'Quick' Battery Isolator.....

[KenMcCulloch]

\'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

.. evidently means 'Quick, go and spend £14 on a new one, this one's broken'.
I was having intermittent then constant starting problems which I have eventually tracked down to a failing battery isolator switch. It's about 7 years old which I suppose is not bad in the scheme of things but the interesting thing was the failure mode, which was a gradual decline in the thing's ability to pass current over a period of weeks.
I thought people should know in case anyone has similar problems..

 

[Oldhand]

Re: \'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

It wouldn't be one of these would it?
http://www.diamecans.com/gb/catalogues/fiche.cfm?reference=200927
I have had the same problem at the same age with that model.

 

[CPD]

Re: \'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

Interesting - I have a problem (no time to solve it yet) on my boat which I thought was due to battery terminal connections. Shall check my isolators too.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Re: \'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

[ QUOTE ]
It wouldn't be one of these would it?
http://www.diamecans.com/gb/catalogues/fiche.cfm?reference=200927
I have had the same problem at the same age with that model.

[/ QUOTE ] No mine was an Italian brand 'Quick' widely sold in chandlers as a heavy duty isolator switch. Just gradually went downhill. The difficulty in diagnosing this was that for a while it was passing some current but insufficient to start the engine. It was only when I found I couldn't even get enough power for the radio that the root of the problem emerged.

 

[alan006]

Re: \'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

I just had the same problem, everything seemed ok but when starting the engine it wasn't spinning as fast as it should. Bypassed the isolator to test it and it was straight forward to solve where the volts drop was.

 

[2Tizwoz]

Re: \'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

One of these?

I don't have one but when mine of a different make gave trouble I took it apart, cleaned and greased the contacts and all returned to normal. Moving electrical contacts have a long life but do require a little periodic maintenance. Of course if it has been allowed to get to the stage of badly burning the contacts it may need replacement. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Re: \'Quick\' Battery Isolator.....

[ QUOTE ]
One of these?

I don't have one but when mine of a different make gave trouble I took it apart, cleaned and greased the contacts and all returned to normal. Moving electrical contacts have a long life but do require a little periodic maintenance. Of course if it has been allowed to get to the stage of badly burning the contacts it may need replacement. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[/ QUOTE ] Not exactly that model but a very similar thing. Unfortunately the 'Quick' brand is a sealed unit so short of an attack by angle grinder I don't see how I could dismantle it. I am sure you are right about the contacts getting burned - once that started it got progressively worse over quite a short time. The difficulty of diagnosis was that initially it was intermittent, and if you once find that voltage is not being 'lost' in one part of the system you spend time looking elsewhere. A valuable lesson for me, now not quite as electrically illiterate as I was a month ago.

 

[charles_reed]

\'Fraid

all switches and connections in a well used boat will develop increasing resistance over a period of time. I'm afraid it's a function of copper, in a salty atmosphere, with galvanic assistance

7 years is shorter than most - it's usually 12-13.

I always carry some Contact Cleaner and use that until the breakdown has got bad enough to replace the switch/wiring.

And before any experts intone the mantra, "Use tinned wire" it's the sliding contacts or the spade connectors that corrode, as well as the (mainly -ve pole) wiring.

 

[hightech]

Re: \'Fraid

Be careful that the model you purchase is suitable for taking the current load when starting your engine from cold in the middle of winter. Often the key type switches are not up to the load and crap out due to overheating during starting.

Geoff