Battery Cutoff

[smee]

I've been using this part of the forum fairly frequently recently so thank you all again for your help.

I'm about to replace the battery again and am looking to try to improve battery life. The car is used only occasionaly and a as the car is parked putside in the summer months I'm not keen on leaving a conditioner on out in the rain with a long extension cable and the cover will not fit properly with the bonnet up.

Other than driving the car much more frequently I've been looking at cutoff switches but do you think they would be an appropriate solution?

Something like this

https://www.electricalcarservices.com/b ... -1141.html
or
https://www.electricalcarservices.com/b ... -1355.html with a bypass fuse

or more heavy duty but would require cables to be made up and fabricate a bracket

https://www.electricalcarservices.com/b ... -1391.html
or
http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p ... ategory/30
http://www.sector111.com/products/perfo ... tender.cfm

Cheers

[tut]

I have a new one of the first type if you would like it Andrew, I did not really have to fit it with the garage.

tut

[robin]

You need to be careful of the secondary alarm battery in the klaxon. If you disconnect the main battery I think this secondary battery can go flat. IF you do decide to try it, I would start by clearing the alarm (i.e. as though you're about to start the engine and drive off) and then disconnect the battery negative lead within the next 20 seconds.

Now when you come back to the car the primary battery will be in much the same state as you left it and the problem might be if the secondary battery has gone flat the alarm will go haywire when you reconnect the battery. You'll soon see if this is the case, and hopefully the primary battery will recharge the secondary in a day or so and everything will be OK.

If you do want to park it up with the battery isolated from time to time I would recommend against a switch and in favour of just disconnecting the battery at the negative terminal. The switch might be easier but introduces a point of failure you really don't need.

Cheers,
Robin

[mckeann]

ln the LOT series, a few people had problems with battery cutoffs failing, so i'd avoid if i were you. Its not THAT hard to pop bonnet and dissconnect a terminal and will cause you much less bother in the long run.

[alicrozier]

Other than driving the car much more frequently I've been looking at cutoff switches but do you think they would be an appropriate solution?

Would maybe seem appropriate on an S1 as it's harder to get at the battery? Not that difficult though.

My 2-11 has an FIA master switch would be ideal were it not for the Tracker which needs battery connection at all times...(at least I can put mine on charge easily in the garage).

Likewise if using the cutoff on mine I hear you need to switch off ignition first and wait 20 seconds or so for the ECU - handy if you're upside down on fire.

[Dominic]

Andrew,

The battery conditioner that I use has a fairly long cable from the conditioner to the battery. It also came with a connection that fits to the battery permanently and therefore you have a plug at the top of the service compartment that is easily accessed to plug in the conditioner. the wire from the conditioner will be long enough to reach that plug, with the conditioner sitting inside the car - with the bonnet shut and the doors shut. If you have somewhere dry in your car that you'd be happy to have the conditioner sitting (and extension cable), that would be my solution.

I will check my car this evening to confirm that the wires are all long enough for that to work, but I think it would be.

[cstrachan]

You get solar powered conditioners would that not be a simple solution?

[Mikie711]

You could run your trickle charger via the accessory socket inside the car and feed the power cable between the side window and its seal. That way everything should stay dry and the battery stays charged. Just have to try and park it as close to a power point to limit the cable run for damage etc.
Check to see if the accessory socket on an S1 stays live with the key out first mind you as I can't remember weather it does or not.

[smee]

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

Don't use the alarm but concerned about what you are saying wrt the immobiliser however as it is the battery seems to be prmanantly flat, will there be any current in it anyway? Also haw does a switch differ from disconnecting the negative terminal, would that not also affect the immobiliser?

Dom, what kind of conditioner do you have? (Battery, obviously not hair ).
We use a solar trickle on Ro's Dad's boat but it never seems to be enough.
I don't think the S1 socket stays live?

Cheers

[steviej]

Take Tut up on his offer, have had one of these on my S2 for 2 years with no hassle, you can unscrew the knob completely and take it away with you making it a quick and effective immobiliser... just dont lose it !

[tut]

S1 cigarette lighter is live.

tut

[robin]

Correct, there is no difference to the immob/alarm whether you disconnect the bat or put a switch in. But the switch might break, especially when it doesn't make good contact and you ram 200A through it to the starter. If you get a more sophisticated switch a la racing cut out you just get more sophisticated failure modes. If you park the car up for prolonged periods of time, yanking off the -ve battery terminal is a doddle and free ...

I honestly don't have a good grasp of the alarm system and it's battery but I know that sometimes they break when the main battery goes flat - perhaps the key is they only break if they were armed in the first place - don't know.

Cheers,
Robin

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

Don't use the alarm but concerned about what you are saying wrt the immobiliser however as it is the battery seems to be prmanantly flat, will there be any current in it anyway? Also haw does a switch differ from disconnecting the negative terminal, would that not also affect the immobiliser?

Dom, what kind of conditioner do you have? (Battery, obviously not hair ).
We use a solar trickle on Ro's Dad's boat but it never seems to be enough.
I don't think the S1 socket stays live?

Cheers

[tut]

Robin, the cut out that I have has a low voltage bypass wire that I think is fused, presume it is for powering the alarm, but not sure if that would not defeat the objective as it would still be drawing power.

tut

[Dominic]

Dom, what kind of conditioner do you have? (Battery, obviously not hair ).


Cheers

http://www.eliseparts.com/products/show ... nditioner/

That keeps by battery topped up comfortably, and does not charge when it's not needed. I only plug it in if I'm leaving the car unused for more that a week at a time. Works a treat for me.

And for your other question: http://www.boots.com/en/LOreal-Paris-Ha ... l_1250771/

[smee]

Cheers Dom, Accumate ordered but had a tonne of amazon vouchers so got it there.

Tut may still take you up on that offer, trying to source a bit of one of Little Bo Peep's chums for you as well