Short Stoppers (connected to the batteries)

[Titanty]

How important are these "Short Stoppers"?

I bought an 18' Astro that has a 24v trolling motor. The boat needed all new batteries. When I opened her up to get the old batteries out I notice a damaged module the was on the end of on of the positive terminals (actually on the wire) it has print on the side of it that says "shortstopper" and a bunch of numbers.

What does this thing actually do? (yeah I know prevent shorts...looking for a little more detail)

Where can you buy them?

 

[drewpster]

Re: Short Stoppers (connected to the batteries)

My guess would be that a short stopper in an inline fusable link. (inline fuse) It is placed on the main cables as protection against overheating the cables if a short to ground occurs. If you cannot find them, you could probably replace them using a maxi fuse or an ignition protected breaker of the same amp rating.
I would also look for the cause of the short stopper's failure. If it is burned out, that means something got hot. Pay close attention to all the connections and the condition of the cables. If anything is touching ground that shouldn't be, it will just pop again.
Bad batteries can also cause heat problems in the starter circuit. The batteries themselves could have caused the problem. While you are swapping batteries pay close attention to all the main connections to make sure they are tight and clean. I would also look over the main fuse panel for blown fuses as well as bad connections. The main cause of electrical problems is loose or corroded connections. Corrosion in the wires themselves could also get progressively worse over time causing overheating. After you get everything checked out go buy an automatic charger that will keep your batteries up when the boat is home.

 

[Titanty]

Re: Short Stoppers (connected to the batteries)

Thanks^^

It is actually a "breaker".

Now the local boat shop only has one rated at 12v. Looks like the old one (that was broken in half not blown) has "28v MAX" written on it. I can't believe that a boat shop doen't know the answer.

Do you think the 12v one would be OK? There is one on each battery on my boat.