I'd like to get one that works easy, because I'm always near killing my bat on days when I work on the car.

I know there's a little wrench they sell but it seems like there must be a disconnect that you could flip by hand that would fit in that tight area.

Anyone find one?

 

I don't like battery disconnects on street cars. I've seen them cause problems.

If the problem you're trying to solve is a battery drain caused by the under-hood lights, consider installing a disconnect switch or unplugging them when you have the hood up for an extended period of time.

YMMV.

Be well,

SJW

 

Ecklers sells one as well as most auto parts stores.




Ecklers battery disconnect

 

My dad had one on his '84. After a while, they start to jiggle loose and never work properly again. All they do is disconnect that the most inconvenient times (when you're in the parking lot and it's raining) and you lose all of your car settings (But that's only annoying if you keep track of gas mileage and such..)

Just my opinion, tho.

~Derek

 

Just connect a battery charger when you are working on your car!

 

 

What sort of problems? Disconnect at the wrong time (like in the middle of an intersection?)

It's more than the underhood lights. I unplugged them years ago. The interior lights (a bunch of them) also drain a lot. I would be willing to try a "good" disconnect, not some junky one & see how it works. I have seen master kill sw for race cars (required by safety rules) but most require remote install & drilling holes & running cable etc.

 

I have done that, but it's one more set of wires to trip over as you work around the car & I want the safety value of the disconnected bat. when I swing a wrench.

 

Yes I've seen those, have you used it? How does it work out for you?

Do you have to unscrew the **** all the way & separate the 2 parts or is there a simple on/off sw. built in to it?

 

I have disconnects on all but one of my cars. Two are
the side-post types pictured in this thread, one is a top
-post version of the same thing and one is a four-post
battery disconnect as required for competition.

I have NEVER had one misbehave.

I consider these convenience, anti-theft and safety devices.
I believe NCRS used to and may still add points for 'Vettes with
disconnects.

I do not use the bypass type that purport to retain settings.

The older ones I have come apart if the thumbscrew is turned
completely out. The more recently purchased ones remain
bound together: the circuit is broken but the cable remains
attached to the end that is bolted to the battery terminal.

Because I dislike the inconvenience of the ECM having to relearn
when the battery has been disconnected, I added switches to
control the engine compartment lights for times when I am detailing.
However, I do not hesitate to twist open the disconnect if I
am doing mech/elec work. I make a point of letting service
people know that the disconnect is there and asking them to use
it.

Incidently, the four-post kill switch is not a simple matter to
install. It is more than just about the locating and mounting
of a switch capable of handing the amperage, there is also
the business of wiring it so that the car actually shuts down
when you flip the switch instead of just continuing to run
on output from the alternator.

.

 

Loosening the thumbscrew a turn or two opens the circuit. It
is not necessary to remove it and separate the parts.

Tools are not required. Tighten it by hand, if you can't loosen
it by hand then keep the gorilla in you on a leash next time you
tighten it up.

My DD has one and it needs to be able to start at -40ºF (plus the
wind chill) on occasion.

.

 

I haven't ever used one. I thought about installing one because I occasionally show the car with the hood and rear hatch open. However, I found that I can just remove the interior light fuse and that takes care of the interior lights and underhood lights. Everything else still works fine and I don't have to hook anything up to move the car or put the windows up.

 

I have these on my 89 convertible and 56 Bel Air and have never had a problem with them. One time on the Corvette nothing would happen when I turned the key so I checked the switch and sure enough it was loose just a tiny bit so I tightened it up and haven't had any issues since. Just need to make sure when you tighten it up, it is really tight so it doesn't vibrate loose.

I also take the **** in the house in the Winter so it does act as a theft-prevention device of some sort.

 

Thanks everyone, sounds like it's worth a try

 

I would like to share with everyone a problem I had with a battery disconnect.

My car came with the disconnect installed by the previous owner. It is the same one that Ecklers and MidAmerica sells.

Anyhow, to get to the point, on occasion my car would not start. After a few moments and a slight touch to the ground post connection with the disconnect, it would start....sometimes.

After driving it for two years with this happening infrequently (but dang sure enough to worry me when we left town!) it got progressively worse. I installed a VATS bypass and new battery before I discovered that the dern disconnect was losing connection and not completing the circuit.

It was tight with no apparent issue. I took it out of the car and all is well. The disconnect is now safely stored in my trash can. I will never put one on my car again. I say invest in a good trickle charger.

 

After turning in my second battery under warranty, my very trusted battery vendor commented, "You aren't driving that car enough and the battery is going completely dead, right?" I had to admit he was spot on, I drive the 'Vette less than 500 miles a year and yes, the battery goes completely dead if I ignore it for a month or so.

He said he would replace this one (again) but unless I install a disconnect or pull a cable when I'm not using the car, he would no longer honor the warranty.

As soon as I got home, I ordered a disconnect from a eBay website vendor. Total cost including shipping was $10.20. I could have gotten one from Amazon for a buck or so more, but I have Amazon Prime which gives me free shipping. My daughter has Amazon Prime and is able to include me in her subscription for no extra charge.

I hope to get it in a couple of days and will take a picture of it installed to show my battery guy. He told me a dead cell almost always means the owner has let the battery die - completely. I believe him.

 

Your battery guy is right. However, I am telling you that you should have invested in a trickle charger instead. My disconnect caused me quite a few problems and some expense when trying to diagnose the real problem (~$130). In fact, hooking up a trickle charger is probably less difficult than unscrewing the disconnect. Further, one could even wire in a two way plug and not even have to open the hood to connect the charger (probably my direction in the very near future)!

Do as you wish, but if you ever hit the key and here a loud click followed by no electrical power, check the dern disconnect 1st. I didn't and found no reference on here or any other forum as to the possibility that it was losing contact.

 

Oh, I have several trickle chargers sitting around, but I don't find that is a good solution. The best, of course, is to regularly drive the car. A trickle charger will eventually boil the water out of the battery. That will ruin it unless you monitor the fluid level.

Yup, a disconnect switch can fail. Usually it's because of a lack of maintenance. Battery terminals will corrode, ground connections too. I try to keep mine reasonably clean. As I said, I am installing a disconnect switch to keep my battery guy happy and keep my warranty(s) in force.

In my 25 years in the fire service, the procedure for our vehicle batteries was to use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of each cell twice a day, recording the number on a log so we could spot a trend. The engineer (fancy name for driver) would add water as needed and plug in a charger if the charge got lower than 1250 on the hydrometer. Our batteries would last almost forever, it seemed. Lotsa work, though.

Right now I'm trying to maintain batteries on two motorcycles, the 'Vette, a peekup truck, my wife's Chrysler, a homebuilt airplane, three batteries in the motorhome, a spare deep-cycle battery and a couple of batteries in an emergency solar-charged bank I use for ham radio operation.

 

I assume you mean a cheap, "not smart" battery charger. A battery charger that is "smart" knows enough to slow down the charge rate when the battery is getting near fulyl charged, and when to turn off the charging and when to turn it back on to keep the battery charged.

On my motorcycles, that do not normally get ridden daily, I have usually used a smart charger (like the "Battery Tender" brand), regularly for long periods of time, with no adverse efefcts on the batteries.

Jim G