Today's mod, we put in a battery disconnect switch. My Roo did not come with one from the factory, although, I believe new models are coming with one.
The main reason for the disconnect is so that you can store your trailer without hooking up the power. What happens, there are little parasitic draws on the battery, and if you don't disconnect or plug in, you are going to kill the battery. Drawing the battery too far too many times is a good way to shorten its life.
Some of the parasitic draw are:
- Refrigerator Electronics (never had this issue in the 90s)
- Safety Devices (Propane alarm, and any other 12v detectors)
- Clock Radio
- Television
On the forums, some people said to break the ground, so that if you accidentally ground the terminals on the switch, no harm. The problem I see with that is the trailer breakaway is now disabled if you forget to turn the switch on. So, I decided to break the positive just before my converter charger and put the switch there.
I bought a single battery switch from Blue Sea Systems, model #6005. I liked this because there were 3 mounting options, a removable "key" to turn it on and to remove when off, and it was quite small. I chose mounting it by sandwiching the paneling between the front and back, and using the thicker wood on the sides to help brace it. I also had to shave some of the edge off my propane alarm due to the tight fit. One mistake I did, the hole saw grabbed and marked the wood. I will have to get some of that furniture fix stuff to get rid of the mark.
Besides the switch, other supplies I needed were:
- 4 #10 by 2 1/2 screws and nuts (Ace Hardware)
- 6 foot piece of 8AWG battery wire (Autozone)
- 3/8" 8AWG terminals (Autozone)
- Holesaw (Ace Hardware)
Battery Disconnect mounted and in the ON position.
Proximity to my Converter. Only needed on short piece of 8 gauge wire to do the job.
