Quote:
Originally Posted by Burquena
I would like to add a disconnect switch to my battery .... I just need to add a toggle switch ...? This will be in the battery compartment, so I don't need a marine grade waterproof one, but what specs should it have? To avoid draining the battery, I disconnect it between trips (usually 3-4 weeks) and then hook up to shore power for 24 hours before departure to chill the frig and charge up. If it's going to be longer than that, I will pull the battery and put it on a battery tender,at home, but it's hard for me to wrestle it in and out of the TM all the time
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Let me tell you how I handled the disconnect switch. Nothing super-duper or magic, but perhaps there is an idea there for you.
The TM's bumper compartment has three parts - the big center one (I store the sewer hose there), and the small side compartments. In the 2720SL, the battery is in the rear, above the left bumper compartment. I lengthened the positive battery wire, and dropped it through a hole I drilled in the floor of the rear compartment near the battery, and down into the left bumper compartment. In that lower compartment, I screwed a weather resistant switch box (Home Depot B33BRS, for example) to the TM frame, added a weather resistant toggle switch cover (Home Depot R5133330, for example) to it, and mounted a 30-amp two-pole toggle switch (Home Depot R62-03032-2WS, for example) in the box. Connect the extended battery wire to the switch terminals, and bring it back up to the battery.
I now have a cutoff switch in the bumper compartment. Why do I want it there? Because you can access the bumper compartment while the TM is closed. The bumper cover will slide off if you release the lower corner latches. Handy.
Note 1: The hole that you drill in the floor will have sharp edges that could cut the insulation on the wires. I used a piece of 1/2" PVC plastic pipe to line the hole.
Note 2: The battery wire should be lengthened on the cold side of the fuse, not the hot (battery) side. The fuse then protects the wires that drop down through the floor.
Note 3: The switch needs to have a 30-amp rating, because the battery wire can carry 30 amps. I used a "two-pole switch", and wired both poles in parallel to increase the capacity.
Note 4: a "two pole switch" is not the same as a "3-way switch". Catalog descriptions are sometimes confusing on this point. A "two pole switch" is actually two separate switches in one housing and operated by the same lever.
My description makes it sound harder than it is.
Bill