Badlands Winch Remote Not Working

Badland winches have an exceptional reputation in providing competition to highly rated and long-standing brands in the winch market. While some best badland winches offer a wireless remote control with the item, some do not. However, the wireless remote that comes with the winch doesn’t last for many days and stops working for several customers.

We will see nine different ways to troubleshoot your badland winch wireless remote. Go through each instruction and identify which issue is causing your remote, not making it work.

Badland Winch Remote Control Issues

The remote control is a device that has two primary functions- reel-in and reel-out. They come with a working range of 20 ft to 55+ ft efficiency and all necessary terminals and connectors. The general issues with remote control not working are as follows:

Replace the Battery

Several customers have found that merely after a day of use, the wireless remote control range decreases. Other customers did try changing the battery to a better quality one, and the range worked out just as new.

Badland winch remote controls come with a 12V lithium-ion battery. Replace the stock battery with a Duracell alkaline battery for a longer-lasting time. Always carry a couple of spare batteries with you to avoid getting stranded anywhere with a non-working winch.

Extending Wireless Range

A small green wire from your control box is an antenna used to receive the remote signals.

To get a more wireless remote control range, consider extending the antenna wire from the control box using an alligator clip and connecting it to your vehicle’s antenna.

The antenna’s size should be twice it’s original length. Keep the antenna away from any metal and as straight as possible.

Remote Could Be Reset

Sometimes your winch loses frequency and gets unpair with your winch. You have to send a series of codes to the receiver to sync them again.

(i)  To do that, turn the power by pressing and holding the ON button. Blue light blinks. Then hold both the IN and OUT button at the same time for 20 seconds. It will blink and stop. The next step is to press both buttons again until the light goes off and comes back on.

(ii)  Another way is to detach the cables from the battery and reconnect it.

Missing Antenna

Check whether your remote control box has a thin green wire. This thin wire receives signals from your remote for operating; if you see it missing, have them changed.

Water Drain

Badland winch remote is not waterproof; if you’ve had water got into the control box, it must have tripped your winch and stopped working.

Cleaning the Remote

Customers had complained that when they tried using their wireless remote, there was no reaction from the winch or the other function of the remote.

After trying to change batteries or check for a blown a fuse, they did come across the longer route of rerouting their remote by opening out the solenoid box and cleaning up the dirt, and applying some lubrication. After this, the remote would resume its normal functions.

Wireless Range

The Wireless remote control works well within the 25 to 30 ft range; sometimes, it would not work unless you were in direct sight of the remote.

Delay in Action

There is a delay in action when you press the button to the time and the winch to operate. The remote takes time to send the signal to the control box, although a bit problematic on the first few times when you use it.

Disengage Reciever 

When you are not using the winch, unplug the receiver from the control box. It can be dangerous if someone picks up the wireless remote controller and push a button activating it.

There’s also the possibility of radio interference activating the wireless controller. You can avoid that by installing a toggle switch to start the winch only when you operate.

With many reliability issues with the remote control, from the batteries going dead, input delays, wireless range, antenna reach, interference with the remote, etc. Harbor Freight has released a new model, Badland Apex Wireless Winch Remote.

Badland Apex Wireless Winch Remote has an 80ft wireless range, IP67 rated for waterproof, anti-slip over-mold grip hold, splash guard, and 12 ft. cable for wired operation. You can get it from harborfreight.com.

Universal Wireless Remote

If you feel like going for a remote control that is not Badland branded, choosing a Universal Wireless Remote will be a better option. However, you might need some basic mechanical and wiring knowledge to wire any electrical components since electrical systems keep changing from device to device.

Whatever the case with the badland winch remote not working, if you are not confident of providing the essential repairs yourself, call for assistance from the Harbor Freight Customer Care Service.