I bought a used ATV, and I want to install an external receptical so I can hook up the battery charger, without removing the seat to access the battery.

I plan to use male and female XLR recepticals from Radio Shack.


Are there any special precautions I must take, or can I just run +/- wires from the battery straight to the female plug (which I plan to mount to the body of the ATV)?

Thanks,
Gary

 

is this the type receptical you are referring to?
can we get a bit more info on the atv?
size, volts, amp/hours etc?

we are anxious to assist.

 

Visit a local battery/car electronics place. There are (well, were, as this was 15-20 years ago) inexpensive sexed connectors that you can use that are somewhat similar to Molex connectors. I put one of them on my Land Cruiser so I could charge the battery in our tent camper when driving. It worked great, was simple, reliable, nicely insulated, easy to assemble, and cheap. I did use 8 gauge copper wire, so maybe they're not available in smaller sizes. But no doubt it could be wired up with smaller wire.

 

I do not think that connector do have the correct IP rating for use in a ATV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code But this is a guess as I no data on that connector

 

Yes, that is the type of connector I am considering.
The ATV is a Chinese made Sunl Hunma R5, with a 110cc engine.
It has an electric starter powered by a small 12 volt motorcycle battery.

It has a rectifier, but I've been having some problems starting it, and have yet to get the carburator adjusted just right, therefore, I've been running the battery down.

The seat is cheaply made, and might be easily damaged with frequent removal to access the battery, that's partly why I want to install a hard mounted plug externally on the body of the ATV.

My concern is that I might need some kind of electronic check valve in-line?
So I'm asking, is it safe to run some wires straight from the battery to the plug, or do I need to add something in line as a safety?

I'm sorry if this seems a weird question, but the other day, I hooked up a charger to the battery, while it was fully connected, and the built in alarm on the ATV went of shortly thereafter. Since then I have been disconnecting the battery to charge it.

Thanks,
Gary

 

I did think about the waterproof need, but didn't know how to address it. The IP information bears that out. Perhaps if I mounted it in an obscure location on the ATV, somewhere where water is not likely to intrude? Otherwise, I may need a rubber watertight cover of some sort. I don't anticipate being in water deep enough to flood the socket. Water that deep would flood the engine and battery compartments first anyway. I'm thinking the IP rating won't be an issue.

Thanks

 

I would think that the current rating of this connector should be dictated by the max charge current rating of your charger. What is it?

As for your second question about some sort of isolator: Yes, you can put a Diode in series with the hot leg from your jack to the bat (+). This will prevent reverse current flow in case of an accidental shorting of the pins. The no load output voltage of the charger has to high enough to overcome the .7V drop of the Diode though.