Jump Leads or Battery Tie Switch

Bigplumbs

Bigplumbs

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I am reminded of Apollo 13 where he tied main Bat A to Bat B

On my sealine S24 like many older boats it has a battery switch to connect the House Battery (1 No) to the starter Battery (1 No) should the starter Battery fail.


Also like many older boats this switch does not work and I suspect it has never been used.


I was wondering if I should replace the kit to make this work (not cheap) or just carry a set of jump leads if it should ever happen


Your thoughts what would you do

Dennis
 
Replace the switch,my logic being that sods law dictates that when you need to connect the batteries together will be at the worst possible time and you want want to be fannying around getting jump leads out, connecting them up etc, you would much rather just flick a switch.
 
Bigplumbs said:
I am reminded of Apollo 13 where he tied main Bat A to Bat B

On my sealine S24 like many older boats it has a battery switch to connect the House Battery (1 No) to the starter Battery (1 No) should the starter Battery fail.


Also like many older boats this switch does not work and I suspect it has never been used.


I was wondering if I should replace the kit to make this work (not cheap) or just carry a set of jump leads if it should ever happen


Your thoughts what would you do

Dennis
Click to expand...

Well jump leads are handy as u could get a jump from another vessel , but with gas and petrol on board using jumps could be dangerous. Also if the switch has failed one way, it is telling you it could fail the other wa ,so replace.
 
On my S24 ('97/'98) I have the switch on the dash, but rather than a case of it just not working, there's no cross-over hardware in place at all; from memory there's not even any fuse for it at the isolation switches (low, starboard in cockpit).

I've opted for the hi-tech jump leads option rather than wiring in the system from scratch.

I think I'm about to repurpose the switch for a dashboard fan.

james
 
I have used mine for real once when the boat came out of the yard and a battery was flat

For me accessing the batteries is probably 30 min work. If yours are accessible easily a lead is prob fine. If not I would fix it
 
jrudge said:
I have used mine for real once when the boat came out of the yard and a battery was flat

For me accessing the batteries is probably 30 min work. If yours are accessible easily a lead is prob fine. If not I would fix it
Click to expand...

My Batteries are accessible in under 5 mins and I also don't think I have the hardware beyond the switch

Jump leads it will be kept on board. Could also help someone else out with them which is another Bonus
 
I have witnessed a couple of occasions where jump leads came to the rescue.
One was a Broom which despite having an on board generator needed a jump start (I guess the generator started from the engine start battery). He has since fitted a link switch.
Another was a Sealine where the link switch didn’t work.
A reminder to me is to find some jump leads which I am sure I have somewhere....... or if not, just buy some to keep on the boat as they are not particularly expensive.
 
dpb said:
If I have understood correctly could you not install a regular 'bat 1', 'bat 2', 'both' and 'off' switch instead?
Click to expand...

Could do that but it is another piece of work for me to do. I think the Jump leads option is actually more versatile

Dennis
 
MartynG said:
I have witnessed a couple of occasions where jump leads came to the rescue.
One was a Broom which despite having an on board generator needed a jump start (I guess the generator started from the engine start battery). He has since fitted a link switch.
Another was a Sealine where the link switch didn’t work.
A reminder to me is to find some jump leads which I am sure I have somewhere....... or if not, just buy some to keep on the boat as they are not particularly expensive.
Click to expand...

The not particularly expensive ones don’t work when you need them ,also try and keep them n air tight bag.
 
Just looked at Halfords - didn't realise that leads came rated for engine sizes; it seems that they only go up to 4l, which should hopefully be ok for my 4.3. There's also lower rated for less money (Dennis - think you have a 2.5l KAD32?)

TBH the ones I have were probably last used on a 1.1l Renault 5 at college / Uni...so might upgrade them, assuming the higher capacity have thicker cables.
Or do we think it's marketing faff?

https://www.halfords.com/workshop-t...rs-jump-starters/halfords-up-to-4l-jump-leads
 
jct1981 said:
Just looked at Halfords - didn't realise that leads came rated for engine sizes; it seems that they only go up to 4l, which should hopefully be ok for my 4.3. There's also lower rated for less money (Dennis - think you have a 2.5l KAD32?)

TBH the ones I have were probably last used on a 1.1l Renault 5 at college / Uni...so might upgrade them, assuming the higher capacity have thicker cables.
Or do we think it's marketing faff?

https://www.halfords.com/workshop-t...rs-jump-starters/halfords-up-to-4l-jump-leads
Click to expand...
Looks ok but I got mine from general traffic who supply the trade . 5 metre long and free delivery £36
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I generally buy the not so expensive ones and run some solder in where the clip meets my the wire

It is all down to the wire thickness and the quality of the connection clip to wire
 
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