Morris Minor Owners Club

Please can someone advise me is it best to fit a battery isolator to my car ,which is only used on the weekend during the summer months , the other question is I have seen various comments about certain isolators and where they were made as being very poor quality , what I really would like to buy is an isolator complete with the main starter lead already attached rather than separate items as it looks messy to me with the starter lead bolted to the isolator

Look on websites such as Ripspeed that sell proper isolators for race purposes. DO NOT use the crappy brass ones with the removable knobs on top......

That'll be me then!

Please can someone advise me is it best to fit a battery isolator to my car, which is only used on the weekend during the summer months

You shouldn't really need one, UNLESS you have a modern radio or other device that always uses a little power to keep the memory up. You might consider a solar battery charger to keep the battery up.

Just as easy to disconnect the battery than fit an isolator!

Well not quite as easy as turning a knob!

I have been disconnecting the battery by removing the terminal , what is worrying me is that during the time I have had the car which I bought as a road legal runner I have had several electrical issues ,I used to lose the power to the fuel pump / trafficators/ fuel gauge , this I traced to a bad fuse box connection / poor wiring and replaced the fuse box.After one trip in the car on returning to my garage some 30 ish minutes later I could smell something hot this I traced to the regulator box which was too hot to touch and starting to smoke , so I isolated the battery and removed the regulator and subsequently renewed it , the car now runs reliably (touch wood) but it was the regulator issue that worries me or was it just too old and the new unit should cure my concerns

Any battery left for months on end without activity is going to lose years of its working life... whilst the car is laid up take the battery out and once a week run it down with a lamp connected and then charge it up.

If it has filler caps keep the cells topped up with distilled water.

50 years ago you could take it to a Lucas Service Depot and they would do the same thing for you.

Discharging/charging like that uses up the battery life cycles! Don't do it.... A solar charger keeps the battery topped up without overcharging it - best £13 you can spend........ http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-Volt-Sola ... 53ebcc87c5

I thought it did the battery good? No?

I would've thought it was better for the battery than having it lay untouched for months on end anyway.

Obviously not running it flat with a lamp, but running it down and then charging it up.

I do have a battery cut-off switch in my 1950 MM. Last October I parked the car and turned off the switch. On 15 March I turned it back on and started the engine a few seconds later. I have been treating batteries like this for years and never had a problem. One good run is all it needs to be fully charged again although it registered over 12 volts after the five month sleep.

Keeping the battery topped up with the very light charge from a solar unit is by far the best way to keep it healthy. Every discharge on a lead/acid battery is a 'life' gone.......

You actually get sun in your neck of the woods bmc?

Absolutely -lots of it! Garages face south - so solar chargers mounted on the wall under the overhang - to get the low winter sun, but shaded from the damaging summer sun. In summer - the chargers are used to top up rechargeable cells for my railway lamps.......

Strewth... solar powered railway lamps? We'll see you piloting a Deltic next! I've got a garage full of paraffin lamps which just keep going. Plus I like the old lamps, they have more character to them.

I do have oil lamps too -but Bardics are much more convenient. And I do drive diesels - but not had a chance of a Deltic yet... Not sure I want to either - since engines are £500k each - and there are two of them..... Wouldn't want to be responsible for running the big ends on one of them.... Amazing engines - no cylinder heads! Or valves........

Ahh no wonder you have rechargable batteries in the Bardic. Replacement batteries were becoming hard to find and expensive. My solution was to snip the old terminals off and solder in a holder for x2 AA batteries, and change the bulb to the correct rating for this.

I might still have it; if you want it (it's gold and BR marked), you can have it if you pay the postage.

I like the old 3 aspect (red, blue and clear) oil lamps though. They are effective for hand signalling purposes (and I'm not suggesting you attach one to your Morris).

Just fix up your Bardic and carry it in the car, best emergency light you can get! I have 13 of them now - 2 converted to LED bulbs......with 14 volt battery pack.

Hi all,
Followed bmc's link to that solar charger and bought one. What a wonderful bit of kit. I'm very impressed. I've seen them mentioned on the forum before but theyre great.
Thanks for the info.
Cheers, Colin.