Car battery isolator vs CCA

[Harry Bloomfield]

I’ll bash on with that Harry, thanks

pulling relays, one at a time, might also help ID the leak.

 

[norseman]

Thanks Harry, i quite agree. But as i say, nobody seems to want to know. And that’s just for a diagnosis. Re. fixing the symptom, would the CCA fry the isolator? Ah also, we have another car, the Jag is not required for daily use.

I empathise with your 'lack of interest' situation, it's a 21st century attitude.

I've been searching over a year for someone to remove my android head unit to check for a possible bad connection (something I don't trust myself to do due to poor eyesight & arthritis in my hand) but if I wanted an expensive replacement installed it would be a different story

 

[JohnD]

Ah yeah been disconnecting neg terminal then connecting a cable from battery negative to the negative cable, in parallel with the multimeter. Then wait 20 minutes. Then disconnect the cable leaving the multimeter connected. So all the current goes through the multimeter. Have to use this “shunt” method cos the multimeter times out

Clamp meter.

 

[elcaro]

Meanwhile, best wishes for New Year! Also, can we re-visit the question at the start of the topic : can i click my isolator to “on”, jump in and start the engine? ChatGPT reckons no - it’d fry the isolator. Some bloke in Australia reviewing an isolator on Amazon reckons he’s starting his 6 litre Mercedes with one …. So do we believe artificial intelligence… or Aussie intelligence?

 

[elcaro]

Amazon link https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHR8G...EFZ0WOSZ&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_ii

If i’ve posred that right??

 

[thomp1983]

I'd give it a go, amazon's return policy is pretty good so if the cca killed it you'd likely still be able to return it, I'd also believe someone's real life experience over chat gpt.

Having said all that I'd have to get to the bottom of the cause it would drive me mad otherwise.

 

[elcaro]

Thanks thomp1983. Just to recap, i want to disconnect the battery, say overnight. The battery is in the boot. The boot latch is powered so the boot can’t be securely closed without power. So i need a remote-control isolator. Which solves the boot-closing catch-22 problem. If next day i had to disconnect the isolator and directly re-connect the battery cable before starting the engine - well it’s hard to see why anyone would buy an isolator. So i think you are right to suggest giving it a go.
Yes I’d like to solve the mystery of the parasitic power leak - maybe in the spring when it’s a bit warmer outside lol!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I've been searching over a year for someone to remove my android head unit to check for a possible bad connection (something I don't trust myself to do due to poor eyesight & arthritis in my hand) but if I wanted an expensive replacement installed it would be a different story

Spending many hours, diagnosing, and testing, just doesn't pay well these days. Labour = expensive, goods = cheap.

 

[thomp1983]

Only other thought is do you have a manual way into the boot, if your isolator fails in the battery disconnected position how are you getting back in to remove it?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Only other thought is do you have a manual way into the boot, if your isolator fails in the battery disconnected position how are you getting back in to remove it?

The other issue is - if you install this item, and it works OK, you will have much less inclination to trace the actual fault..

 

[thomp1983]

The other issue is - if you install this item, and it works OK, you will have much less inclination to trace the actual fault..

That's true but over time the fault may also show itself in another way, I'm with you Harry in fix the original issue but I can understand why people look for a solution to allow life to move on until they revisit things

 

[Old Salt]

You need to find the cause, anything else is just a sticking plaster.
Check out RNS Diagnostics on you tube he has some good explanations of fault finding in a logical fashion.