Battery Disconnect

[Tom A.]

Has anyone experienced any problems with these. The one on my 65 is 7 yrs old. It's the screw on type.
Thanks...JT

[Stuart F.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

Lots of stories about bad contacts, i.e. shorting when open, bad contact when closed. I've used the knife type for many years because of the bad rep. Still, on some applications w/C-3 on up, may be only one that will fit. check the archieves - lots of discussions.

Stu Fox

[Jim D.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

I have three of the "Green Knob" type in use right now. The newest is about 4 years old, the oldest is over 20 years. Never had a single problem with any of them.

[Harry S.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

Just had a failure with the green knob type. When unscrewed there was still contact. It went to the garbage and I installed the guillotine type, more expensive (3X). With this type you can visually see that there is no contact. It was a bit tougher to get it on the negative terminal.

[David G.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

JT
I have used the green knob type for many years on a number of cars with no problem. I just keep it lubricated with a dab of dialectric grease. I use the large cole herse
switch inside the car on my 57 and 63. I guess that I am just too lazy to lift the hood.
Dave

[Tom A.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

Thanks to everyone's reply's. I'll try a dab of dialectric grease and see what happens.
Thanks...JT

[Jack H.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

While silicone grease won't hurt, that's NOT the source of sporadic problems with the 'green knob' switches...

The source of the problem is user training...getting the knob screwed down TIGHTLY enough.

It's when you get in a hurry and don't fully torque the knob, that you can leave 'slop' in the mechanical interface between the contact surfaces. Then, if they move/bounce relative to each other, the switch will 'arc' and the arcing damages the THIN plating layer on the main contact bar.

A rather simple fix is to get a proper sized copper/brass fender washer from a hardware store. Remove the green knob and lay the washer down on the center bar around the screw hole.

Clamp it in place and silver solder the washer to the center bar around the outside circumference. Now, BOTH contact surfaces of the switch are STRONG and BEEFY!

[Clark K.]

Re: Battery Disconnect

I recently had to replace the green knob-type switch on my Sting Ray. It was worn so badly that it no longer connected when screwed down. It came with the car when I bought it two years ago, so I do not know how old it was.

But, I like this style of disconnect switch. I bought a replacement unit for my Sting Ray and also one for my '75 Chevy that has the side terminal battery. They are very cheap.

I believe in what a previous poster stated: that the knob MUST be screwed down firmly when you want it connected.
-Clark