Battery relocation - fuse or no fuse?

[ABoresta]

Doing battery relocation and reading so many different ways of doing it,. some people say fuse near the battery on the new live wire running down the car, some say not too...

I'm fitting at least 1 battery kill switch, maybe have one on the scuttle in the future as well if that makes a difference.

Cheers

[Benn]

I put the fuse right next to the battery, as you want the power off as close to the source as poss.

[mowgli]

there are millions of commercial vehicles with massively long battery leads & they don't have a fuse near their batteries. but if you want one, then fit it fight next to the battery....also make sure you use grommets on every point that the leads go through any tinwork

[Iain]

I never bothered with mine, but I can see why it might be a good idea to fit a suitably large fuse near there.

Alternatively put the cut off near the battery and operate it with pull cables.

[ABoresta]

Is a fuse put in so if the cut off is used while the engine is running it doesn't f*** up all the electrics? :confused:
And does anyone know of any instructions on how to fit the pull cables?

[Iain]

Nope, the proper cut off switches correctly disconnect the electrics and drain the alternator charge properly I believe.

The fuse would be so if you run the power cable up the sill and had a sidewards impact, the fuse would pop instead of the +ve shorting out against the body.

[ABoresta]

oooooooh that makes sense! so I can put the switch on the positive cable running to the front of the car still instead of running the negative to the switch?

[Iain]

Yes killswitch can be mounted to the long +ve towards the front of the car. In fact if you have it on the dash it makes a really handy +ve distribution board for aftermarket wiring (just have to fuse them afterwards) that can or cannot be cut off with the killswitch depending which side you put them.

[ABoresta]

Ah spot on mate and I was told I have to vent my battery which Iv never heard of before :S has anyone else done it?

[Iain]

Wouldn't have thought the sealed batteries need venting

[RallyMarshal]

If your wiring in an FIA switch, then make sure you also wire in the resistor on the alternator side of the switch. It allows the alternator power to be earthed out properly with load when the cut-off is operated with the engine running so you dont fry the alternator.

I havent run a fuse in any of the rallycars Ive run when Ive relocated the battery but I have had a cut-off in each car.

Paul..

[ABoresta]

Oh i just got a cheap ebay master cut off switch :S will that be no good to the alternator if i cut it off with the engine running?

[Iain]

Does it have 4 pins on the back?

[RallyMarshal]

The non FIA master switches will be fine if its ONLY used when the engine is off.

However if you ever want to cut engine power using it then its likely to damage the alt

Paul..

[ABoresta]

Does it have 4 pins on the back?

no it does not its the one in the link below.
maybe I should upgrade to an FIA one :S I read a lot of people moaning about them so thought would just go for a basic cheap one :S

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200784785020?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Iain]

Yes I would consider it, they're not that expensive for the proper ones as it sounds like you're wanting a proper killswitch rather than a battery isolator.

[ABoresta]

Yeah i just ordered a fia approved one with pull cord, might wire the cheap one up under the seat or something as a security feature :)