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Thread: Best battery cut off switch?

  1. #31
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    Max, latching solenoid means no parasitic current draw with the engine off. Once it flips, current is done. Latching is a key word there, otherwise it requires current to stay on, or even to stay off. Neither one is good as it kills the battery faster. Latching avoids the current draw after the button is pressed.

    By the way, I do have a switch that might be of interest. It looks like a toggle switch, but is centered normally, and momentarily holds each direction. That would allow you to send current "on" or "off" rather easily without wondering which state it's in. One of the daves can give the name, momentary toggle maybe? Can't remember, mine's board mount though.

    Battery cutoff switch, stay near the battery itself. Relays, buttons go anywhere that's reasonable!

  2. #32
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
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    Yes a latching "relay" stays in the on or off position without any power applied to the control coil.

    My "relay" you reverse the 12 volts and ground to the coil to get it to latch the other way. You could control that coil connection with a double pole switch with a center off position. You wire the switch (6 terminals) so one position powers one way and the other reverses the voltage. Then return to center off so no power is applied to the coil. So you would want a spring loaded DPDT switch with center off. I think my relay coil draws 3 amps when powered.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shep View Post
    Max, latching solenoid means no parasitic current draw with the engine off. Once it flips, current is done. Latching is a key word there, otherwise it requires current to stay on, or even to stay off. Neither one is good as it kills the battery faster. Latching avoids the current draw after the button is pressed.

    By the way, I do have a switch that might be of interest. It looks like a toggle switch, but is centered normally, and momentarily holds each direction. That would allow you to send current "on" or "off" rather easily without wondering which state it's in. One of the daves can give the name, momentary toggle maybe? Can't remember, mine's board mount though.

    Battery cutoff switch, stay near the battery itself. Relays, buttons go anywhere that's reasonable!
    That would be called a 3 position, momentary contact, center off toggle (and the # of poles, usually between 1 and 3). Other factors would include current and voltage ratings.
    David Teitelbaum

  4. #34
    Administrator Ron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shep View Post
    (I have multiple owners in mind there where bending is a serious problem)
    RemoteBatCutOff.jpg
    I used one of these on our rescue truck. It's by "Battery Doctor".
    The cheapest I see right now is $78.44 @ Amazon Prime (Half the price and 5 times the warranty ;-)
    Note it comes with 2 fobs

    ===================

    $.02
    If parasitic drain is the only problem (and you give up ;-) I'd suggest a solar powered minder instead...
    (Harbor Freight, any marina, ...)

  5. #35
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    The Daves (can we start a band named that please?) are right on the money, DPDT was the one term I was after (I have a DPST, but sounds like you need the DT, that's short for "Dual Pole, Single Throw" in my case, i.e. two available positions, one circuit connected with each position, the DT expands that to two separate circuits), the other was "momentary", that means when you let go, it returns back to center.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron View Post
    RemoteBatCutOff.jpg
    I used one of these on our rescue truck. It's by "Battery Doctor".
    The cheapest I see right now is $78.44 @ Amazon Prime (Half the price and 5 times the warranty ;-)
    Note it comes with 2 fobs

    ===================

    $.02
    If parasitic drain is the only problem (and you give up ;-) I'd suggest a solar powered minder instead...
    (Harbor Freight, any marina, ...)
    OOOHH!!! OOOHH!!! Relevant XKCD!!! What a time to be alive


    https://xkcd.com/1924/

    Just posted a week ago

    Solar power is far better utilized to power a fan to vent the oven known as the "interior". Like the Prius did after Aptera went under and they could claim it as "innovative" because Aptera wasn't going to be around long enough to enforce its patent on the issue.

    All seriousness, if THAT'S the approach I take, I'll be the guy with four key fobs and two cars and no reason to hold onto any of them. It's no wonder my actual keys go on a completely different keyring anymore. All while my scoliosis steadily gets worse and I have trouble bending myself. (Scoliosis and Parkinson's are what the members I was referring to have, some I only know by rough location and have never met nor spoken to. 4 degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of thing.)

    Every winter, I am my own kill switch. I just unbolt my goddamn battery myself and put the exposed terminal in rubber. There. Done. Come summer, when I go to drive for the first time, if I miss it, I'll take the daily for a day and remember to go through the pre-spring checklist. (Which I don't have, so really I just bolt it on and go faster because I'm late after trying to figure out why it wouldn't start.)
    Last edited by Shep; 12-14-2017 at 11:57 PM.

  6. #36
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    Join Date:  Dec 2016

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    So taking inspiration from this thread and particularly Dave's suggestion of the latching battery disconnect coil, I just finished adding an electric battery disconnect. Previously, I had a manual disconnect that required me to reach into the battery compartment to disconnect or connect the battery. Since I always disconnect the battery after I finish driving, the manual disconnect was inconvenient. I'm excited that I can now connect and disconnect right from the drivers seat.

    I did take just a slightly different slant by installing the disconnect as an accessory to the battery. Pictures are better than words so here is my early work fitting the disconnect relay to the battery:
    P1132519.jpg

    Here's the finished battery with the control wiring:
    P1272528.jpg

    I found this ON(momentary)-OFF-ON(momentary) reversing toggle, perfect for the latching relay (note the cheap connectors shown here were just for testing):
    P1272534.jpg

    Made a bracket for the switch out of spare aluminum angle:
    P2242700.jpg

    Here's the finished switch. The angle mounts to the hood release bracket:
    P2252707.jpg

    Finally, here's the battery with relay tucked into the battery compartment:
    P3072730.jpg

    Generally happy with the way it turned out. Looking forward to jumping in the car and connecting the battery from the driver's seat. We're slated to have several days of nice driving weather.

    Ron
    Last edited by DMC-Ron; 03-08-2018 at 06:08 AM.

  7. #37
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DMC-Ron View Post
    So taking inspiration from this thread and particularly Dave's suggestion of the latching battery disconnect coil, I just finished adding an electric battery disconnect. Previously, I had a manual disconnect that required me to reach into the battery compartment to disconnect or connect the battery. Since I always disconnect the battery after I finish driving, the manual disconnect was inconvenient. I'm excited that I can now connect and disconnect right from the drivers seat.

    I did take just a slightly different slant by installing the disconnect as an accessory to the battery. Pictures are better than words so here is my early work fitting the disconnect relay to the battery:
    P1132519.jpg

    Here's the finished battery with the control wiring:
    P1272528.jpg

    I found this ON(momentary)-OFF-ON(momentary) reversing toggle, perfect for the latching relay (note the cheap connectors shown here were just for testing):
    P1272534.jpg

    Made a bracket for the switch out of spare aluminum angle:
    P2242700.jpg

    Here's the finished switch. The angle mounts to the hood release bracket:
    P2252707.jpg

    Finally, here's the battery with relay tucked into the battery compartment:
    P3072730.jpg

    Generally happy with the way it turned out. Looking forward to jumping in the car and connecting the battery from the driver's seat. We're slated to have several days of nice driving weather.

    Ron
    Nice work and good ideas.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

  8. #38
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    You should consider a switch cover or some kind of interlock so you can't accidentally shut the battery off when the motor is running. That would not be good for the alternator if the battery got disconnected while it is charging.
    David Teitelbaum

  9. #39
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    Join Date:  Dec 2016

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    Quote Originally Posted by David T View Post
    You should consider a switch cover or some kind of interlock so you can't accidentally shut the battery off when the motor is running. That would not be good for the alternator if the battery got disconnected while it is charging.
    Good point David. I should have included a photo showing a closeup of the toggle switch safety cover:
    P2242702.jpg

    The photo above shows the spring loaded safety switch with the safety cover lifted allowing access to the toggle. While driving it covers the toggle so any inadvertent bump will not activate the switch.

    Ron
    Last edited by DMC-Ron; 03-08-2018 at 02:35 PM.

  10. #40
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    Location:  Middleburg Heights, OH

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    Help me understand the wiring there: when the cap is closed, is the battery engaged or disengaged? Would be better if cap closed = battery engaged and operational in my mind, if you bump the switch, the cap itself ensures it will remain functional. It is, after all, a quick-disengage cap on that switch. You can move the switch by closing the cap. Visual indicator for industrial use is where the red ones see wide use as a kill switch for machinery.

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