Kill switch placement

Where would the best place to mount a kill switch for maximum concealment in a gen 3 interior?

 

Get creative. A lot of users here are super secretive about their kill switches. I always thought an unused OEM switch would be the best. Wireless charging button or auto hi beams for example

 

Careful with those switches, they may not be able to handle any current at all. Many of the switches are only delivering a signal voltage level or signal ground to an ECU, not turning anything on with power. Perhaps not even good enough to drive a relay. Replacing those switches with something a bit more capable is a good idea.

EDIT: See post #19.

 

Great to know! I would have figured they’d work with a relay but I’m an electrical idiot so this is extremely helpful.
Thanks so much!

 

my parents old suburban, my dad mounted the kill switch in part of the dash/gauge trim that was flexible. just had to press the trim to close the switch. it was entirely invisible.

 

I mounted it in the middle console vault. No safer place for it, I guess.

 

Well, we don't "know" anything, it's only a suspicion I have as everything today is made only to do the job as intended - nothing more.

 

Mount it in the tailpipe, no one will look in there.

 

All a kill switch does is interrupt the power.

It's placed inline between a device and a source of power.

 

Again I’m no electrician magician, but when the switch is open closed, isn’t the full current of whatever you are interrupting flowing through it?

 

No
If the switch is open then current cannot travel through the switch. Close the switch and the current will flow.

 

Absolutely

You know what he meant though!

 

Correct. My comment(s) is on just how much power a switch can handle.
A solenoid or contactor may be able to handle 100s of Amps while a keyboard switch the type I am typing on on my laptop keyboard may only be able to handle milliamps (0.001 amps). The point being is that the switch needs to be able to handle whatever current it interrupts.

 

typically, the switch will control a relay, so the switch handles low power, with the relay carrying the larger burden of the load.

 

Lets start here: the 41.22 is delivered with a switch and deemed safe. The question here is if the switch can be exchanged with a different one? My uneducated take: yes, as you are just replacing one switch with another. The current should be so low that the switch can handle it safely. Just compare the switches and make sure the new switch meets the 41.22 switch specs in terms of current permissible.

 

I let a homeless man sleep in my truck every night.... It's like a free security guard!

 

That's genius!

 

the convenience stores in really rough chicago or gary neighborhoods will usually hire the local homeless guy to stock shelves. it works as cheap shop help, and also prevents them from getting robbed as much because the neighborhood usually respects the homeless guy more than the shop owner.

 

To get this thread back on track, I took apart my "Auto Hi Beam" switch to investigate its capabilities as @musicisevil suggested its possible use. Found the contacts to be ample for energizing the coil of a relay. They had silver coated contacts, I suspect the silver is for longevity in the automobile environment for corrosion, not for conductivity, although silver is great for that too. If I find my "Wireless Charging" switch I will investigate it as well.
EDIT: Found the Wireless Charging switch and it is likewise as capable as the Auto Hi Beam switch.

 

Stoked! Added to the list of things I want to do and will probably never get around to because I hate electrical lol