Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

[John Liner]

I read last week where many of the members use a blade type safety disconnect instead of the Green Knob on the ground side of the battery. I tried to install one on my 79 side post but it's too tight in there. I can install it but there isn't enough room in the battery well for the blade to open up fully for a good disconnect. Can this be accomplished with a side mounted cable setup or is this type of disconnect only good for top mount batteries?
Thanks for any advise. John Liner

[Gary S.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

John, I am not sure if your battery well is the same as that on my 72, with side posts, but I will respond, assuming it is. My battery has the negative on the passenger side and the positive is on the driver's side. With that in mind, when I raise the lever to disconnect, I have to rotate it fully 180 degrees so that the battery door will close.

Gary

[John L.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

Gary, the leaver is aprox 2" long, when mounted on the side of the battery there isn't enough room between the battery and the side of the well for the leaver to clear and break the circuit. It does mount on the side doesn't it? I thought of trying to get a short ground cable and mounting it to the battery and placing the disconnect inline. Maybe my disconnect isn't right, it will mount to the battery it just doesn't have enough room to open up. Thanks for your input, also I don't think it would work in my 71 either. Maybe someone else will chime in with a fix. I wanted to put these on my 79 and 71. I appreciate all input from the board. John Liner

[Roger S.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

I have the knob type on my 73 with the side post terminals. The the attached picture.

[Gary S.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

On my 72, the battery is reversed, that is, the negative is on the passenger side of the battery well, allowing enough room to install the "savety switch" disconnect. I am relying on memory here, but I am pretty sure that the correct way to install the battery for a 72, and the only way the cables will connect is the way I described.

Could that be your problem? Battery in 180 degrees out?

Gary

[John L.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

Roger, that setup is interesting, I see that you have a copper bracket that bolts onto the side of your battery. This allows your disconnect to set on top of your battery. My side disconnect doesn't have that type of bracket, it just bolts to the side of the battery. Maybe I should look for a different type of lever disconnect for a side mount battery, one that looks like yours but is a leaver instead of a twist knob. It would be nice if I could just find a bracket like yours and use my disconnect since I can't take it back. Any other ideas? I thought I might try a short length of battery cable and put my disconnect inline. Thanks for the input and the photo!

[John L.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

Gary, I just went and checked my setup the battery is put in with the + terminal on the drivers side the - is on the passengers side. This places the cables on the back side towards the rear of the car. My 71 is the same way also. Is this correct? When in this position there is no clearance for a side leaver to operate. You mentioned earlier that you had to move your leaver 180 to shut your compartment door, is your disconnect on the side or the top of your battery? Is your disconnect made like Rogers, but a lever instead of a knob? Thanks!

[Roger S.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

According to the AIM the battery terminals face the rear of the car for 1973. The cables also fit up to the battery better when the battery faces the rear. For me it was easier to get the disconnect knob towards the front. The "bracket" is a copper bar that was drilled and bent especially for this application. I believe you can get the copper bar from any electrical supply store. My bar came from an old piece of switchgear and was a buss bar.
Roger

[John Liner]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

Roger, Thank you! That makes sense, now that you have spelled it out. I saw last night I would have more room if turned the battery around for the lever to operate. If I used a bracket as you have fabricated I might not have to turn the battery around, I'll put the switch on top, it should be easier to operate there. Thanks to all who responded!!! John Liner

[Gary S.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

John, I would love to see a photo of your battery compartment as well as the measurements of your battery.
Gary

[Gary S.]

Ooops, posted too soon.

I would also be leary of connecting to the positive terminal. Lots of guys have commented in past issues that using the negative virtually eliminates any chance of an accidental arcing.

The photos with the modified battery connection sure looks like there is adequate room at the back of the battery compartment. What is the dimension of your battery box?

Gary

[Jack H.]

Re: Safety Disconnect/Battery in 79

Works fine in my '71, presuming we're talking about the same knife switch assy (made by the same mfgr as the 'green wonder' screw knob switch). I mount the switch on the LH side battery post and angle the switch 45-degrees down. That gives plenty of room for the knife blade to clear the contacts and I get a bonus--tactile feedback when the switch is opened due to a 'klunk' as the tip of the knife blade slaps the battery compartment outer wall....