Rule #1 of VW's:
Volkswagen is an incredibly cheap company and doesn't put ANYTHING
superfluous on their cars, unless demanded by consumers, or by VW
engineers. (Remember, this was company that during the late '50's was
producing a car without a fuel gauge or defrost).

Based on Rule #1, you can assume that the relay is there for a good
reason, and indeed electrical engineers can explain FAR better than I
WHY it is required.

In a nutshell, there are two types of batteries, one that like to drink
and pee electrons through a straw (deep cycle), and one that likes to
drink and pee electrons through a firehose (cranking battery). Their
internal construction is different, and they DON'T mix well, typically
one ends up charging the other, and one discharging before the other,
when not part of a charging circuit (like when your van is running).

Use the relay or an isolator, and take a trip to your local library and
bone up on battery stuff.

Developing business and guiding change since 1996,

G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Corporate Communications
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
Alliance: www.ntara.com
Call tollfree: +1.877.658.1278

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Rob Cassam
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 9:13 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Aux. Battery w/o Relay

I have been thinking, what would be wrong with installing a second
battery
and running it without a relay as most do?  Wouldn't this system supply
close to double power time (good enough for weekend camps)?  If this
thinking is correct, could the second battery still be a deep cycle or
would
there be problems with the charging?

Thanks
Rob
90'Westy