Battery Disconnect Switch or Pull a Fuse

[2edgesword]

I have a battery disconnect switch I haven't decided where to install. In thinking about it I'm wondering if pulling the fuse might be the easier solution or replacing the fuse with a circuit breaker that can be switch on or off.

What are the pros and cons?

[Scott91370]

When I redid the floor of my unit I realized that the wire from the battery to the inside of the trailer was small (maybe 10g) so I replaced the wire from the battery -> Disconnect Switch -> 4 way all with 4g Then from there used an appropriate size wire for each of the outputs depending on what they ran. The 4g may be a little overkill but it was only about 3 feet of it and I know I won't have to worry about overloading it. I'm not sure how the original wire didn't get hot (or maybe it did) when the lighting inside was all filament bulbs. I have replaced all of mine with LED and they are so much nicer (brighter & whiter) plus all of them running draw less amperage than just one of the original incandescent fixtures.

Back to the disconnect switch... I put mine on the Y part of the tongue (the left side since that is where all of my wires were originally). This way the amount of water splashing on it is minimized but it is still easy enough to get to.

[RedHorse1]

Our first TT (X23B) did not have a switch so I pulled the fuse. Until several batteries went missing in the storage lot (not mine). I took that as a warning and started removing the batt while stored. With the 5th I have a switch but still remove the batt and I leave the batt door unlocked.
A “factory” disconnect switch still may have some parasitic drain (smoke, CO, propane detectors I think). If you install a switch you could install it any way you wanted.
As I said, I remove the batt when the 5th is in storage. I got some stainless wing nuts to make the disconnect easy (no tools). I can use the charger when I get it home.

[2edgesword]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

Our first TT (X23B) did not have a switch so I pulled the fuse. Until several batteries went missing in the storage lot (not mine). I took that as a warning and started removing the batt while stored. With the 5th I have a switch but still remove the batt and I leave the batt door unlocked.
A “factory” disconnect switch still may have some parasitic drain (smoke, CO, propane detectors I think). If you install a switch you could install it any way you wanted.
As I said, I remove the batt when the 5th is in storage. I got some stainless wing nuts to make the disconnect easy (no tools). I can use the charger when I get it home.

I had battery stolen from my TT a few years ago while it was parked in my drive. Some people have got big ones! I started removing the battery at that point after every trip until I installed a locking mechanism on the battery. I can't say it's theft proof but it's going to require a lot more time and effort versus simply removing a strap and some nuts (yes, my thief was nice enough not to cut the wires but remove the nuts in order to remove the battery).

I'm going to continue to remove the battery for long term storage (months) but was thinking of installing a battery disconnect switch when a light bulb went on in my head with the idea of just removing the 30 amp fuse from the battery but I wanted to check with the pros on the forum to see if there are any cons to removing the fuse to disconnect the battery.

[Sundancer330]

I mounted a Marinco marine disconnect on the side of the battery box similar to this picture. Simple to install, turn the dial and its off, dont have to worry about misplacing the fuse or damaging the cheap fuse holder.

[GrumpyDad]

Originally Posted by Sundancer330

I mounted a Marinco marine disconnect on the side of the battery box similar to this picture. Simple to install, turn the dial and its off, dont have to worry about misplacing the fuse or damaging the cheap fuse holder.

This is what i did as well.