battery cutout switch

[Aussie John]

I want to fit a battery switch but want it easy to use and not having to remove carpet etc. Any thoughts guys?

[spend]

If you just want a convenience type switch I have 2 discarnect's on my Chim & LR. Just fit on the battery negative term, cable then connects to the switch (big knob). Can be swapped from car to car, handy if you do any work and want to cut battery, reset ECU, leave battery charged... Just need to cut a little bit out of the battery box.

Dave

[Barreti]

I found an easy to disconnect solution not so long ago while at a boat chandlers getting some sealant for the headlights. Can't damned well remember what it was now though, but its still in my 'new bits' drawer so I'll fish it out this afternoon and give you the details.

[David Beer]

You do not need to switch the starter supply, just the fuse box supply. The rating doesnt have to be huge, say 80 amps, much easier to source.

[spend]

David Beer said:

You do not need to switch the starter supply, just the fuse box supply. The rating doesnt have to be huge, say 80 amps, much easier to source.

You'll feel a bit silly if your car goes up in smoke cos of one of the bits wired directly off the starter terminal tho

Dave

[Aussie John]

Hi spend, I want the switch so I can turn it off every time I put it in the garage, with it connected the battery is flatish after 10 days but with it disconnected it restarted after 6 months. I hoped someone had put a switch maybe on the left of the passengers footwell or somewhere easily reachable, cheers, John.

[Loubaruch]

I too became rather fed up with the immobiliser/alarm draining the battery after a few weeks.

Solution: Fitted a racing type plug/socket under the bonnet, on the passenger side inner wing. This serves two purposes:

It isolates the entire car from the battery when disconnected and allows easy charging of the battery from a convenient point rather than struggling under the passenger foot well.

I also took the oportunity to mount the large Fuse alongside the connectors to free up a bit more space above the battery.

One downside to disconnecting the battery entirely is that the battery in the alarm will not get charged and will thus probably expire.

If you would pics I can post some.

[Barreti]

Aussie John said:

Hi spend, I want the switch so I can turn it off every time I put it in the garage, with it connected the battery is flatish after 10 days but with it disconnected it restarted after 6 months. I hoped someone had put a switch maybe on the left of the passengers footwell or somewhere easily reachable, cheers, John.

Ah, now I understand what you're tryng to achieve John it makes a difference.
Why not just buy an accumate. plug it in and the world is your lobster.
I ran a decent twin core wire from the battery to the boot, spliced into the connector for the accumate and now every time I put the Griff away in the garage its plugged into the accumate via the wire in tthe boot and I've never ever had a problem starting it in the garage.

[Aussie John]

Thanks Ian, that might be the solution, when I repaired the car I required an offside door trim and ended up with a lhd one, [ no holes for mirror controls or lighter ] so I deleted the lighter not realising the consequences of no easy charge point DOH! John.

[griffter]

Aussie John said:

I want to fit a battery switch but want it easy to use and not having to remove carpet etc. Any thoughts guys?

I fitted one on the battery negative cable and mounted it in the glovebox. I retained a non-isolated charge point also in the glovebox.
You need to do some fairly hefty soldering to get the ringe terminals on to the battery cable - I used a small gas torch (!) but the system works fine.

[Barreti]

Barreti said:

I ran a decent twin core wire from the battery to the boot, spliced into the connector for the accumate and now every time I put the Griff away in the garage its plugged into the accumate via the wire in the boot

A couple of things come to mind about this John. Don't make the twin core cable too big - it only needs to be the same as the accumate cable that has the rubber covered plug you are going to splice onto the end. That way if you cover the car in the garage you can dangle the cable out of the boot and shut the boot so you can cover the car, without damaging either the cable or the boot seal.
I bought the cable in black with one of the wires having a tracer in red - it came from Maplins - the advantage of this is I now have a known good +ve and -ve available for any wiring testing.
You probably need only 3mtrs of cable to get under the capets, over the inner wing and into the boot, but I think I bought 5mtrs and have loads of spare in the boot, again this is useful for testing or if I need to put the car in the garage the other way around to work on it.
Lastly, phew!, I covered about 3 inches of the end of the wire with white insulating tape. This is so I can find it in the boot in the dark

[forrest gump mode]
and thats all I have to say about that
[/forrest gump mode]

[Hoover.]

mine has an isolating switch fitted to the vertical battery footwell board... located at the top in the middle so not in the way of passengers feet.....

very simple to isolate, just turn and take the key out if you want for security as well.....

only problem I've no idea where it came from as it was fitted by the previuos owner....

I'll have a look on the net and see something similar

http://www.motor-world.co.uk/show_prod.php?client_...

as you can see its a v simple device......

Edited by Hoover. on Sunday 4th November 10:36

[That Daddy]

Just make sure you get the one with small fusable link if you plan on keeping the alarm powered when switch shut off,just remember to turn switch on before you use ignition otherwise you will blow fuse and loose alarm connection/ecu memory/clock/radio etc,and if left on the street not sure your insurer will be happy about alarm being powered downjust a small heads up,you know what its like with small printi plan fitting on the battery tray too with key facing passenger feet(dont take out people with big feet)

[ruaricoles]

I've fitted a cut-off to the -ve side of the battery, the red key for which pokes down through the carpet at the top of the footwell near the heater. Tucked away enough to be fairly invisible and not get kicked. If there's smoke escaping from somewhere one day (and I think we'll all admit the original wiring isn't the best) I don't want to be rummaging around in the footwell removing bits of trim to get to the cut off!

Ruari


Edited to add: a friend lost a lovely old Aston V8 a few weeks ago which caught fire - not definitely electrical, but if it was a big red key would maybe have saved it.....

Edited by ruaricoles on Thursday 8th November 21:12

[spend]

If you want a cut out switch the main ground is a likely candidate IMHO. The main negative from the battery runs to the transmission tunnel and is connected to the chassis just in front of the gear lever. If you are concerned like this I would have thought having it in reach of the driver was paramount

Dave

[FlipFlopGriff]

Barreti said:

I covered about 3 inches of the end of the wire with white insulating tape. This is so I can find it in the boot in the dark

Ian,
Why don't you get a boot light kit from David Beer - should plug directly into your boot release kit. I asked for 2 leds (1 on each side) which velcro onto the underside of the boot with a magnet which activated the lights placed on the strut. This can be moved in the summer months in 5 seconds. Been on for at least 3 years now - great bit of kit, amazingly useful for everyday use and very cheap.
FFG

[spend]

You'll be joining the golfers next! I hear they have things called 'tees' - just to rest their balls on when they are driving!!

Dave