddies trailer and his brakes just locked up since it was sending constant power . Any info would be appreciate on helping me find the right switch. I want to mount it under the bumper or drill a hole next to the license plate so it has to be weather proof. Thanks

old-chevy-dude · April 13, 2011

google 3 position toggle or 3 position rotary switch, there are thousand of options.

http://www.saltysmarine.com/index.php?main...mp;cPath=84_108

8.1HD/ALLISON · April 13, 2011

Why not put a 7 way connector on the boat trailer to match your truck. Thats what I did. Then you don't have to mess with a switch. 7 way will have constant power and ground and brakes with no switching.

rb-86 · April 13, 2011

Why not put a 7 way connector on the boat trailer to match your truck. Thats what I did. Then you don't have to mess with a switch. 7 way will have constant power and ground and brakes with no switching.

That what I did I replaced the brakes and reverse light with a positve and ground to power the winch. My trailer had a flat four connector before.

nickvrebel · April 13, 2011

one of the wires on the 7 way connector on the truck is a constant positive and the other a ground already.... to activate the positive you connect a wire under the hood and put in a fuse (see brake controller install threads), then you swap the connector on your boat trailer to be a 7 way plug. at that point you use the ground and hot leads to connect to a weather proof switch (there is plenty made for winches, you could use a mini handheld model, a wireless, etc if you use a contactor)

rb-86 · April 13, 2011

google 3 position toggle or 3 position rotary switch, there are thousand of options.

http://www.saltysmarine.com/index.php?main...mp;cPath=84_108

I think that first one will be perfect since it's meant to run battery power. I was trying to find a switch that would send enough power to move the winch. It never occured to me even I use the one in my boat every time lmao. Thanks

Blue2500CC · April 13, 2011

RB-86,

As mentioned already, from the factory there is 12v constant and a ground already wired in the 7 way plug at the hitch! All you had to do was install a fuse, and hook a wire that is taped to the wire harness under the hood to the fuse center. Here is a link to the wiring diagram of different trailer plugs, just scroll down to the 7 pin plug.

No need for a switch to choose brakes or 12v battery power.

This is how travel trailers have both electric brakes and a 12v power supply to charge both the battery that is installed in the trailer, and the trailer brakes battery back up system as well (if installed).

Chris

rb-86 · April 14, 2011

Great info guys. I was un-aware that there was already a 12v for battery power. This will be my weekend (next weekend lol) project. All I'll have to do on the trailer end is move the winch power and ground to the appropriate connector. Thanks alot guys!!!

Question: What fuse should I go with? It's not a big winch or anything. Here's a link : http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-mo...inch-96455.html

rb-86 · April 14, 2011

Also do u think that the factory wiring won't burn up with the winch? Maybe I'll put the brakes and lights back and replace the ground and 12v power with the wiring I added that's thicker. Thoughts?

asc08 · April 14, 2011

The owner's manual for the winch advised to run a 50 amp circuit breaker in line with the wiring for the winch. Also advises to use 10-12 ga wire. Pretty sure that the reverse light wire in your wiring harness is not 10-12 ga. You may want to consider running a dedicated wire for this, or at a minimum use the power lug in the 7 pin connector, with a breaker / fuse sized for the wire in the harness.

rb-86 · April 14, 2011

The owner's manual for the winch advised to run a 50 amp circuit breaker in line with the wiring for the winch. Also advises to use 10-12 ga wire. Pretty sure that the reverse light wire in your wiring harness is not 10-12 ga. You may want to consider running a dedicated wire for this, or at a minimum use the power lug in the 7 pin connector, with a breaker / fuse sized for the wire in the harness.

I have 10 ga insulated wires running now so i'm gonna re-install the brake and reverse to factory location and replace they factory ground and 12v with my wiring and add the fuse in the line. I currently have it hooked up straight to the battery.

kdixer · April 14, 2011

You also need to make sure the conections can handle the current load as well. The trailer end is usually not an issue because they have screw terminals you can hook the wire to. But the truck side uses the factory plug in. It may be best to have a dedicated connector for this project as well.

I would probably lean more towards using the boat battery to power the winch. You could use a plug in and wire harness for a trolling motor to plug the winch into the boat. The trolling motor plug in should be acceptable for this application.

When I used to luanch my bass boat, I always unhooked the trailer connector anyways to eliminate burnt out bulbs due to leaking tail light housings.

SparkySparks · April 14, 2011

You also need to make sure the conections can handle the current load as well. The trailer end is usually not an issue because they have screw terminals you can hook the wire to. But the truck side uses the factory plug in. It may be best to have a dedicated connector for this project as well.

I would probably lean more towards using the boat battery to power the winch. You could use a plug in and wire harness for a trolling motor to plug the winch into the boat. The trolling motor plug in should be acceptable for this application.

When I used to luanch my bass boat, I always unhooked the trailer connector anyways to eliminate burnt out bulbs due to leaking tail light housings.

Don't know that the boat battery would work for him, I think he has the winch mounted on the trailer not the boat.

kdixer · April 15, 2011

You also need to make sure the conections can handle the current load as well. The trailer end is usually not an issue because they have screw terminals you can hook the wire to. But the truck side uses the factory plug in. It may be best to have a dedicated connector for this project as well.

I would probably lean more towards using the boat battery to power the winch. You could use a plug in and wire harness for a trolling motor to plug the winch into the boat. The trolling motor plug in should be acceptable for this application.

When I used to luanch my bass boat, I always unhooked the trailer connector anyways to eliminate burnt out bulbs due to leaking tail light housings.

Don't know that the boat battery would work for him, I think he has the winch mounted on the trailer not the boat.

That is why I mentioned the trolling motor socket. He would simply drive the boat up on the trailer, hook up the winch cable, and then plug the winch harness into the trolling motor socket and winch the boat the rest of the way onto the trailer. He could either use an exsisting trolling motor socket if one is already available on the front of the boat, or he could install a dedicated terminal for this project.

I just really do not think the 7way will handle this kind of electrical load. I am not sure what guage wire is going into the truck side of the 7way plug for a ground and "+" supply. If it is 10 guage or larger, then there is no problem. But if he is splicing into a smaller wire, then it could very well cause problems should the winch get in a strain. It will not matter what size wire he runs from the battery to the plug. If he ties into a smaller wire at the plug, that is where it will melt should the circuit pull some serious amps.

rb-86 · April 15, 2011

You also need to make sure the conections can handle the current load as well. The trailer end is usually not an issue because they have screw terminals you can hook the wire to. But the truck side uses the factory plug in. It may be best to have a dedicated connector for this project as well.

I would probably lean more towards using the boat battery to power the winch. You could use a plug in and wire harness for a trolling motor to plug the winch into the boat. The trolling motor plug in should be acceptable for this application.

When I used to luanch my bass boat, I always unhooked the trailer connector anyways to eliminate burnt out bulbs due to leaking tail light housings.

Don't know that the boat battery would work for him, I think he has the winch mounted on the trailer not the boat.

That is why I mentioned the trolling motor socket. He would simply drive the boat up on the trailer, hook up the winch cable, and then plug the winch harness into the trolling motor socket and winch the boat the rest of the way onto the trailer. He could either use an exsisting trolling motor socket if one is already available on the front of the boat, or he could install a dedicated terminal for this project.

I just really do not think the 7way will handle this kind of electrical load. I am not sure what guage wire is going into the truck side of the 7way plug for a ground and "+" supply. If it is 10 guage or larger, then there is no problem. But if he is splicing into a smaller wire, then it could very well cause problems should the winch get in a strain. It will not matter what size wire he runs from the battery to the plug. If he ties into a smaller wire at the plug, that is where it will melt should the circuit pull some serious amps.

I have a 10 gauge wires running now to my 7way and I've been using this set up for over a year now. With no issues. Plus the winch only runs for maybe 10 seconds at a time maybe 3 or 4 times a month when I'm using the boat. So its not like i'm always using it.I didn't know that the plug already had a 12v power supply. I'm gonna put the brakes and light back where they were original and replace the 12v and ground factory wires with the 10 gauge I currently have ran and ad the 50amp fuse. So when I go tow a trailer with brakes (finally lmao) I'll just take the fuse out and it's like factory again. On the trailer side the winch cable running into the 7way is also 10 gauge. I thought about doing a separate plug for the winch but it's more convinient just plugging in the trailer and having everything ready when your at the ramp.