Battery Disconnect Switch Issue......
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
From: Sylacauga Alabama
Battery Disconnect Switch Issue......
In my attempts to find my slow drain I bought a battery disconnect switch from Corvette Central. I hooked it up inline with my negative cable. With it all snug I tried starting my car. When I crack my ignition I lose power, I can reach back and wiggle the wire and have power again? It's almost like its arcing out? I took it off and have no problems. I guess the question that I am asking is are there any success stories from these disconnect switch?
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
Likes: 439
From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
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Team Owner
Joined: Aug 1999
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From: Ontario
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2007
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
Likes: 439
From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
Uh, no. See the way the ouside clips are bent? They provide tension on the blade, serving as a spring. No tension, no contact. As they age/get warm, they aneal and lose tension, ergo, loss of contact pressure resulting in added resistence. That's why knife blade type disconnect switches eventually fail on roof top A/C units, etc.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 30,995
Likes: 99
From: Ontario
Four gallons of gas here
. On a more serious side, I recall a thread several years ago where a C4 sitting in a home garage experienced some form of "spontaneous" combustion. In other words, the darn thing just caught fire without a person being present. Both the car and the house were total losses.
These cars have hot circuits even with the ignition off (lighter, radio pre-sets, courtesy lights, alarm, etc.). With the very old wiring you just never know what flaws might rear their ugly heads. Be it a green **** or blade, a disconnect is cheap insurance.
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 27
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From: Staten Island, New York
I have the blade type hooked up to the positive side. This way when I disconnect it I know that there is NO POWER AT ALL going into the car. I see most people with it connected into the negative side of the battery. Does it really make a difference? I just feel safer with it disconnecting the positive side.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 30,995
Likes: 99
From: Ontario
I have the blade type hooked up to the positive side. This way when I disconnect it I know that there is NO POWER AT ALL going into the car. I see most people with it connected into the negative side of the battery. Does it really make a difference? I just feel safer with it disconnecting the positive side.
That's a very good question. And people often agree to disagree.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ery+disconnect
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 2,897
Likes: 0
From: Moon Township PA
Like Pau67 and others I prefer the knife blade type. I had a green **** spin on that was a PITA - sometimes it would make great contact, others times poor contact. Nine years later my blade is still functional and has never caused a probem. I can see that the spring action of the blade type can fail after a while but, hey, I got nine years from mine so that is only $3 a year (and countin). Great insurance imo.