Strange/dangerous winch issue

[cabranch47]

My camper is stored in our driveway, covered. This morning I came out and found the winch running wide open. Some how it activated in the up mode. I pulled the battery cable to stop it. The camper was locked down and it broke the cable (thought it might have blown a fuse before that happened). This could have been potentially dangerous if I had been working on it or while camping.
Has anyone had/heard of this happening? The winch is the newer model, about 2 years old and used on two trips (1 month and 2 months) without incident. I don't know if the switch shorted out for some reason or maybe one of the relays malfunctioned. I have not had a chance to see if anything else is damaged but I know I will need a new cable at least. This is the Goshen System. Can anyone help with locating a new cable and how to install it. I would also like the name of the winch manufacture as I would like to report it to them. I am just glad that it did not happen on the road. Thanks for any input that you might have.

[JPBar]

Sorry to hear about this. Try robertssales.com this place has everything.
I always remove my battery from the camper when it is parked, don't need someone messing with the switch. You could add a cutoff switch to the winch. But I find it easier to just remove battery.

[cabranch47]

I don't remove the battery but keep it serviced. This was not caused by someone playing with the switch. We have a large lot, 360' of driveway and watch dog. Camper was parked behind the house and covered since November of last year. Something malfunctioned causing the winch to go in the up mode until the cable broke. Have not had a chance to check everything out yet. I did order a new cable from Goshen on Friday, it arrived today, great service.

[JPBar]

I am sure you will have it fixed soon.

[cabranch47]

I had emailed the manufacturer, Carefree of California, concerning this issue. Even though the winch was out of warranty (2 years old), I wanted to alert them to a possible dangerous issue. Expected that if I got a reply it would be 24 - 48 hours later. I got a call from their customer service dept. about 20 minutes later stating that they were concerned about this issue and asked if I would send photos for their engineers to review. I emailed the photos and received a response the next day. They are going to send me a new winch and prepaid shipping for the old one for their engineering dept. to examine. Needless to say, I was very pleased about this, the new winches cost about $400. I commend them for wanting to examine the damaged unit to see if this is a potential recurring problem. I am sure, and rightly so, that today's liability climate played a part in that decision. At this point I can't say enough good things about their customer service. The new cable and pulley have arrived from Goshen. Now I need to straighten out the mounting bracket on the trailer, replace the cable/pulley and mount the winch. I can then see if there is any additional damage. I wish they would let me know what caused this, but I am sure that I won't be privy to that information.

[MiCamper6]

I replaced the OEM winch on my Starcraft PUP with the new design from Carefree. I called their CS with a question about setting the limits. I was in immediate contact with the tech person, and about a week later received a follow up call to check on how it all went! Their CS was top notch.