If you are only testing without any loads to see if it will turn without sounding like a Waring Blender then by all means,(if you use heavy enough wire) you can just touch the terminals to the battery for a few seconds. But if you are talking about trying the
windlass under load, you are far better off using running it through its breaker and solinoid because a serious problem can really draw a lot of juice under load.
Jeff
Linear Mode
