Battery cutoff switch

[Aerowood]

Is the Batt switch in the trailer or outside. My 71 GT never had one.

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[Wazbro]

The battery switch should be close to the battery. Depends where your battery is located for where you put the switch. Some 70's trailers had the battery in a compartment on the side of the trailer which would make an inside switch more convenient to install. If your battery is on the tongue like modern trailers it would be easy to install an external switch.

[Aerowood]

Battery is going on the tongue so I guess it’s just attached to the battery box?

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Aerowood

Is the Batt switch in the trailer or outside. My 71 GT never had one.

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Hi

What trailer (or van) are we talking about here? You only list the 71 GT under your stats. There's no way to guess what you might have ....

Of course this is Air Forums so I'll guess anyway

If you have a trailer that is more than a couple years old, it did not come stock with a full battery disconnect. It has a "use/store" switch that turns off some, but not all of the stuff in the trailer. Some newer trailers supposedly have a full disconnect switch. Just where it is located varies by model. Mid ship near the converter / charger seems to be popular.

If a previous owner put in a disconnect, who knows where it might be. The switches that run the solenoids on my disconnects are built into the "custom" ( nice word for hash up DIY item ...) center console on the sofa.

Bob

[rmkrum]

Did mine this way. Modified a dual duplex weather cover to fit a water resistant BlueSea Systems disconnect switch. Used a heat gun and a chunk of wood to carefully bulge the clear cover to clear the knob.

It is on the battery positive lead, and shuts off everything but the tongue jack, breakaway switch and my power custom WD jacks for the Propride hitch system. The corrugated wire cover on the right side of the picture goes to the use/store switch under the front bed.

[Aerowood]

Rmkrum, thanks for the tip on the duplex box, I think I'll use it. Is you battery box shown in the picture stock or aftermarket?

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[rmkrum]

That’s an aftermarket battery box. My son bought it for the rig some time before he gave me the airstream. The cover base just fits over the switch with a little file work and modifications to the slots at the bottom.

It just swallows two GC-2 six-volt golf cart batteries in series perfectly. It has a ratchet strap that holds the lid shut. The two angle irons that support the box were welded in by a dealer in Oregon. I don’t know what brand it is.

I added a battery watering system, heavier (4gauge) wires, a 125 amp MRBF fuseholder and fuse right on the battery terminal for the feed to the switch and internal use/store relay (BlueSea Systems fuses and holder), added the switch, and redid the six battery box hold down bolts in stainless steel after a bad battery boil-out incident a couple years ago caused by an incorrect setting on my solar controller. (My oops…).

The good news was that the box contained the spill without damage. Took two boxes of baking soda and water solution to neutralize the spill. Live and learn.

By nature and training I’m a pretty decent electrical engineer as well as a computer security wonk…plus a decent tin-knocker and knuckle buster mechanic.

[Aerowood]

Thanks, I found a polyurethane box from century plastics that holds two 6 v gulf cart batteries

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