Thread: Replacing a SurePower Battery Seperator

Originally Posted by mike_ie

I would agree. In your old system, the two big terminals at the top of the battery isolator connect to your main battery and auxiliary battery respectively. These are all that you need.
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Originally Posted by mike_ie

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My previous posts were correct, it seems.

It seems Not! Your original post was incorrect!

In the English language the term "These are all that you need." means that nothing else is required.

The fact that one of the three other terminals is the ground wire, and required to operate the internal functions of the isolator, indicates that your original post was incorrect!

It never ceases to amaze me how certain people will bend over backwards to nail home a point, regardless of how wrong they may be, and regardless of how many facts are presented to them to prove it to be so.

Now I normally couldn't care less about ****ing competitions, but seeing that you returned to the thread almost two weeks after I posted for no other reason than to give me some pointers towards the nuances of the English language, then I feel somewhat obliged to return the favour.

Let me start by breaking down the thead so far, and I'd greatly appeciate it if, before you post again, you'd actually bother to read the thread in full before you dole out another English lesson.

The thread started out when VladTepes asked what was required to wire in a Traxide battery isolator in place of his old Surepower battery isolator.

Originally Posted by VladTepes

I have an (evidently) clapped out Surepower battery separator, which I need to remove....

I will be replacing it with one of Tims Traxide SC-80 units...

What I really need to know is what of all the junk that is currently in my battery box is likely to belong to the surepower thing.

After taking a look at the schematics for both the Traxide and Surepower isolators, I advised him that the only wires he needed from his old Surepower system were the connections on the top of the isolator - the links to the main and auxiliary batteries respectively. The Traxide unit is grounded through a lead which is looped through the mounting screws.

the two big terminals at the top of the battery isolator connect to your main battery and auxiliary battery respectively. These are all that you need.

To be specific, I said

4. Solder the red and yellow wires from the traxide isolator to the MAIN battery lead from the top of the old isolator.

5. Solder the blue and grey wires from the traxide isolator to the AUX battery lead from the top of the old isolator.

6. Connect the green wire from the traxide isolator to ground.

No other leads from the old Surepower isolator are needed, in fact, in the interests of safety I even suggested that because one of the now unnecesary wires consisted

of a live feed from the ignition, (so) either follow the wire back to the ignition and disconnect it, or cut it in the battery box and cap it off carefully, for fear of it shorting out in the future.

It's worth noting that my response was to VladTepes, and at this stage you hadn't even entered the equation.

So far, my post to VladTepes was correct.

Just shy of an hour later, you posted the following:

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

I have a SurePower Isolator that I have been meaning to install for ages.

Are you suggesting that I can ignore all the blade connectors and only use the two battery terminals? (Assuming that the whole unit is grounded with it's mounting bolts of course.)

For fear of stating the obvious, the question you asked is completely different from VladTepes's original question, i.e. what was required to wire in a Traxide battery isolator in place of his old Surepower battery isolator. I treated it as a separate question, and answered it as such. I broke down the wiring schematic for the SurePower Isolator, explained what each teminal was for, and specifically stated that

Originally Posted by mike_ie

as long as you have the GROUND spade connector connected to the chassis, then the SurePower Isolator should work by simply connecting the MAIN terminal to the main battery, and the AUX terminal to the auxiliary battery.

I even clarified that the GROUND spade connector must be connected to the chassis, because of your original assumption that "the whole unit is grounded with it's mounting bolts".

To make things even more clear, I explained the function of the remaining two spade connectors, and why they were optional.

Originally Posted by mike_ie

The Start Assist feature is optional, and uses the START SIGNAL spade terminal. <further explanation>

The START LAMP terminal I would assume, can be connected to a bulb to show you when the Start Assist feature is in use.

If by some miracle there was some miscommunication in what I had just said, I summarised the post by closing with

Originally Posted by mike_ie

So to answer your question - you can ignore all the blade connectors EXCEPT GROUND and only use the two battery terminals.

Short of drawing you a pictue I don't think I could have explained it more clearly. Or correctly.

So far:
1. My first (and only) post to VladTepes was correct.
2. My first post to you was correct.

Are we good so far? Great.

Next post you showed your appreciation by getting personal, and letting me know that...

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

I rather hoped that when you made your first post, that you actually knew what you were saying or better still had done it.

...and quoting my responce to VladTepes's original quesion (what do I need to do to replace a SurePower isolator with a Traxide isolator) as proof that I was talking through my arse when answering your question (how do I install a Surepower isolator). My instructions to you, you ignored completely - the ones that stated that "you can ignore all the blade connectors EXCEPT GROUND and only use the two battery terminals". Where exactly from this did you infer that "you can ignore all of the spade connectors"?

Anyhow, against my better judgement, I (again) reiterated my instructions as to how to install a SurePower battey isolator, poor VladTepes at this stage, lost in the mists of time (I hope you got your battery isolator installed mate ) I again, for your benefit, gave a detailed explanation of each and every terminal and connection on your Surepower Isolator. I clarified that I didn't have the benefit of the installation instructions that came in the box, but that the Surepower website/brochure stated that the START SIGNAL terminal was optional.

Originally Posted by mike_ie

Start Assist Feature: An optional input from the key switch or a manual switch will program the Battery Seperator to parallel the batteries during starting.

I also expained why I thought that the associated START LAMP was optional.

Originally Posted by mike_ie

The START LAMP (or similarly named) terminal was used to light a globe when the batteries were being paralleled. Again, optional.

So far:
1. My first (and only) post to VladTepes was correct.
2. My first post to you was correct.
3. My second post to you was correct.

To be ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT THE INFORMATION THAT I HAD POSTED FOR YOU WAS CORRECT, I managed to find the manufacturers installation instructions for the SurePower battery isolator. I cut and paste, word for word, their step by step instructions, which matched my own earlier ones. I even posted a schematic big enough to be seen from space, that has the "optional connections" listed. Nowhere, anywhere in my answer to your question (how do I install a SurePower isolator) did I tell you that "you can ignore all of the spade connectors".

So far:
1. My first (and only) post to VladTepes was correct.
2. My first post to you was correct.
3. My second post to you was correct.
4. My third post to you was correct.

Yet here we are again.


I have received more than my fair share of help fom these forums, have been very grateful for it, and as such I try to return the favour wherever possible. 99.99% of the time, the scenario is as follows:

1. Someone posts a question.
2. I answer to the best of my abilities.
3. (optional) If my answer wasn't clear enough, the poster asks for more detail.
4. (optional) If I can, I clarify the answer to the best of my abilities.
5. Poster says thanks for the help, everyone's happy.

Before you decide to reply, I'd like to point out that, instead of adhering to anything resembling the above scenario, you sailed your own course, and seem intent on sticking to it. You posted a question. I attempted to give an educated reply. Instead of being grateful for the fact that a random stranger went to the trouble of looking into the schematics for the device that you were trying to install and repeatedly explaining it to you - correctly, as evidenced by the subsequent schematic - you:

(a) posted personal comments about my knowledge and/or abilities
(b) waxed rhetorical about my choice of words when responding to you whan you, apparently, didn't even bother reading the responses in full.
(c) tried to ram it down my throat how you were right and I was wrong.
(d) felt it worthy of your time two weeks later to come back and tell me that you were right and I was wrong.


As a forum moderator, hell, as an adult, I would have expected you to know better. At the end of the day its no concen of mine if you install your battery isolator upside down, back to front, or whatever. The instructions are there in black and white. The schematics are there. Do with them as you see fit.