Shut off switch question

Vern

Well-known member
I admit to being dumb when it comes to electric things. I can change a light bulb without two people to rotate the step ladder.
But I’m not certain about installing the shut off switch on the roadster.
The one cable extends back to the positive/ground terminal on the battery.
What does the other cable attach to?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0233.jpg
    IMG_0233.jpg
    49.8 KB · Views: 75
One side goes to the battery, the other side goes to the starter switch on top of the starter motor.

Sometimes it is helpful to think of an electrical circuit as a plumbing system. The battery is like a pump that supplies the pressure, the electrical cable or wire is analogous to a pipe, and the switch is analogous to a valve.

The cars frame (ground potential) is analogous to a puddle or pond that returns the water to the pump.

The bigger the pipe, the more water can flow, just like a larger wire or cable can carry more electricity. A larger pump can pump more water just like a higher voltage battery and push out more current.

Spring Valley is my old stomping grounds when I was a pre-teenager.
 
Last edited:
So looking at that photo, I see a thick cable attached to the starter motor switch. That cable should go to the negative terminal on the battery. If that’s the case then your system has been wired based upon an “interrupted ground” principle. That is, as NK has stated, the complete path from battery negative terminal through all the car, through the frame and back to the positive terminal on the battery gets interrupted when the switch is open.

That open cable from the switch needs to ground to the frame somewhere, in a large contact surface free of paint and fixed with a tight bolt. In that area of the car the only bolt I’d think would be appropriate would be one of the bolts holding the steering box to the frame.

But - with those Float-a-Motors you need a thick cable jumping from the engine to the frame, because the engine needs to be grounded and the FAM forms an insulator (no metal-to-metal contact, the rubber pucks insulate). If you have a separate jumper, then that cable from the switch could be installed on one of the starter motor mounting bolts. Circuit would then pass from the frame and engine, through the switch, then back to the positive terminal of the battery.

If you DON’T find a jumper from the engine to the frame then whoever installed the FAM is likely assuming (or perhaps never thought about it) that the engine conducts to the frame through the front engine mount. That’s a very tenuous electrical path, I would not trust it. You need to install a jumper.

As an aside: check the battery positive terminal to make sure there isn’t a second cable or strap from the terminal to the frame (stock installation goes from the battery to the center frame crossmember). If there is then your switch will be useless. You need to run the ONLY connection from the battery to the frame through the switch.
 
Last edited:
I attach the short (+) cable to one of the starter motor mounting bolts which ensures you have a good engine ground. The longer cable attached to the switch goes to the (+) post on the battery. I also run a wire from the (+) post on the battery to the frame. Attach the the negative cable from the battery (-) post to the starter motor terminal. Your switch will be switching the ground on and off.
 
The disconnect switch can either be used to disconnect the ground side of the battery, as described above, or the side of the battery that goes to the starter switch. Several people think it is safer to disconnect the ground side. The polarity of the ground and starter side depends on how your battery is installed.
 
Having been around a few race cars I can claim that I have never seen a disconnect switch fail on the ground side of the battery.
It has to do with the current capacity of the switch.
You also need to assess the purpose of adding a disconnect switch.
In most cases with an alternator disconnecting the battery will not cause the engine to shutdown.

John
 
If there is a massive short in the starter, the disconnect only has to work once to earn its keep. In my coupe, the switch is under the seat and I use it when I park, but that is for low battery draining current.
 
Back
Top