Newbie needs help adding a remote to winch

[agrimonyx]

Hello everyone!

I am an electronics newbie, though I do have minimal training (electronics class in grad school!), and am helping my father with a project. He has a Chicago Electric Power Tools Electric Hoist with a Remote (Sku#93251 from Harbor Freight). He would like to add a second, or even a third remote to this hoist so it can be operated from different locations.

How can I accomplish this? Hopefully as easy as possible!

MANY MANY thanks in advance!

-Natalie

 

[Harald Kapp]

A word of caution in advance: that winch has a corded remote control unit. It is possibly for safety reasons that there is just one remote control unit with a limited cable length so the operator has to be near the winch to observe it while operating it.

The remote control seems to have an on-off-on pushbutton only to either hoist the load up or down. This may be easy to re-wire.
You may be able to get a replacement remote control, add a longer cable to it and wire it in parallel to the existing controller.
Or you may open the controller, analyse the circuit (it should be failry simple, I assume) and roll your own controller from a suitable case, pushbutton and some cable.

The problem is that you somewhow have to ensure that only one remote is ever operated at a time. If two remotes are operated at the same time and give conflicting commands, all sorts of havoc can be created, depending on how the circuit is constructed - something I don't know.

It may be better to stick to the one remote that you have, with the option to use a longer cable to make it usable from more distant locations.

 

[agrimonyx]

Thanks, Harald! Your safety points are well taken, and I'll be sure to keep them in mind.

Yes, I was considering buying a replacement controller and then wiring it in parallel. I had not considered the issues that may arise from having the 2 giving conflicting commands. Is it possible to wire the 2 controllers through a relay or other controller so only 1 is active at a time? Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure how that would work...

 

[Harald Kapp]

That depends on how the controlers are wired internally. You could use a switch to connect either one or the other controler to the winch. Maybe a dual-pole double-throw (DPDT) switch would be required.

 

[roughshawd]

Guillotine and true bypasses are the best way to connect anomaly controls. The solution is probably a master device, with a multi range rotary switch targeting each individual switch box, things to consider will define be cable length, stabilizing outputs, and making sure transformers are in agreement before sending in the bumblebee....!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

[kellys_eye]

Another 10+year thread resurrection? Is this the second coming or what?

 

[bertus]

Thread locked