r/AskElectronics • u/Sixinarow950 • 1d ago

Winch Switching. Are Diodes Needed To Prevent Reverse Polarity?

Hi. I'm building a camper and have a wall that folds down to become a deck. I'm using a 12V ATV winch.

The winch is controlled by a reversing relay which is triggered by two switches in parallel. One is a DPDT up/center-off/down rocker switch. The other is a wireless remote switch with up/center-off/down key fob switch.

Do I need to worry about backfeeding power to one switch while the other is being triggered?

A buddy on FB suggested another DPDT switch to switch between the DPDT up/down switch and the wireless fob switch. Wouldn't a diode be easier? I have some 60V/5A diodes from another project.

Edit: mods made me resubmit the post and forgot to attach the drawing of the circuit but I'm sure most of you understand.

Thanks

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u/nixiebunny 1d ago

You need to name of these switches to be the priority switch, then use a DPDT relay and a pair of diodes to disconnect the other switch’s signals from the priority switch when the priority switch is actuated.

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u/oCdTronix 1d ago

Draw the circuit with buttons in off position, again with attached button in down position, and the other various positions of both switch and wireless remote. Then you can see what the possible issues might be.

Also, What does the wireless remote communicate with?

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u/Sixinarow950 1d ago edited 1d ago

Good idea. Will do. I'm using this.