Off/On Switch between Battery and Starter

Mine looks very much like Barney's. Somebody installed a water-based heater in my car and cut holes for the lines. The heater is long-since gone, so I reused one of those holes for the cutout. It puts it up behind the left side of the gas tank. Easy to reach from the driver's seat, but doesn't show unless you are looking for it.
 
Several years ago I witnessed a short-circuit accident with personal injury and vehicle damage to a club member with a starter-feed switch mounted exactly like the picture in Barney's post #18 above. NEVER put the switch in the 'hot' lead!
 
Just on the rare occasion that i had my starter button stick after the car was running it was nice to reach between the seats and shut her down then go into a panic of getting under the hood or trying to rip a battery cable end off. By then my starter drive or ring gear would have been damaged. This is a full fledged battery circuit that is always hot and directly connected to an electrical motor, feeding other live circuits yes things can go wrong. My garages are under my bedroom and i sleep much better at night having spent that extra 50.00 of protection.
 
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I have one of the better ones (IMO the green knobbed one is an accident waiting to happen) mounted under the seat, Tudor, between the batt and frame. Convenient and out of sight. Not only for safety but as a theft deterrent.
Paul in CT
 
1931 flamingo said:
I have one of the better ones (IMO the green knobbed one is an accident waiting to happen) mounted under the seat, Tudor, between the batt and frame. Convenient and out of sight. Not only for safety but as a theft deterrent.
Paul in CT
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So Paul...Just what is your "better one"? Can you tell us?

Pluck
 
I have the heavy duty cutoff switch mounted in the original engine mount with a short cable to the battery neg. post. I would rather run a short cable(like the original) rather than running back and forth to the ground post. I find it very convenient to just pop the hood and turn it off and on. the other thing I'm going to do is take that fuse off the starter mount and put an in-line fuse on the light/horn circuit. Had trouble with a blown fuse at the starter due to a loose bolt as it removes the battery from the circuit and you can lose your ignition and lights.
 
I don't have one --unless you count that the battery terminal is just pushed on and not tightened. ---it has been very reliable --once I got rid of the fuse that let the smoke out of the wires
 
I installed a Moroso switch--the same switch used on drag racing cars so it can handle extreme amperage without shorting out. I had a cheap plastic one, but internally it developed resistance that made starting the car difficult.
 

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Steve Plucker said:
Absolutly not...This way we get to be involved in experiences and a better understanding of the subject.

If you want to start a "poll"...be my guest.

Pluck
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I didn't mean anything by it. I thought the subject was how many. When I read a post that starts with "How many of you..." it seems to call out for a poll. As you know there is still room for comments even with a poll. To get your answer on how many now, you need to count the posts as you read them to get your number, a poll will give you your answer at a glance.

Even Barney thought it was a survey.
 
My thoughts are it seems like we have beat this proverbial horse absolutely to death just like the discussions of what proper oil to use, the actual viscosity of 600wt., whether vapor lock exists in a gravity fed fuel system, ....and which side of the battery should be interrupted with a disconnect.

The thing I have always tried to understand is exactly what are you trying to accomplish with this switch. As a theft deterrent or to eliminate a battery drain, the type Paul is suggesting is more than adequate. If a starter switch sticks, then the type Mitch suggests is fine. In the event of an accident, just exactly what are we trying to accomplish? For those of you who have tried this, with the engine running lift either the positive or negative battery cable from the battery post and you will notice the engine will still be running if the charging circuit is functioning properly. Therefore it doesn't do anything to switch the cut-off switch off in an effort to kill the engine during an emergency. An additional thought is if something metallic gets against one or more battery posts as result of an accident (i.e.: brake rod, frame rail, battery hold-down, etc.) being able to disconnect the ground via a switch will not be effective if there is an object laying against the ground post of the battery. Interrupting the starter cable will not do anything to protect a short between the battery post and the switch should the cable get damaged however it will interrupt a multitude of possible shorts on through the wiring harness unlike disconnecting the ground circuit will.

A great example of this would be a brake light switch could become shorted while driving. If the ground circuit were interrupted with a switch, as long as the generator/alternator were still providing current, the gen/alt case is grounded through the same metal as what the brake light switch is grounded thru!! Not much benefit of interrupting that circuit in my view!!



As far as which switch is the best, I was thinking Cole Hersee was the original manufacturer of these switches, ... and now there are Chinese 'knock-offs' so plentiful that I doubt someone could tell the difference between them. Again, define the reason you want one but I think most folks have a false sense of security the way they have them wired.

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Ed Northrop said:
Brent can you tell us the best way to wire it.
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I doubt it ....but while some here have argued saying it should disconnect the battery ground, --NHRA, NASCAR, and a couple of dirt track sanctioning bodies all specially state it is to be on the positive battery cable.

A month or so ago I was at a used truck dealership and specifically looked at this on Kenworth, Peterbilt, and one other mfg (I forgot what I looked at) of heavy-duty trucks, and for the ones that were equipped with a disconnect switch, they all had a switch disconnecting the cable that feeds the electrical circuit and not disconnecting the ground. One day when I have the opportunity I want to stop at a heavy equipment dealer and look how they are wired on a dozer or loader. So I guess this still begs the question why if all these others are saying the power feed cable, then why are some suggesting to disconnect the ground?
 
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