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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Battery Issues
    Posted: 21 Jun 2015 at 4:54pm
Originally posted by CharlieM

 Either lead is OK though convention is to put it in the positive lead. 

Not to be a contrarian, but I just installed a cutoff switch on my 178 dual bank and all my research recommends using the negative side for safety issues. See Youtube video below:
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2015 at 10:00pm
NHRA rule is on the positive side.  Positive side seems to be the norm for the RV industry.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Posts: 190 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2015 at 10:21pm
I have done low voltage alarm systems for 20+ years and the only way to be certain is to yank the positive lead.  You can still complete a circuit downstream with a screwdriver touching a terminal too close too the edge of a j box and make some sparks.  

Best to think of batteries as little electrical bombs.  A small 12AH battery will give you 1 amp for 12 hours, 2 amps for 6 hours, 3 amps for 4 hours or a metric buttload of amps for just a few seconds.  I accidentally spot welded a wrench to my motorcycle frame years ago being careless while disconnecting the small battery.  

I hesitate to think what a big RV battery can weld.  Then again I'm an n00b to RV's...
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Posts: 37 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2015 at 10:22pm
Doesn't the antenna booster draw a lot of electricity also? I can't remember if it can even turn on unless the Pod is plugged into a power source. I also turn off the backlighting on the radio as well.
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Posts: 1446 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2015 at 12:11am
I'd probably put the switch on the positive side if I were to install one, just because that's where most people put it and therefore, if the occasion ever arose, that's probably where they'd look for it if they had to.

The NHRA is concerned with spilled gasoline and cutting off engines after wrecks and they require battery cutoffs on the dash where they are easily accessible by rescuers. 

The idea of a wrench or screwdriver shorting things out doesn't apply once a switch is installed, unless you really make an effort to short the circuit.  Once the switch is flipped on the positive or negative side the circuit is open and there are no more electrons to cause sparks.

The fact that electricity flows from the negative side of the battery to the positive kind of argues for switching the negative side -- cutting off the electricity at the source, but they all stop moving no matter where the circuit is opened. 

This is an interesting subject to Google, if you're interested in this kind of thing.  There are strong opinions on both sides of the argument.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2015 at 5:58am
Originally posted by Tars Tarkas


This is an interesting subject to Google, if you're interested in this kind of thing.  There are strong opinions on both sides of the argument.
TT

Actually, there are 3 sides to the argument. After doing more research by asking "the Google" I've come to the opinion that if you asked 3 "experts" you'd get 3 different answers:
  1. Positive
  2. Negative 
  3. It really doesn't matter one way or the other
I'm inclined to side with expert #3
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2015 at 6:03pm
Are you positive, or being negative about it?  This subject is very charged.

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Posts: 281 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2015 at 6:29pm
Putting the switch on the positive side is the safer choice.  The reason is simple.  If there is some kind of grounding of the positive wire between the battery and the pod,  there is a significant risk of fire.  Disconnecting the positive side eliminates that risk, while switching the negative side does not.  Switching the negative side leaves the positive wire hot.  A major no-no in electricity.  Essentially, if you put the switch on the negative side, you have not disconnected the battery from the pod.
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Posts: 1446 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2015 at 7:58pm
Originally posted by sailor323

Putting the switch on the positive side is the safer choice.  The reason is simple.  If there is some kind of grounding of the positive wire between the battery and the pod,  there is a significant risk of fire.  Disconnecting the positive side eliminates that risk, while switching the negative side does not.  Switching the negative side leaves the positive wire hot.  A major no-no in electricity.  Essentially, if you put the switch on the negative side, you have not disconnected the battery from the pod.


If the switch is between the negative battery post and the ground, which it pretty much has to be, then there is no danger of spark from a positive wire.  There would be no negative to the ground.  Sparks happen when the circuit is closed from positive to negative (not to ground).

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Posts: 281 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2015 at 8:06pm
Originally posted by Tars Tarkas



If the switch is between the negative battery post and the ground, which it pretty much has to be, then there is no danger of spark from a positive wire.  There would be no negative to the ground.  Sparks happen when the circuit is closed from positive to negative (not to ground).

TT


Good point, TT  and in fact explains why it doesn't really matter which side is switched.
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