[garinhash]

my mother and i are going to install kill switches on 2 cars(one of my cars, one of her cars).
its the kind of kill switch that has a large removable red key.
mostly so the battery of both cars don't die out when they aren't being driven for lengths of time(especially during the cold).

I'm not sure on the exact year, but one needs to be installed on a mustang of the 1979–1993 body style.
the main issue i see with this car is that the car needs a current running through it for the radio, clock, alternator(i assume the alternator needs a current).
the second car is my 57 Chevy no working clock or radio in it currently so a constant current is not needed for it atm.

i have read about people wiring a self-resetting circuit breaker(10-15 amp) to bridge between the kill switch to allow a current to still keep the radio and clocks set.
is this a good idea? does anyone have more information about wiring a self-resetting circuit breaker between a Kill switch, what i would need, where i could get parts?

[302 Z28]

Why not just buy some Battery Tenders to put on the cars when not being driven? Your suggestion seems like an over complicated answer to a simple problem.

Vince

[red65mustang]

a better plan is find the batt drain problem and fix it!!!

sitting in the garage the mustang radio presets/clock/maybe the cpu only draw "milliamps" (1,000th's of a amp) to operate....
ex: a wrist watch works for 2 years (?) with just that tiny batt inside....

57' should be 0.000amps just sitting (but any wiring harness can have minor voltage bleed,,,very common in old harnesses and switches)

here's a "how to" link:

http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_runs_down.htm

(click on the "auto repair library" link at the top of the page takes you to a master articles listing access to repair anything on a car!!!!)

on the 57',,, a $7? batt neg cable quick disconnect from your local store is just so darn handy when working on the electrics and is a 100% effective "kill switch"

[Joe G]

If the Mustang has a cig lighter or power point that stays hot with the key off, you can get a battery tender that plugs right in there, so you don't have to monkey around under the hood.

[302 Z28]

Yep, much simpler that trying to rig something up.

Vince

[joe_padavano]

Actually, you can now buy the disconnects that go right on the battery terminal with a small fused bypass wire (like 3 amps or so) to retain memory and clock functions when disconnected. The small fuse will burn out if someone tries to start the car.

[Old Rotor Flap]

Doesn't having a self-resetting circuit breaker sort of defeat the purpose of having a circuit breaker?

[garinhash]

Originally Posted by Old Rotor Flap

Doesn't having a self-resetting circuit breaker sort of defeat the purpose of having a circuit breaker?

by using a self-resetting circuit breaker instead of using a fuse means instead of blowing a fuse and having to replace the fuse the circuit then resets itself, not needing to buy alot of fuses.

[Old Rotor Flap]

Let me be a bit more blunt.

There is no such thing as a self-resetting circuit breaker.

Think about it.

If something, a short circuit, trips a breaker, how could it possibly reset itself without;
1. Instantly tripping again... and again and again and again... unremittingly towards perpetuity.
2 Sending out a crew of little green men to repair the short so the self-resetting breaker doesn't #1 above.

Circiut breakers can be manually reset by the pilot ....or driver, as it were. but the F-ing things don't reset themsleves; ergo such a device would be defeating the purpose of said, such a device.

Want to learn something about circuit breakers? Study the purpose of the Master Caution annunciator in aircraft.

[sqzbox]

You can also buy a solar powered battery tender that trickles to the battery that plugs into the cig. lighter or acc. power socket. You set the panel on the dash but, it only works for cars parked outside.

[sqzbox]

OLD ROTOR FLAP, There is a self resetting circuit breaker that comes in International semi trucks that break when they get hot and will reset when they cool off. I don't think it is the type that will work for what he want's
but I encountered them after my running lights kept going out while driving down the road and after pulling over and sitting for a few minutes and shutting the lights off they would come back on after the breaker would cool off. As you stated they would just keep resetting over and over again. A new breaker (plug in type) and removing the cover from the breaker circuit board behind the glove box helped keep it cooler and I had no more problem.

[NvrGrwUp]

If you are just trying not to run the battery down, a battery tender is the better way to go. It will extend the life of the battery.

But if you use the set up in the first post, you can not start the car but it will keep the memory in the radio and any other low current draw devices.

[red65mustang]

old rotor,

there are indeed "auto-reset" and "autorestore" breakers

http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d28.html

because just a isolated "momentary" spike condition upstream can occur (spike from the alt)

having a "instantly" accessable manual reset breaker is not always possible (on a power grid)

[Old Rotor Flap]

Sqzbox and Red65mustang, I spoke too soon. I stand corrected. Thank you for the education.

Somewhere in what's left ot those little grey cells is the name of a device that opens on temperature and closes when temperature returns to normal, etc. No Paris, not the thermostat.

A simple temp sensor like that used to control an electric fan would be similar.

Almost like a thermister.... it may come to me.... or not

Thanks again gents.

[Rickracer]

Old Rotor Flap, the most common OEM use of the type circuit breakers being discussed, ("self resetting"),is for power seats and/or power windows in Ford and GM cars,
Many Ford and GM headlight switches also have them incorporated into the switch unit.