Wow! Thanks for the detailed reponse. I'm reluctant to drive around since
we're in the middle of some flurries here in Toronto and I don't want to get
Pokey all salty. What I failed to mention is that the seat heater was just a
$30 Canadian Tire special and not the full on VW Heated Seats. It was
plugged into the cigarette lighter...

Thanks,
Chris Gronski
Toronto, Ontario,
'80 Westy "Pokey" - SLOPOKEY
'87 Chevrolet Sprint - Ice Racer
'91 Pontiac Firefly - Convertible
www.vanagon.org & .ca
www.gronski.com, .org, & .ca
www.nineeleven.org & .ca

----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Hansen" <carl_hansen@IEEE.ORG>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 4:00 PM
Subject: Re: charge batter in the vehicle

> yep.  yep.  No problem.
>
> Now, why wait for a battery charger to do it's job.  General concensus in
> Minnesnowta is the following:
>
>         -  Drive at Freeway Speeds (50 mph+) without headlights on
>            for 10 to 15 minutes and your battery will be charged up
>                             AS MUCH AS IT CAN BE.  -
>
> So if you got it started, then went off on your business, you probably got
> the battery charged up enough.  If you continue to have problems, you
would
> need to be look at charging system problems, or a failed battery.
>
>
> HOWEVER, I don't think that your problems are a. over; or b. identified
> properly yet.
>
> Looking at Bently pages 97.180 and 97.182 I note that the heated seats get
> their power from current track 15.  Current track 15 is hot ONLY when the
> IGNITION IS ON.
>
> That would mean that when you stated "I inadventantly left my seat heater
> on and it drained my battery", this should not have made any differeence
to
> the battery because the seats would NOT have power applied if the ignition
> switch was off!
>
>
> Here's hoping your problems are resolved, and you didn't rewire the seats
> to be hot all the time.
>
> on-on
>
> Ch
>
> '89 SyncroBeast Vanagon - Soon to come - New Shocks for the Syncro!
>                                  Soon as I get rid of the rust.  ugh -
rust
> '87 16V GTI
> '80 850 Yamaha Special
> '87 16V GTI w/ hale damage - parting out - body gone, parts remain
> '89 16V GTI w/ toasted motor
> '86 Scirocco (8 valve w/ auto) - SO's
>
> Prior Lake, MinneSnowta
>
> **** SNIP ORIGINAL ****
> >SUBJECT: Can you charge a battery that is still in the vehicle? (Was:
Cold
> >         Start problem)
> >
> >Why do I blame my van for things that are my fault? I inadventantly left
my
> >seat heater on and it drained my battery, hence my start problems. I
broke
> >out my trusty 20' ONE GAUGE (!) jumper cables (on sale at Canadian Tire
> >until this Friday) and she started right up.
>
> >This may be a silly question but I'd like to charge the battery on my
> >external caharger but I'm wondering if I have to pull it out to do so?
Would
> >it be dangerous to leave it in while its charging? Keep in mind it is
pretty
> >damn cold in my carport (-6C)...
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Chris Gronski
> >Toronto, Ontario,
>