I don't think your going OTT at all m8, thanks for the input. My combo is a ex british gas van. The 12v socket is an auxillary extra to the standard lighter socket. The ex gas vans seem to be very well modified with extra specs, and I'm assuming they would cover all eventualities in anything they added to the van, so hopefully a fuse is in place. This particular socket has a length of wire and conduit around it, so I can easily add another fuse if there is not one in the system. Thanks for the advice. What inline fuse ampage would you use ?.
What I actually didn't explain was that I would use a cigarette lighter type plug in the 12v socket and wire this to winch receiver.
cheers fieldsy