MountainD
Technical Excellence Contributor
On a previous defender years ago I had a soldered cable that “broke” or came detached from the lug at the alternator causing the battery cable to arc in the engine compartment and caused a fire. I was driving on the freeway at the time but I was able to stop the truck, pop the hood, and use an extinguisher to put it out. Looking at the other end of the effected cable after it happened, it was a crappy job and I don’t trust any previous owner battery cables anymore. I use a hydraulic crimper and haven’t had any issues.
Which is precisely the reason i have a battery disconnect at the seatbox behind my heals. In 2 seconds of smoke I can kill all electrical to my trucks if need be. I personally disconnect the hot with a two pole dial--one pole connects the battery hot to the truck circuits and the other connects the winch and the battery -- so under normal driving when winch is not needed, it is not electrified. Something that you can not do when switching ground. However, if you are doing just the truck electrical (no winch in this arrangement), then switching either the hot or ground works just as effectively.