Battery disconnect switch or no?

capcyclone · Jul 18, 2013

I've done a lot of camping out of our ZJ this summer and I'm starting to like the idea of being able to park and flip a switch to kill the battery for the overnight.

It just seems like we drain the battery so bad unpacking and the kids get in and out of it 500 times.

There are so many options out there - which one have people installed - where did you install it? Pics? Would you do it again/has it been worth the cost & time. Seems like a simple, cheap add-on that would save some grief.

Mickey_D · Jul 19, 2013

The only problem I can see is that the alarm system trips out every time you disconnect. Rather annoying to fellow campers when you hook the battery up and your horn starts blaring.

Maybe get someone with a FSM to post the wiring diagram for the door switches. I believe they eventually converge to a single input to the BCM. Putting a switch inline to that would make it so the door switches wouldn't turn the interior light on. Much easier than frantically trying to deactivate the alarm, then waiting for the computer to relearn all the sensors. Plus having to reprogram the stereo each time.

AveryZJ · Jul 19, 2013

I have a battery disconnect and it works great. It's on the negative post and you just unscrew it. Works great for when I won't be driving it for a few days. The alarm system doesn't freak out either. The only bad thing is having to reset the stereo. But I just listen to my iPod anyways so it doesn't bother me.

dnuccio · Jul 19, 2013

cant you just slide the dimmer switch all the way down so the lights dont turn on?

edit: just tried it, doesnt work

dellis · Jul 19, 2013

capcyclone said:
There are so many options out there - which one have people installed - where did you install it? Pics? Would you do it again/has it been worth the cost & time. Seems like a simple, cheap add-on that would save some grief.

The cheapest solution is already a design feature of your ZJ. Just open up your PDC and yank out fuses 11 & 15. When you are ready to go, pop them back in.

RoldGold · Jul 19, 2013

dellis said:
The cheapest solution is already a design feature of your ZJ. Just open up your PDC and yank out fuses 11 & 15. When you are ready to go, pop them back in.

So what exactly do those fuses control?

And if you wanted, you could put a double pole switch inline with the wiring for those fuses, and then you could switch those circuits on or off easily. I think that's what you're trying to do.

capcyclone · Jul 19, 2013

All of these ideas are obviously great and totally workable. I guess I was thinking if I was going to do something I wanted to totally disconnect - so that when I work on it I could just flip the switch too. Basically what AveryZJ was suggesting.

Losing the radio presets/resetting the time is a PITA, but the switch is probably what I'm going to be most pleased with.

AveryZJ - did you just do one of the cheap ones off Amazon or did you find a good quality one somewhere? It's so hard to tell what kind of quality you're dealing with when looking at a pic online.

dellis · Jul 19, 2013

RoldGold said:
So what exactly do those fuses control?

And if you wanted, you could put a double pole switch inline with the wiring for those fuses, and then you could switch those circuits on or off easily. I think that's what you're trying to do.

Interior lighting, and stuff that would drain the battery with kids going in and out of the Jeep 500 times.

WhiteOut · Jul 19, 2013

If you're draining the battery getting stuff out of the Jeep, I'd start looking for your battery/charging/parasitic drain issue.

96zedjay · Jul 19, 2013

Get some Gorilla tape and tape down the door buttons.
Make sure the Hatch/Light/Switch is in the position that it doesn't turn the interior lights on.
No disconnects,switchs or pulled fuses.
Simple Fix
When you leave pull off the 4 pieces of tape and back to normal.

JimWilliamson · Jul 19, 2013

Google Image search for "Marine Battery Disconnect" shows many options:

https://www.google.com/search?q=marine+battery+disconnect&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X

0.02 - for me, without any interior lights, and considering a battery switch (for large draw - starter & winch motor isloation), I could see putting a small amp (~5amp) fuse link across the battery switch. This would allow small draw items to operate all of the time (radio presets being one, computer being another, perhaps alarm w/o blaring horn for others) to operate while a large draw item would not. Should a large draw item try to operate with the switch "off", the fuse would blow and no current would flow. Just close the switch for normal vehicle operation (and replace convenience fuse at a later time).

zjosh93 · Jul 19, 2013

I used to work at a parts store and I saw a lot of battery disconnects and they were invariably poor quality and covered in corrosion. With how much care I take in making sure my battery connections are clean and tight I'd find some other solution.

AveryZJ · Jul 19, 2013

I'm not sure where I got mine. Ive had it for a while now. I hate ordering things online because its never what you want, so I probably just got it from autozone or somewhere like that

Battery disconnect switch or no?

capcyclone

Mickey_D

AveryZJ

dnuccio

dellis

RoldGold

capcyclone

dellis

WhiteOut

96zedjay

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JimWilliamson

zjosh93

AveryZJ

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