Battery Cut-off Switch

[Olered]

Since gas and reliability are 1 and 2 on my 70 mile round trip to work list, I haven't been driving my 97D1 around except on the weekends. I screwed up and let the battery go dead (some sort of drain due to a botched after-market radio install). I'm considering installing a battery cut-off switch. Has anyone installed one and is there a specific size/type? Most of the ones I've seen are the "red" keyed switches that run up to 300 amps. I have a Optima redtop. I'm concerned about over-powering the switch. Any clues?

Thanks,

J

 

[antichrist]

When looking at the ratings, be sure to note the duty cycle. 300 amps continuous is a far cry from 300 amps intermittent, since the intermittent ratings are usually something like 30 seconds on 3 minutes off.
Here's a link to the Cole Hersee catalog:
http://www.colehersee.com/pdf/J-Battery-related.pdf
I have one of these

 

[ptschram]

Well now, let's look at this carefully. The Hella switches are good enough for Rover to use as a transit switch... Seems to me if it's good enough for the manufacturer, it's good enough for me.

If you know someone at a stealership, you might be able to get one for free.

 

[antichrist]

Well now, let's look at this carefully. The Hella switches are good enough for Rover to use as a transit switch...

I'm not familar with those.

 

[marc olivares]

Olered,
for what it's worth, the red tops dont like to sit unused for more than just a few days at a time.
i've gone threw 3 red tops in 2 discos in the last year. now i'm using a deep cycle battery build locally. even when trickle charged, they never liked to come back. i got stranded recently in the Unitas and in Escalante whie using my engel on a year old (freshly charged) redtop. be sure you carry jumper cables

didnt answer your question about a shut off switch, but maybe answered the question to your real problem.

 

[Kavic]

The PO installed this battery switch to stop the drain.

 

[D Chapman]

When looking at the ratings, be sure to note the duty cycle. 300 amps continuous is a far cry from 300 amps intermittent, since the intermittent ratings are usually something like 30 seconds on 3 minutes off.
Here's a link to the Cole Hersee catalog:
http://www.colehersee.com/pdf/J-Battery-related.pdf
I have one of these

Thats what I need to put in-line with my winch! I've been hearing horror stories about the solenoids getting stuck and the which keeps spooling in until the hook catches the fairlead and kills the motor.

 

[Olered]

Thanks for the replies. I've been reading more and more horror stories about the redtops. I just replaced this one via warranty (before I stopped driving it). I think I'm going to just throw in a nice normal battery with the cut off.

 

[antichrist]

No problems with my Exide batteries.

 

[antichrist]

Thats what I need to put in-line with my winch!

That's where I use mine. But I'm going to get another for the main battery too.

 

[RichardS]

The PO installed this battery switch to stop the drain.

I have one of those on my Disco and on the cars, they seem to work well. In my case I installed them for emergency disconnect and/or maintenance. But they should work just as well for your purposes.

Alternatively you could get a BatteryTender and leave that plugged in while not using the truck. It will keep the battery charged/happy. I do this with my motorcycle as it has a tiny battery and sees infrequent use. I also use the BatteryTender to fully charge the Disco, cars, boat, and lwanmower batteries every month or two. Most vehicles do not charge well enough to keep the battery topped off, charging them periodically really seems to add to their lifespan.

 

[AKRover]

Why not just fix the problem instead? That seems like the logical answer to me, if you didn't have something draining your battery you wouldn't have a need for a battery cut off.