| It’s that simple. Any good Bushie will take their hat off to Warn as they withhold a well earnt reputation for quality, durability and the reliability that we often need here in Australia. At the end of the day the proof is in the pudding: Aussies use more Warn winches than any other country in the world.
Last November most of the gear was still packed in the back of the 4WD, as I had returned from the Canning Stock Route only 3 months prior. Just when my trusty old 80 Series lazed in the driveway enjoying some hard earnt long service leave, the swag landed in the back and we were away once more on another off-road trip.
We were heading from Perth to Brisbane – right through the guts of Australia – and back again via remote sections of the Top End. For this trip however, we needed a winch that could be relied on and in particular one that would stand up to the Wet up North.
When Bruce Poole (National Sales Manager from Ateco Equipment) heard where we were going, he put his hand up straight away and offered to bolt Warn’s new Endurance 12XE forced air-cooled winch onto the front of the Cruiser. Being a gentleman, I accepted but cautioned that without the support of a second vehicle we would rely heavily on this winch if we got into real trouble in the middle of nowhere. We were of course expecting to encounter plenty of mud and water before we made the round trip back to Perth, and the winch itself was later to become an insurance policy in itself. Amongst other insults, this 12,000Lb winch was going to be repeatedly dunked in water over two or more months. With 300L of diesel, extra water, food, equipment and a boat on top of the Cruiser the winch has its work cut out for it.
As it turned out we were in for slightly more of a challenge than anyone anticipated. I am sure most of you heard and watched on TV the biblical floods QLD experienced this Wet, and so I need not elaborate further except to say the mighty Channel Country would not let us pass easily. No matter how well equipped you think you might be, traveling through this country in the wet is dicing with death.
I will only ever recommend a product that has proven itself in front of my eyes and I can say with my hand on my heart that if you want a winch with more balls than Wembley Stadium then read on. Warn’s new Endurance 12XE forced air-cooled winch has a few points that are well worthy of some credit.
The story begins with the Laws of Thermodynamics, and in particular the 1st and 2nd which underpin virtually every machine you have ever laid eyes on. Essentially, an electric winch is a device which is specifically designed to convert energy from one form to another – that of course being the translation of electrical energy to physical work.
Generally speaking, when a motor attempts to convert electrical energy into work, heat is invariably generated as an unwanted byproduct. It is considered impossible to convert one pure form of energy (electrical) to another (work) without loss occurring along the way somewhere. In the case of your electric winch, this unwanted loss primarily occurs as thermal energy, and this concerns the 1st Law of Thermodynamics.
Naturally, this is a very simplistic viewpoint but think of it this way: when winching, the electrical energy from the batteries has two primary conversion pathways, not dissimilar to a fork in the road. The favored option is for current to go directly into creating work by the motor, whereas the other unfavorable option is to be converted into heat which is lost to the environment. An ‘efficient’ winch will convert more energy into work, and less into heat.
So, the more heat your winch creates - the less work it is able to perform for you as precious energy from your batteries has been lost. And if you’re not already confused, it also logically follows that the higher the load on your winch, the quicker it will generate heat. Drag a heavy 4WD out of a deep hole and your winch will slow down and get hot – fast.
A hard working winch will accumulate thermal energy at a rate higher than what it can loose it. In fact, under most conditions this is impossible to avoid, and here the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics enters stage right.
As your expensive winch gets hotter and hotter a couple of nasty things begin to happen:
It begins to work less efficiently and create even more heat, this is primarily due to the fact that a hot wire increases its resistance and carries current less efficiently than a cool one
The rapidly increasing heat ultimately causes component damage to the inside of your winch
Your hard working winch has now set up a positive feedback loop whereby if you do not cease winching and allow it to cool down you are guaranteed to cook it and burst into tears shortly thereafter. And if it doesn’t cook you will simmer it and the life and reliability of your winch can be massively reduced. One day, it will fail for sure. This is why we must duty cycle our electric winches – and for the most part you can blame the Laws of Thermodynamics.
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Not wanting to smoke up your winch is also a very sound reason not to buy an el- cheapo version.
There is one sneaky, yet blatantly obvious way around this problem of thermal accumulation; and this is where the Endurance 12XE in my opinion excels above every other winch. By reducing the rate at which the winch accumulates unwanted thermal energy, we can create a situation whereby the winch becomes significantly more efficient. The idea of blowing cool air into a winch motor is not new, competition 4x4 enthusiasts have been making their own for some time now; but the Endurance 12XE is the first commercial winch to crunch the numbers properly and be engineered to the standards customers have come to expect from Warn.
Why is this heat such a problem? Because the leading cause of motor failure in winches is due to the heat building up and causing the motor to burn out. The Endurance 12XE has a remotely mounted high volume/low pressure fan that blows air into the motor to keep it cooler during typical winching loads allowing for longer pulling cycles and greatly extended motor life.
For the reasons outlined above, the lower operating temperature of the motor also allows for better efficiency and faster running speeds.
These days synthetic rope is a common choice for winches. The Endurance 12XE was fitted with a drum of Dynamica rope which saved additional weight on the front bar, and extended the immediate reach of the winch. Most I have spoken to tend to agree that when used correctly, the advantages of synthetic rope outweigh those of the traditional steel cable predecessors. Having used both, I would always lean towards the synthetic option and see no reason to go past Dynamica – it certainly didn’t let us down.
My 80 Series is fitted with twin Yellow-Top Optima batteries (D34’s) with a RedArc 200A SmartStart dual battery solenoid just incase the winch really sucks down some power. Due to the better efficiency of the Endurance 12XE these smaller yellow-tops had no problems at all supplying the Endurance 12XE, even without supplementary alternator power. Having smaller batteries saves weight in the vehicle and money in the pocket.
I decided to mount the control box to the left of the winch, so it made a very stable fitment to the bar. This was in preparation for the extreme corrugations which lay ahead in wait. Whilst it is more difficult to fit the control box in this manner, it makes for an excellent fit and actually helps the winch operator to stand out to one side away from a dangerously tensioned cable.
The high volume/low pressure fan is remotely located high under the bonnet and is automatically activated when required by a thermal switch in the motor housing. The fan draws its air from a hose which (in my vehicle) passes through the firewall into the cabin. The advantage of this is that it ensures clean, dry and most likely cooler air (from the A/C) passes directly into the winch motor housing. This is a particularly attractive feature as the fan can be manually activated by a dashboard switch during deep water crossings and used to blow positive pressure air into the winch and further retard any water from entering.
This feature is a fantastic insurance policy to ensure it is virtually impossible for water to enter the winch. Even if water did somehow manage to enter the winch housing all you need to do is leave the fan on for 5-10 minutes after the water crossing to literally blow-dry it. Keeping water out of your winch is definitely a big plus.
Some have suggested that the air inlet hose could be fitted to the vehicle’s snorkel, but I am not convinced this is the best option as it may allow for retrograde flow of water back into the engine if the fan is not operating during a deep water crossing.
In summary, the objective of this article is to unearth some of the innovative features of the Endurance 12XE rather than bench test it against other winches. I very much look forward to seeing a few back-to-back tests between this winch and other major competitors as I predict it will perform extremely well. Having taken the Endurance 12XE on such a long arduous trip I can attest that it should indeed be a sober consideration for the more serious 4WD enthusiast. During our trip we submerged the winch on many occasions in creeks and flood waters. After returning to Perth I had it stripped down and was quite pleased to find it perfectly clean on the inside. It is my opinion, after drenching it, that the positive air pressure of the fan is extremely effective in warding off water during a deep crossing.
If you’re in the market for a serious 12,000Lb winch then you’d be mad not to have a good look at this one
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