Remote Battery Isolater

Littlewheels

Littlewheels

Joined
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Looking to fit an isolater to Car,a remote one , needed to conserve power because of a drainage that has been impossible to cure despite serious money and good Auto Electricians trying to solve it.
Finding it difficult to choose one as in the day you got Lucas/Bosch and so on now all what appears to be Chinese brands.
Any recommendations for one and a link would be brilliant.
 
Why not use a cheap car alarm with an immobiliser built in?
 
Blue Sea are highly regarded, cheap chinese ones tend to get hot with high current passing through them.

But if you isolate the battery it may cause problems with the ECU, also most cars have an alarm as standard and that would be disabled.
 
Lenny HB said:
Blue Sea are highly regarded, cheap chinese ones tend to get hot with high current passing through them.

But if you isolate the battery it may cause problems with the ECU, also most cars have an alarm as standard and that would be disabled.
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Thanks Lenny,
It’s an Audi A3, 2004 , 3.2 litre with 30k mil that we have owned since new but the Mrs won’t part with it as it’s immaculate and she loves the Car.
In the winter the battery drains down over a couple of days as we obviously have a problem,spent £100’s trying to get it sorted but they cannot find the earth fault or whatever so the isolator is a last resort.
Brian.
 
A couple of 100 watts of solar on the roof will sort it. :LOL:

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If it's near to an eletrcal point.Could you not set up a cable to car and put a trickle charger under bonnet.
 
have you had a new battery fitted ?

I had problem like that on an old Volvo, and discovered the boot light was not going off when boot was closed .. that small light drained the battery in a few days
 
Last edited:
I have exactly the same problem with my old Merc. Something activating when it's cold and draining the battery literally overnight.
I'm using these two:

12V 200A Automotive Truck Relay 4 Pin Heavy Duty Relay Split Charge ZL180 with 2 Pin Footprint and 4 Terminal(1 Set) Amazon product ASIN B08FH2Q32D
And to activate the relay:

QIACHIP Wireless Relay 433mhz RF Module 12V 1ch Remote Control Light Switch Receiver with 2 Transmitter Smart Home Remote Switch for Lights Garage Door Amazon product ASIN B081C9D3CG
Worked faultlessly for the last 18 months 👍
 
I had much the same on an old Porsche 944, I got a small solar 12v charger which I left on the windscreen and the trickle from that, even in winter, offset the drain. That was 10 years ago, there must be something similar or better now. Avoids issue with isolating battery.
 
Mine has an internal fault with the AAM which controls the lights, locks, alarm etc. It's a common fault with my car but is incredibly expensive to replace and has to be recoded by a dealer so just not worth spending that much on a 20 year old car.

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Does the car have Bluetooth?
We had the same problem with my wife's CRV, drained even a new battery over several days, turned out the Bluetooth module had a fault and drained the battery, I just unplugged it and been fine for the last few years.
 
Masman said:
If it's near to an eletrcal point.Could you not set up a cable to car and put a trickle charger under bonnet.
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It’s impractical because the Battery is located in the boot and is serious awkward to access.
scotjimland said:
have you had a new battery fitted ?

I had problem like that on an old Volvo, and discovered the boot light was not going off when boot was closed .. that small light drained the battery in a few days
Click to expand...
New battery fitted every year as specified by Audi,Bosch
Dazzola said:
Does the car have Bluetooth?
We had the same problem with my wife's CRV, drained even a new battery over several days, turned out the Bluetooth module had a fault and drained the battery, I just unplugged it and been fine for the last few years.
Click to expand...
No Bluetooth.

Had supposed top Auto electrical guys on lt at Audi specialists and no result,even had the instrument panel sent off and tested for faults,literally tried everything.
 
Just a couple of things to check, try removing the bulbs from the glove box light and the boot, also does it have a button on the door to stop kids opening the windows? If so is it lit all the time?
 
I would suggest taking it to a good autoelectrician. Not a garage but an electrical specialist who does nothing else. They will track it down in no time.
OR
As other have suggested a maintenance charger would be a good idea.

The CTEK MXS 5 is excellent and comes with a set of easy disconnects that would make the task easy for you. You permenently connect this to the battery then you can plug the charger in as needed.


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Littlewheels said:
I did this the Specialist Audi garage has their own but he failed so we/they brought a top notch one in at additional cost and he failed.
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Go to an independent one. Seriously. They deal with all types of cars and that vast experience is far better than a single vehicle trained technician who will likely follow the tech manual and fire the parts cannon a bit more judiciously.

It can't hurt to try?
 
Dazzola said:
Just a couple of things to check, try removing the bulbs from the glove box light and the boot, also does it have a button on the door to stop kids opening the windows? If so is it lit all the time?
Click to expand...
Is there a light under the bonnet? They can often be The problem.
 
Gromett said:
Go to an independent one. Seriously. They deal with all types of cars and that vast experience is far better than a single vehicle trained technician who will likely follow the tech manual and fire the parts cannon a bit more judiciously.

It can't hurt to try?
Click to expand...
We did when it was with Audi, brought in a top guy “if he can’t fix it nobody can”
Cost Best part of £200 couldn’t fix it.


I have now ordered an isolator as l don’t have much choice and don’t think the ECU will be affected as you are doing no
More than turning the ignition off which in fact kills the ECU.
I posted this on Fun since so many Motorhomers fit them.
 
Littlewheels said:
We did when it was with Audi, brought in a top guy “if he can’t fix it nobody can”
Cost Best part of £200 couldn’t fix it.
Click to expand...
Hmm well that doesn't sound right. "If he can't fix it nobody can" is the last thing I want to hear from an auto electrician. I am sorry but that is plain BS. It sounds like he couldn't figure it out.

Littlewheels said:
I have now ordered an isolator as l don’t have much choice and don’t think the ECU will be affected as you are doing no
More than turning the ignition off which in fact kills the ECU.
Click to expand...
Turning off doesn't kill the ECU. The ECU is still powered even with the ignition off.

Not going to comment on if it will damage anything though, no knowing with modern cars.

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