battery isolation

[brett84]

Hi All

I've been reading through the forums and online for a few hours now but can't get head aroung this so I'm wondering if you can help.
I want to fit an isolation switch to the battery. Mainly because I know someone who died in a fire in a fiberglass kit car, long story but a kill switch could have prevented it.

Any way, the Battery Brain seems the best option for me because of the remote on/off function ease of use. But my query doesn't really matter what switch is used as I may get a switch unit instead if I can do what I want.

Has anyone fitted an isolation switch? what did you do about the alarm and central locking? My alarm didn't go off when I disconnected my battery recently so thats not an issue. But I want to keep the alarm on when the battery is isolated from all other circuits.
As I'm moving the battery to the boot anyway, any extra wiring is not an issue.

What i'm thinking (but i'm not great with electrics), can I fit a spliiter from the battery so one fee goes via the isolator and one goes to just power the alarm and sterro (for radio etc). Would this be possible? I'm guessing I could just find the live feed to the alarm and run a cable direct to that?

My idea is:
Get out the car, lock it via fob as normal.
remote disconnect the battery via battery brain but the alarm remains on.
when i come back to the car reconnect battery via battery brain and the central locking will work again.

Any help would be awesome

[Krautchimaera]

the only reason why I fitted a battery switch was the alarm emptying the battery in a weeks time if the car stayed unused.
fitting a splitter to disconnect the battery with the alarm armed makes no sense to me.
when the battery is disconnected nobody can steel your car but on a flatbed.

Bernd

[ChimpanLucky]

brett84 said:

My idea is:
Get out the car, lock it via fob as normal.
remote disconnect the battery via battery brain but the alarm remains on.
when i come back to the car reconnect battery via battery brain and the central locking will work again.

Any help would be awesome

You have understood the Battery Brain perfectly.

The device is excellent and offers a perfect solution to the parasitic battery drain problem for those that do not have access to mains power to run a trickle charger.

Sadly the quality of the device is a bit lacking in my opinion with typically super cheap Chinese build quality.

Firstly the remote controls are not very robust, drop one as I did and it will fail.

You do get two remote controls, but when I dropped one of mine & it failed I wasn't comfortable not having a spare, if the one working one failed too I would be forced to break into the car to reconnect the battery.

I phoned Battery Brain for a replacement remote, I gave them the code on the remote but was told no spares were available, I tried a universal garage door remote but that failed to hold the IR frequency.

To be fair Battery Brain were very good about it, they sent me out a whole new device with two matched remote controls.

Another issue everyone should be aware of is the battery terminal supplied in the box is also very poor quality, it's made from a very brittle cast metal that is prone to failure.

I replaced this terminal with a proper tinned brass stud type terminal to reliably connect the Battery Brain to the positive battery post.

I recommend those with a Battery Brain already installed or anyone about to fit a Battery Brain should consider throwing the supplied battery terminal in the bin and fitting this one from Kojaycat.





http://kojaycat.co.uk/epages/950000457.sf/en_GB/?O...


None of this should put you off buying a Battery Brain though, it's still an excellent device.

Fit it using a good quality stud type terminal as above, treat the remote controls with care and you shouldn't have any problems.

[brett84]

Thanks guys very useful replies.

I understand what your saying about the alarm but it shouldn't drain the battery surely? I'm going to try to keep it active just incase some scum trys to steal stereo etc the alarm will sound. If the battery does still drain i'll have to change the alarm as i'd rather fix any problems than work around them. The wiring is a right mess...grrrrr

[andrewemberton]

Hi, cheers for the info here, i was looking at the battery brain for my '99 Chimaera. Does anyone know if it fits ok cos i know there's not an abundance of room down the passenger footwell! I'm assuming it sits on top of the battery terminal?
Cheers, Andy

[ChimpanLucky]

andrewemberton said:

Hi, cheers for the info here, i was looking at the battery brain for my '99 Chimaera. Does anyone know if it fits ok cos i know there's not an abundance of room down the passenger footwell! I'm assuming it sits on top of the battery terminal?
Cheers, Andy

Yep, fits fine.

Never fun getting down the footwell though.

[TVREmbers]

Smashin' I'll get mine ordered on Monday. I'm away with the military for 3 week blocks so i recon that'll de me just fine.
One more thing, did you run a live wire for the clock or just live with the wrong time? If so, easy?
Andy

[brett84]

I'm thinking no live wire as it would act as a drain if left for long periods

[ChimpanLucky]

TVREmbers said:

One more thing, did you run a live wire for the clock or just live with the wrong time? If so, easy?
Andy

There are a couple of permanent live male spade terminals you can use for the clock & the radio so it holds your pre-set stations.

I didn't bother, re-setting the clock takes 30 seconds and I dont really use the radio.

The Battery Brain is a great solution to the drain problem as it allows you to completely disconnect the battery after the car has been locked.

A completely disconnected healthy battery should easily hold enough charge to start the car after 3 months or more.