Battery Kill Switches

[mike paulson]

Any of you guys have battery kill switches installed on your tractors. Off the top of my head I would think you'd wire it on the positive cable. Having it on the ground side would still give a rodent the opportunity to chew thru insulation and causing a short with the positive still connected I'd think.
Also I think it would be best to have it installed where you don't need to pop the hood I would think. Any thoughts on this?

 

[nyone]

It dosnt matter what side of the battery you put it on. The circuit would be broken if it's off so wouldnt short anything out if a rodent chewed through. In all reality a rodent chewing threw something and shorting it out would be prety rare. It would have to chew two wires of opposite polarity and have them touch.

 

[5030]

The best rodent deterrent is to put scented dryer sheets under the hood and in the cab. Mice don't like them one bit.

Far as battery kill switches, I have them on both my tractors, under the hoods on the negative battery post.

 

[sandman2234]

The semi trucks I drive all have them, and they are always on the positive cable, for safety.
David from jax

 

[loggin]

Any of you guys have battery kill switches installed on your tractors. Off the top of my head I would think you'd wire it on the positive cable. Having it on the ground side would still give a rodent the opportunity to chew thru insulation and causing a short with the positive still connected I'd think.
Also I think it would be best to have it installed where you don't need to pop the hood I would think. Any thoughts on this?

I would personally go with a switch on the negative side. If the connections you made ever came loose or something happened to them and they made contact to the chassis or sheet metal there would be no problem. If that happened with the positive side you would create a short with a very large cable and that would definitely be a problem. Either way you are disconnecting the battery from creating a circuit and both will achieve the same thing in the end.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[rScotty]

I would personally go with a switch on the negative side. If the connections you made ever came loose or something happened to them and they made contact to the chassis or sheet metal there would be no problem. If that happened with the positive side you would create a short with a very large cable and that would definitely be a problem. Either way you are disconnecting the battery from creating a circuit and both will achieve the same thing in the end.

Just my 2 cents.

I have battery disconnects on my tractors, camper, and boat. I try to put them on the negative side so if anything goes wrong it doesn't cause a problem. But I don't stress over which lead .... if it is handier to mount it I have no problem using the positive side. I think you see them on the positive side more because they are often used to switch between two different batteries that use a common frame ground
I buy a "marine quality" switch - usually PERKO brand - in spite of the higher price. You want one that can handle some serioius amperage and is weather proof.
rScotty

 

[sandman2234]

It is funny how you can find sources that say grounded and positive should have the switch for safety, all over the net!
David from jax

 

[rScotty]

It is funny how you can find sources that say grounded and positive should have the switch for safety, all over the net!
David from jax

With a battery mounted into an electrically conductive frame like a tractor, truck or car, it doesn't matter if we are talking about a switch or a wire - either one can only go bad in two ways: It can either not make contact with anything, or it can make contact with the frame. Neither is likely, and nothing else counts.

 

[5030]

if your tractor is a T4 final computer controlled HP common rail injection system, you do not want to install a a battery disconnect switch because the 'brain box' requires a constant supply of power to remain viable and not loose it's intel.

 

[rScotty]

if your tractor is a T4 final computer controlled HP common rail injection system, you do not want to install a a battery disconnect switch because the 'brain box' requires a constant supply of power to remain viable and not loose it's intel.

I only own one T4 final machine....and it doesn't care if the battery stays connected. It's not a tractor & is DEF...so maybe it is the exception. Do T4 final tractors have a place to plug in a spare battery while the battery is out for maintenance?

So what do you do when it comes time to replace the battery in a T4 tractor? Wet cell batteries are still the most popular type, and like most of us who use them I generally remove batteries every year or two just to clean up the connections and neutralize the corrosion in the battery box.

rScotty