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Isolator switch - has anyone tried these?


Johny London

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Just as per title, these seem to be the latest bit of Chinese tat doing the rounds on ebay, wondered if they were actually usable?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Motorcycle-Knob-Marine-Boat-Battery-Isolator-Cut-Off-Kill-Switch-12V-600A-UK/202746499756?epid=25030168132&hash=item2f34a212ac:g:jSMAAOSwO2pcgOFW

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1 hour ago, frangar said:

Stick with blue sea and you won’t go far wrong. 

Correct, my stuff is all Blue sea and BEP. I have in the past had those terrible little black switches with a pink removable toggle..............never ever again!!

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You cannot beat being safe and fitting a good quality isolator ,  durite. And ,CAV , are the best  and good quality CAV ones can be sourced s/h from truck breakers as all petroleum regulated tankers have to have double pole isolators which cost around £400 each new and can be bought from good truck breakers for around £25  

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1 hour ago, Chewbacka said:

I am deeply suspicious of a product with a 600A headline and a spec that says ‘Rating: 275 Amps Continuous, 1250 Amps Intermittent’

 

These are the specs for mine, so whoever has advertised these has got the intermittent and cranking ratings mixed up.

 

701 specifications
Continuous rating: 275 Amps DC
Intermittent rating: 455 Amps DC
Cranking rating: 1250 Amps DC
Voltage rating: 48 Volts DC

 

But for that price they're cheap copies so the specs probably don't mean very much anyway.

 

 

Edited by blackrose
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3 hours ago, Johny London said:

Just as per title, these seem to be the latest bit of Chinese tat doing the rounds on ebay, wondered if they were actually usable?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Motorcycle-Knob-Marine-Boat-Battery-Isolator-Cut-Off-Kill-Switch-12V-600A-UK/202746499756?epid=25030168132&hash=item2f34a212ac:g:jSMAAOSwO2pcgOFW

 

If you're interested in that particular style of switches have a look at these:

 

http://www.bepmarine.com/en/products/battery management/battery distribution cluster

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Search for

12V-24V 600A REMOVABLE KNOB

on eBay finds loads that all look pretty much the same.

I've bought two of these which look the same as the OP's, sold by methanorashop priced at £10.89 delivered, ordered last September.

 

 I have used them to isolate battery to controller and controller to panels on my solar.

 

These appear to be the same as the OP's item, but there may be some variations.

 

Whilst I would be a bit dubious about putting 600 amps through it (or any other similarly sized switch for that matter, including Blue Sea) I think they are ok for the sort of currents we normally deal with on a boat.

 

They appear to be solidly built, have a positive switching action with good sized connectors.  I've had no problem with them.

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Don't be deceived into thinking the vendor is in the UK either. It says item location "London". That's just to make it more attractive to UK buyers. At that price it will come from China possibly via a devious route.

 

I ordered something supposedly from Leicester last Friday due for delivery on Monday. It's now Wednesday and I'm getting courier emails from Germany. They lie to attract business.

 

In all things, you get what you pay for. Try Vehicle Wiring Products (www.vehicleproducts.co.uk), they have a range.

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1 hour ago, Stephen Jeavons said:

Don't be deceived into thinking the vendor is in the UK either. It says item location "London". That's just to make it more attractive to UK buyers. At that price it will come from China possibly via a devious route.

 

I ordered something supposedly from Leicester last Friday due for delivery on Monday. It's now Wednesday and I'm getting courier emails from Germany. They lie to attract business.

 

In all things, you get what you pay for. Try Vehicle Wiring Products (www.vehicleproducts.co.uk), they have a range.

Gas or Electric range.

 

 

Sorry!?

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1 hour ago, Stephen Jeavons said:

Don't be deceived into thinking the vendor is in the UK either. It says item location "London". That's just to make it more attractive to UK buyers. At that price it will come from China possibly via a devious route.

 

I ordered something supposedly from Leicester last Friday due for delivery on Monday. It's now Wednesday and I'm getting courier emails from Germany. They lie to attract business.

 

In all things, you get what you pay for. Try Vehicle Wiring Products (www.vehicleproducts.co.uk), they have a range.

Mine were posted by 48 hour Royal Mail tracked, and delivered in three days from the order. 

A lot of the better Chinese sellers now hold stock in the UK and send it from there rather than sending from China.

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4 minutes ago, Johny London said:

Interesting - I hadn't realised they were actually a copy of a proper switch. Though at a tenner, I'm tempted. Especially thanks to dor's positive experience thus far.

You make your choice and pays yer money - there's a risk with everything, especially in a specialist market...

I have four inexpensive  switches with a removable handle - and they've been OK for as long as I've had the boat. ? luck probably. Carry a spare.....

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50 minutes ago, Johny London said:

Interesting - I hadn't realised they were actually a copy of a proper switch. Though at a tenner, I'm tempted. Especially thanks to dor's positive experience thus far.

In my experience it is usually the thermoplastic components that soften allowing the contacts to make a lighter contact so they get hotter and so on. Even if the dimensions of the components are the same I would not trust far eastern copies to use the same plastic mix so they may well be more vulnerable.

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