75ZT Community

When the car electrics play up in various ways from parasitic drain to water ingress we face needing to disconnect the battery often while risking the bonnet opening release going wrong. If the alarm, wipers or whatever will not switch off at the same time the bonnet release plays up it all may feel a bit of an unwelcome challenge. So I am wondering about a battery isolator located hidden on the exterior or the car but now find remote isolators are common. Any thoughts on these:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/406733515560

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306343796544 ... 9AWY4SEE42

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/297874160126 ... H1MF77QZ9A

Not sure of the benefit of fitting outside of the engine bay and would be mindful of any possible insurance implications in its use.

To properly isolate, it would need to be next to the battery. Running battery cables into the car and back out is a challenge.
EDIT: to add. All of those need to be fitted near the battery, which in itself is right. But there's not a lot of space. I'd also be concerned about the current carrying capacity of any of the relays. They will be fine for the car, but could be very underrated when starting. For example one says rated at 200A. A starter will pull twice that, at least until it starts moving, and then on a cold morning will still be high. All the relays I've seen as part of cars, are MUCH meatier when on the battery circuit. Final point, the relay consumes power when switched on, and that in itself would be a problem drain. So for the most part you would switch it off every time. In which case, why not opt for a manual switch under the bonnet, but switch it off before a problem occurs? There also appear to be cable operated ones, for track cars etc. So a switch under the bonnet, to a pull knob inside the cabin. Just a small bowden cable to route. Something like this:

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/automot ... cable-akn/

A cable operated switch is fine when turning off, but you would still need to open the bonnet to turn it back on.

Seems better used as anti theft to me