912 Power Winch question

gss036

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Joined
Jan 18, 2003
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My 1989 powerwinch would not work for me on Monday after coming back in from a trip. I checked everything I could at the dock and gave and hand winched my 23WA back onto the trailer. After I got onto the trailer, I tried one more time, wouldn't you just know it, it started working again.
I tore it apart today and checked everything I could access and did not find anything any thing obvious. The spring loaded off/on switch looked ok, but could look inside w/o prying it apart and did not want to do that since it was still working. All connections were clean and tight. Any suggestions as to what might have caused it not to work and then restart? Any known problems?
 

Silvertip

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Sep 22, 2003
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28,771
Re: 912 Power Winch question

You need a test light or a voltmeter to diagnose the problem. When it doesn't work, start at the +12V input to the winch. Follow the voltage to the input side of the switch. Activate the switch while testing the output side. The output side probably feeds a relay and so on. When you lose the 12V the preceding component is bad.
 

gss036

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Jan 18, 2003
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Re: 912 Power Winch question

Thanks, I got that part figured out, guess I will have to keep using it until it stops again and keep my meter in the truck. By the looks of the inside of the housing, I would think it would be the switch. Pretty simple feed system. These things have a 60 AMP fuse, so they draw a lot of power and it is a large switch device.
 
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