My 25 yo pickup truck developed a “leak” in its electrical system. Not a lot, only about an amp of draw. Not enough that you’d notice if driven every day, but if it sat for a week it’d have a dead battery. Pretty much impossible to track this little draw down. Discussing with the guy at the auto parts store, he recommended a battery disconnect ($8) over a new wiring harness ($1000+, plus installation). It’s two lead lugs that hook together with a single screw knob. One lug goes on the battery’s positive terminal, the other lug goes on the battery cable. Hook it together to drive, unhook it to let the truck sit.
Is it perfect? No, I have to manually tune the radio every time I re-connect the battery because it’s forgotten the station I left it on. That’s about the only side-effect. After that one little quibble, it helps to keep a wire “toothbrush” around to dust the oxide coating off every month or so — otherwise, starting can be a little balky. For $8 vs. $1000+ it’s an affordable solution.
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branchandroot
Battery Disconnect for an Old Electrically Leaky Vehicle
Date: 2024-04-26 04:13 pm (UTC)Is it perfect? No, I have to manually tune the radio every time I re-connect the battery because it’s forgotten the station I left it on. That’s about the only side-effect. After that one little quibble, it helps to keep a wire “toothbrush” around to dust the oxide coating off every month or so — otherwise, starting can be a little balky. For $8 vs. $1000+ it’s an affordable solution.