Tapping a switched power source

[awesome]

I have a tao raptor 200 and i need to tap into a switched power source to connect red wire to from badland winch. does anyone have any ideas where to tap. I'm new to atv's but dont want to mess anything up.

[Red Hawk]

Negative is a short run to the frame. Positive with an inline fuse goes to positive battery terminal and straight to the winch relay. Splice in to a positive on the ignition ( or any positive on with key) as the signal positive to the relay. They sell a cheap kit for this at HF tools and YouTube will get you certified. Just be clean and fused with the wiring and you’ll be fine.

[awesome]

hi the kit you are referring to .. would it be a snap that you can clamp around the wire you are connecting to and it makes contact with the other wire without cutting the wire?

if so do you know what its called?

[franque]

To do this, you'll need a good soldering iron, and a volt meter.

My advice, having done this dozens of times for installing plows (with winches) onto ATVs is as follows:

Find whatever wire is switched power from the ignition. I.E. it has 0V when the switch is off, 12V when on. Take a razor blade and carefully remove 3/8-1/2" of insulation, by first cutting around the wire, and then cutting between the two places you have cut the insulation, to again create 3/8-1/2" of bare wire (but don't actually cut the wire).

Then, take the wire that you want to solder on, strip it, and wrap it around the wire mentioned above, and solder it on. I like using really fine solder, as it melts more quickly. Make sure you really know how to solder before you do this, otherwise you end up just burning the insulation. After soldering, cover with electrical tape.

If you can't solder, you could just splice it with myriad forms of connectors, but I prefer to solder; it's longer lasting and more weather proof.

[awesome]

i'm not good with soldering so in my case it would be better to use a connector or something. do you know the connectors i am referring to? its like a snap on connection..it would clamp the wire i'm hooking into the other wire without doing much..

once i go look at the wires i have off the key switch i will let you know what wires i have. I'm not good with meters but i do have a meter.

thanks

[JSTOH]

I like using these when I tap into a wire. Not waterproof but you can coat with liquid electrical tape. I agree with Franque, soldering is best but this method will work. I believe I used this method for the extra lights on my Bull and Rhino. I went direct to the battery with my winch but I think that is why my battery is dying. I'll probably just put a QD since the winch doesn't need to have power all of the time.

[awesome]

yes thats what i'm referring to. i also purchase a fuse block and wanted to ask what i do with the ends i was hoping i could do a single wire from pos battery to block but i dont think i can but here is a pic





from how its set it would go from bat to a connector then otherside to what ever

[awesome]

if i may ask what gauge wire is best for wiring a horn on a atv i have 12 of 14 but wanna be sure thats ok. then when i run to battery should it be a different type of wire?

[Kenstogie]

fwiw many of my adventure rider friends use positaps...and they love them...typically using them on r1200gs bikes..... i use them on my vstrom never an issue..

[franque]

Originally Posted by Kenstogie

fwiw many of my adventure rider friends use positaps...and they love them...typically using them on r1200gs bikes..... i use them on my vstrom never an issue..

The biggest problem is when they're removed, like for a sale, and then the wire gets corroded and goes bad, because it's no longer got insulation on it. I know someone that had an R6 that I had to find and then fix a wire on the wiring harness because someone had installed (then removed) like a Bazzaz fuel tuner or something like that, which was removed before sale to my friend.

It cut a couple of strands of the wire, but would show continuity. The resistance only started as the wire was flowing current, which would heat up, change values, and then run poorly. Flowing the current through insufficient wiring also burned the copper -not the insulation, the copper just changed color- a bit, so though the cut was small -around 1/16"- I had to replace 1" of wiring on either side. It was a lot of fun to hunt down...

[crabjoe]

@Awesome, Can you post pics of the winch install? I'd like to see how you mounted it and how you ran the wires.

Thanks!

[awesome]

i had to remove it because the way i had it was not working right. are you installing one on your raptor 200 as well?

if you come up with a way please do tell but soon as i mount it back on i will show some pics

i also ordered a new fuse box but i do plan to add it back along with my second battery.

if you wanna chat private i think PM's work i am not sure though