Powerwinch RC 30 Trailer Winch

Probably wouldn't buy again – Several years ago, I decided it was time to buy an electric winch for my boat trailer. After a considerable amount of research, I elected to purchase a Powerwinch RC30. It seemed to suit my 6 mtr fibreglass boat. Cost was around $1,700 plus delivery. Well, I used the winch for about 6 months and then found it had stopped working. I had to use the supplied manual handle to winch the boat up. The winch has a wireless remote and I figured the battery in the remote was flat. As it turned out it wasn't, it was one of the power leads in the connector had come out. When I disassembled the cover, I noted that one of the 4 screws in the plastic cover was stripped. Furthermore, I found the screw that held the power wire in the connector was missing it's head, so I found a suitable replacement and the winch was again functional. Several years later, I had to replace the winch cable as a part of routine maintenance. When I opened the winch and disassemble it, I found that the grub screw that secures the winch cable to the drum was broken. Furthermore, when I managed to remove it, I discovered that the winch cable lug didn't have a wear mark on it, suggesting that it had never been secured to the drum, meaning that had I ever extended the winch cable to it's maximum and tried to winch the boat, the cable probably would had come off under load. This could had been deadly. After fixing this, I decided to have a bit of a look around inside the unit. What I found was very poor quality workmanship and overall poor QA. For example, the relay to operate the motor is upside down, allowing salt water to settle on the relay contacts. The spade connectors on the relay have been squashed with pliers and not the proper crimping tool. There is a considerable amount of corrosion inside the unit on the drum and other areas which is to be expected however I would have thought that a winch at this price would uses Stainless Steel on the metal parts. The winch is a little slow, but it's not a big issue, however, I would buy a faster one next time. You have all heard about the Friday product, well perhaps I got it. Overall, I am a little disappointed at this product, considering that you can purchase similar spec'd winches for less than $800. Interestingly, the Powerwinch website, alludes to the fact that the winch is made in the US, but I guarantee mine wasn't. There is no way the poor quality of my winch came from the USA. I have since noted spare parts are readily available and whilst they have made some revisions to the model, it's still the same winch. As with most products, check the price of spare parts before purchasing. These winch parts are horribly expensice. For example, the 80 amp relay is about $170, but a waterproof similar relay from a reputable manufacturer and seller is only about $60. (Don't buy Ebay replacements UNLESS they are made by known manufacturers. Omron, Brumfield Potter, Finder, ABB for example) The plastic case for the winch is $280 !