I did the conversion on my rig in november. Ran the boat once. Went to trim it in the yard the other day and all it does is click. Battery is good. I check connections, they're good. i have power getting to the trim motor. If i hold the trim switch in the up or down position for a few seconds, i can hear the motor just barely try to trim, but it doesnt do much at all. Once thing i did notice is when i poked holes in the wires to get a voltage reading, they had moisture bubbling out of the hole. like there is moisture in the actual wire somehow. Never seen that before. Could that affect it? thanks for any help!
CMC winch relay conversion question
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I believe moisture and air will get under the wire insulation and "corrode" the copper which can cause electrical problems. If you strip back the insulation I bet the copper would be black up to a certain point past the connection. Marine grade "tinned" wires and sealed connectors help with the coppers oxidation. It is my understanding that this is more of a problem in salt water area.
did you have your winch contactor in a box? or simply out in the open with wires exposed?
open
Take 2 wires and run them from the main wire that goes to the actuator( just wrap them around the contactors any way you can). Touch these to the positive and negative battery terminals. If the trim doesnt work then the actuator is bad. Work your way all the way back to the toggle switch from here.
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Other than a bad wiring connection at the solenoid, it sounds to me like your electrical side of the actuator has taken on water. And that's not a good thing. The factory seal where the harness enters the cap isn't all that good in my opinion. I coat that area with sealer when installing new ones. Take what twb has suggested and it will confirm if the actuator has failed.
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Where do y'all buy the winch actuators? Also read on an old post about Alisyn Pro Gear 21 fluid. Was wondering where to purchase it too.
i could use some clarification on this if you dont mind. i have a black and white wire coming from the trim unit to the relay.
this unit has seen very little use. also, it worked last time out. quit working while sitting in the yard. i really think there is something wrong with the wiring / relay.
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Connect the black and white wire to a battery, direct. White to positive, black to negative. It should run. If it doesn't, you probably have water in it.
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Do NOT cut the black and white wires coming out of the actuator. It will void the warranty if you do.
I got on ebay and found a Warn winch actuator....$50 I think.....then I got an outdoor 6"x6"....4"deep junction box from home dept, drilled two holes and used romex connector sealed that bad boy up....never had an issue....sold boat and CMC to a guy ran into to him last year....still running like a charm
not working. next i'm going to tap into the white and black wires very close to the unit to hopefully bypass the "wet" part of the wires. we'll see. thanks for the help!
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How old is the CMC?
bought 11/12. have maybe 15-20 hours on it. Going to call CMC to get a new one...
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Unless things have changed, they (CMC) do not service the actuators. Replace with new only. If they are now servicing them, it would be good to know. If I can get a couple of these toasted actuators, I'll put some time into researching a vendor for parts. I've repaired several that had corroded armatures, brush caps and/or replaced the brushes. But in order to be able to repair them on a regular basis, I would need to find a source for the brush cap and armature. The hydraulics are pretty much trouble free. And if you do get a new one, coat the entry point where the cable enters the cap with sealer. The OEM method is not all that reliable in keeping water out.
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