Battery drain Soulution!
part number: ID220 Swan Terminal Disconnect, Brass.
Purchased for $2.87 at walmart!!
Noco Terminal Disconnects are
designed to cut off power flowing from
the battery to avoid unwanted
battery consumption when not
used for days at a time.
For use in 12 or 24 VDC systems.
I called the company & it is made for cars.
No splicing of wires, just disconnect negative battery connector from battery post & place on product, other end of product slips over the battery post connector. When you want to electrically disconnect battery, lift hood -just un-tightend the small palm screw. To electrically connect battery just tightend. This is the best thing since sliced bread if you’re at all concerned w/ possible “battery Drain”. (Just trying to give back to all the people that helped me in the last few days)
And if you want theft protection without loosing your memory…
Bridge a lamp like a brake light across the switch. This will keep your memories alive but not provide enough current to start the vehicle.
This may be a good solution for when you store a car for a extended period of time, but if you have a battery drain you need to fix the problem.
If there is something draining the battery that means a component has a shorted electrical circuit. At this point it may only show up as a drain on the battery but at some point it may progress to a bigger problem, something that may cause you to be stranded with a car that doesn’t run.
So if you have a drain on the battery it is best to have it fixed, in the mean time having the terminal disconnect is a good temporary fix to keep the battery from draining.
Or you may want to check the batter and replace it if weak, which you are going to end up doing soon anyway, or find the reason it is draining batteries, or, if you are looking at an extended time, remove the battery from the car and store it elsewhere, few thieves bother to carry extra batteries with them.
Keep in mind that if you disconnect the battery in many modern cars it will mess with the car’s computer and security systems.
Also keep in mind that this appears to be battery7’s first post here and he has not provided any information, like a real name, and is exhibiting all the hallmarks of a true SPAMMER. Please don’t support spammers. If you really want this kind of product do a search and find one from another source. They have been around for many years. Try J. Wittney maybe.
Had ongoing problems w/ battery drain & car starting. End of December shop load tested 7 Mo. old battery and said it was ok but diagnosed “charging problem”. 1-5-07 replaced altenater & car started w/o a jump. Store failed to tell me I should have the battery fully charged so I thought driving the car for 1/2 hr was sufficient to charge battery. 1-10-07 was the 1st time car was driven since altenater was replaced and car needed a “jump”. Immediately took the car to store and they replaced the 7 month old battery w/ brand new battery under 2year free replacement & tested charging system - ok. Next day car started but I decided to do something to eliminate the “possible drain theory”. Car usually sits for a week between drives of 45min or so. I now have notice that when I turn car parking lights on, clock lamp decreases 50%. At this point I’m not worried about it. I’ll keep an eye out on it.
This was not my 1st post. I’m not a spammer. The part I’m talking about is NOT from a PO box or Web site…It’s from the nations biggest retailer walmart and it’s a simple, cheap solution to a problem, alleviating constanly using a wrench to connect & disconnect a battery when you want to electrically disconnect it. I don’t have any vested interest in the part, just helping others that are in a similar situation. I’m told by mechanics car’s computer will reset itself automatically after a few minutes of driving.
The statement about the computer resetting itself after a few minutes isn’t correct. Some monitors can take quite a while to be set and take a number of seperate trips or ignition cycles to set them. If a IM test is due on the car with this kind of trouble it could mean a failure to test due to a lack of enough monitors being set.
what JEM was referring to is the “disconnection” between your post and the product mentioned (sales) for no apparent reason.
although you are still on the same topic as your original post, battery jumping, charging, and now battery isolation; the separate posts are difficult to understand (many people do it, out of misunderstanding) your original post and follow ups are actually related, and if they were posted on the ORIGINAL post (not as a separate NEW question) they would be easier to follow and give advise/opinion on.
If you went to the mechanic and discussed this with him, would you discuss it over the period of three converstations, with no co relation to the original problem? probably not, and then we wonder why it takes days (sometimes never) to get to the real set of problems and diagnosis of problems.
not to point it out, but several respondents have said, you have a battery drain problem; and putting an isolation switch in is NOT curing the problem. when you are in a hurry and forget to flip the switch, how are you going to explain that the the person who needs to get somewhere QUICK?
its going to look pretty foolish. where are those jumper cables anyway?? oops, where is another car to get a jump from. nah don’t bother, the boost battery will (maybe) get it started (but that hasn’t worked yet has it?) get the REAL problem fixed or you’re going to be on the side of the road.
Thanks. I do understand! The reason for splitting up the conversations is because the new alternator & new battery has solved the charging & staring problems. The battery drain is a seperate issue entirely becuase there was no “actual evidence” there is or was a battery drain, just a suspicion. Since my car is sitting for 1 week at a time between trips during the winter, I just want to completely eliminate “battery drain” as a potential problem. Of course I could just see what happens over the next few weeks, or pay someone to test the “drain” theory or do what I did w/ the simple “quick disconnect solution” wich really just gives me Peace of mind" and if there is still a problem w/ charging or starting (which is now near zero %) I would have then ruled out “battery drain” as the culprit. I’m the only one that drives my car so it’s quite impossible to forget to flip the switch. And if I was in that much of a hurry to get somewhere I really should not be driving on Americas roads. Thanks,I appreciate you taking the time to read the post & helping!
With a lot of cars built since the mid 90s, or even earlier, performance and mileage will take a dirt dive if you reset the PCM every day.
The clock lamp is supposed to decrease brightness when you turn on the parking lights and/or headlights. That’s so it’s less distracting in the dark.
You need to find the source of the drain. As others have remarked, a disconnect switch is a poor workaround to actually solving the problem, and it is not good for your car’s electronics.
If you have a simple amp meter, you can narrow down the circuit causing the problem very quickly. Look in your shop manual or take it to a competent mechanic.
One very common solution to this type of problem is to look at the glove box or trunk light switches – sometimes these get out of position and allow the light to stay on where you can’t see it.
It’s also common to see electrical problems after a crash repair – many times, wires get pinched or damaged in a crash or during the repair. If your car has recently been repaired, that might also be the problem area.
Whatever you do, don’t ignore this any longer.