[monkmonkey]

In my leopard there is a power on/off toggle switch under the hood. I was driving today and the car's power started to go on/off. Eventually I couldn't move anymore. So I looked under the hood and found the toggle switch (50A) was broken. I then replaced the burnt smelling switch with another, proceeded to turn the ignition on, 3 seconds later smoke came bellowing out from under the hood. I quickly rushed out to see what the problem was. All looked secure, so I drove home without a problem.

Can someone speculate for me?

[frodus]

Is it switching pack voltage?

Are the contacts rated for pack voltage?

[Ziggythewiz]

What is the switch hooked to? Not familiar with the leopard but 50A would be undersized for most traction circuits and overkill for a contactor.

Is the switch still working? You can fry a switch so it shorts out and is now a (unreliable) wire.

[monkmonkey]

Originally Posted by Ziggythewiz

What is the switch hooked to? Not familiar with the leopard but 50A would be undersized for most traction circuits and overkill for a contactor.

Is the switch still working? You can fry a switch so it shorts out and is now a (unreliable) wire.

One wire is a ground. The other goes to the negative battery cable.

The switch smelled burnt and is unable to switch on/off.

[monkmonkey]

Originally Posted by frodus

Is it switching pack voltage?

Are the contacts rated for pack voltage?

The "off" turns power off so the contactor will not engage if the key is turned on. I don't see the point of it really.

Your other question I have no idea but it probably is the original.

[Ziggythewiz]

So is it between the battery and ground, or the contactor?

The point of such a device is as a safety disable. I have one which I use when I need steering or other powered stuff, but don't want the contactor on, or when parked for extended periods or in questionable locations.

Mine is a $3-4 Walmart switch. It's carrying ~1 A continuous at 12V, so very low power requirements.

[monkmonkey]

Originally Posted by Ziggythewiz

So is it between the battery and ground, or the contactor?

The point of such a device is as a safety disable. I have one which I use when I need steering or other powered stuff, but don't want the contactor on, or when parked for extended periods or in questionable locations.

Mine is a $3-4 Walmart switch. It's carrying ~1 A continuous at 12V, so very low power requirements.

It does not go to the contactor. Just negative battery and ground.

[Ziggythewiz]

In that case it's used as a battery disconnect, to prevent your AUX batt from draining under phantom loads if parked for a longish time. It's carrying your full AUX load, so depending on your loads it could spike over 50A pretty easily.

Mine is around 10A with everything on, but I've heard normal cars are around 30-50.

Is your AUX line fused (as a whole, obviously there will be individual circuit fuses)?

[dragonsgate]

Is this the same car that you were given the good advice on from the likes of major and others? If it is are you talking about the little chrome toggle in the upper right hand corner? If so then I think the problems are from slip shawl work and I will reiterate what has been basically advised before. Tear it down and redo it right. Cars like this one is what will give DIY EV’s a bad reputation.

[monkmonkey]

Originally Posted by dragonsgate

Is this the same car that you were given the good advice on from the likes of major and others? If it is are you talking about the little chrome toggle in the upper right hand corner? If so then I think the problems are from slip shawl work and I will reiterate what has been basically advised before. Tear it down and redo it right. Cars like this one is what will give DIY EV’s a bad reputation.

Yes it is. When you say tear it down and do it right, do you mean just make changes as suggested? I don't need to take everything out do I? I just ordered a precharge resistor, so thats a start.