Kill Switch Lanyard Poll

[dlb]

A few years back on a lake close to my home a boat with 2 young kids, preschoolers, and their dad went by us as we were coming off the lake in the early morning. The lake was calm and they were going a little faster than no wake but not by much.. Later in the morning, the boat and kids were found beach onshore. A few hours later dad's body was pulled from the lake. The story from the kids was that they hit a wave, wake, and dad fell off. He tried to swim to catch the boat and eventually went under.

Moral of the story, the lanyard was not attached to the boat driver, no life jacket. Police summarized that either would have saved his life.

[TallRedRider]

Not saying anyone else should do this but I hooked up the switch backwords such that installing the lanyard will keep the engine from starting.

Super easy to do.

I use the fix-it-and-forget-it lanyard kill switch.

Step one: fix it: swap wires on back of existing lanyard switch.

Step two: forget it.

I hate my lanyard as well. It is only there to look stoopid, and cause me some trouble some day. So I reached back behind it and swapped the wires. It still functioned!

I admit that it was a little bit of a stretch to do it by reaching and I could not see it, but I am sure I got the wires reversed. I switched them a second time (to how it was before, and the kill switch still worked). Am I missing something here? Should I just do the same thing again and see if it works this time? I suppose that I am open to the idea that I somehow did it wrong both times, but I seriously doubt it. Getting a wrench back there to disconnect the thing and pull it through is going to be a bear. It feels like I also have some blade connectors on the kill switch that are not being used. Help?

Mine feels like this one on the back: Notice how it has 4 blades.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOAT-ENGINE-SAFETY-CUT-OUT-IGNITION-KILL-SWITCH-LANYARD-/190430236333#vi-content

Edited April 21, 2012 by TallRedRider

[Sride]

Case study for lanyard attachment.

To bad lanyard attachments don't also help make people smarter on the water.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Sride

[Asmodeus2112]

^^^ Woah...^^^

[TallRedRider]

I hate my lanyard as well. It is only there to look stoopid, and cause me some trouble some day. So I reached back behind it and swapped the wires. It still functioned!

I admit that it was a little bit of a stretch to do it by reaching and I could not see it, but I am sure I got the wires reversed. I switched them a second time (to how it was before, and the kill switch still worked). Am I missing something here? Should I just do the same thing again and see if it works this time? I suppose that I am open to the idea that I somehow did it wrong both times, but I seriously doubt it. Getting a wrench back there to disconnect the thing and pull it through is going to be a bear. It feels like I also have some blade connectors on the kill switch that are not being used. Help?

Mine feels like this one on the back: Notice how it has 4 blades.

http://www.ebay.com/...6333#vi-content

I was hoping not to have to reach back there to take the whole thing apart (It feels very tight, and is a bear to reach). Anyone have a wiring diagram for this type of unit? I might just have to pull it out and go for it with the digital voltmeter.

[Pistol Pete]

Case study for lanyard attachment.

I don't see how the lanyard being used would have changed anything in that vid. I guess I'm just stupid.

I was hoping not to have to reach back there to take the whole thing apart (It feels very tight, and is a bear to reach). Anyone have a wiring diagram for this type of unit? I might just have to pull it out and go for it with the digital voltmeter.

A schematic would show you that having both wires attached to either terminals "A" or "B" will make the switch work one way and the opposite if both wires were on the other terminals. Maybe your switch is bad?

[Sride]

After they were kicked out of the helm if the boat had righted itself (which it didn't)it would have been off to the races without a driver on a crowded lake.

I run with a lanyard most of the time, all of the time on windy days or when I am alone with one of the kiddos. Its one of those habits I formed eons ago. I certainly understand why people don't use them. They can be a royal pain in the a**.

I don't see how the lanyard being used would have changed anything in that vid. I guess I'm just stupid.

[Pistol Pete]

Roger that.

I respect you for your use of it, very smart.

I don't think that boat in the vid. would have gone very far. Both engines had to take a big gulp of water.

[TallRedRider]

I don't see how the lanyard being used would have changed anything in that vid. I guess I'm just stupid.

A schematic would show you that having both wires attached to either terminals "A" or "B" will make the switch work one way and the opposite if both wires were on the other terminals. Maybe your switch is bad?

Proving myself to be not quite a genius, I got it figured out. Earlier in this thread, the recommended solution was to just switch the wires on the kill switch. Let's say that my kill switch was hooked with two wires to both B terminals, let's call them B1 and B2. I switched B1 over to B2 and B2 over to B1, and that made no difference in the way the switch functions. I should have figured as much, now that I think about it, but someone said to just switch the wires...so that is what I did.

Tonight, I switched the wires to the opposite terminals. Both were on the B terminals, now I put them to the A terminals, and it works like I want it. The engine will run fine without the lanyard, and it actually kills the ignition with the lanyard in place. That might be useful for theft deterrence if I ever were to leave it at the dock or on a lift, thieves probably would not think to completely disconnect the kill switch.

Thanks, Pete, for helping me to think through it.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Proving myself to be not quite a genius, I got it figured out. Earlier in this thread, the recommended solution was to just switch the wires on the kill switch. Let's say that my kill switch was hooked with two wires to both B terminals, let's call them B1 and B2. I switched B1 over to B2 and B2 over to B1, and that made no difference in the way the switch functions. I should have figured as much, now that I think about it, but someone said to just switch the wires...so that is what I did.

Tonight, I switched the wires to the opposite terminals. Both were on the B terminals, now I put them to the A terminals, and it works like I want it. The engine will run fine without the lanyard, and it actually kills the ignition with the lanyard in place. That might be useful for theft deterrence if I ever were to leave it at the dock or on a lift, thieves probably would not think to completely disconnect the kill switch.

Thanks, Pete, for helping me to think through it.

oops just saw that you were requesting help and sorry for the misleading comment. Glad you got it functioning how you want it.

[Pistol Pete]

Thanks, Pete, for helping me to think through it.

You're welcome.

I'm glad you got on and told us what you did the first time.

From now on, I'll be more clear to switch the wires from the terminals.