Russell I am sitting on a half completed second battery 
install myself. I am part of a group of Vanagon owners in 
Toronto who get together from time to time in the summer 
months. Last year we decided rather than just sit around 
talking about our vans we would do projects as well. First 
being a second battery.

Why my install is half finished is that relay that a few of 
the installs mentioned wasn't present in my air cooled 
westy... so we couldn't complete the job. I eventally got the 
part for $45 US I think (check archives under my e-mail 
address and "relay" for the P/N). Unfortunately it took a 
long time to get But I havent sat down and tried to make 
sense of the rough in wiring yet.

As I recall the cigarette lighter and stock stereo are on the 
same circut (check bentley to be sure) so you can probably 
just pull the fuse, splice into that wire, and run an inline 
fuse and wire back under to the second battery.

As for longer term power the ONLY way to go is propane. Or 
110 plug in. My fridge does not have a fan, and I am sure I 
have run the fridge continuously for 10 to 14 days on 
propane.  If you have 110 power at your campsite it might be 
prudent to also invest in a trickle charger for your second 
battery so you can charge it while you're sitting there. You 
can plug the trickle charger under the sink (there is a 
conventional 110 plug hiding there, one outlet of which is 
used for the fridge unit).

I have no experience with Solar or Wind... but I have kicked 
the idea around. There are also people who have gone ton 
three batteries (one under each seat and one in the engine 
compartment). I dont know how they are wired though.

Thanks,
Chris

Thanks,
Chris 

 

---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 21:23:34 -0400
>From: "Russell, William" <william.russell@UW-INC.COM>  
>Subject: Re: Overwhelmed: �Second Battery  
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
>Craig,
>
>Thanks for the information.  I have seen both those web 
sites before.
>My confusion lies in combining those things.  I did not 
purchase deep
>cycle batteries.  I think that maybe if you use a good
isolator, you can
>use a deep cycle for the second battery but I had read that 
it's best to
>match them together.  As far as the fridge goes, I will
certainly use
>propane but as I understand it, there is still a small
electric fan that
>runs.  Is that not the case?
>
>\/\/i!!y
>1980 Vanagon "Jazzy"
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Vanagon Mailing List 
[mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
>Of Craig Oda - Personal email
>Sent: April 29, 2002 21:09
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: Overwhelmed: Second Battery
>
>William,
>http://www.geocities.com/harald_nancy/dualbattery.htm
>and
>http://members.fortunecity.com/davebaker1/westy/westy.htm
>
>The part that is most relevant to you is
>
>http://members.fortunecity.com/davebaker1/westy/id20.htm
>
>Did you get deep-cycle batteries?
>
>BTW, I don't have dual-batteries installed myself, I'm just
>researching it right now.  There's a bunch of other stuff I 
have to
>fix on my Westy first.
>
>However, from my inexperienced perspective, you should be 
able to
>charge the secondary from the alternator and run power from 
it when
>parked if you wire the fixtures to the secondary battery.  I
think
>that the refridgertor will suck your battery dry pretty 
quick, so you
>might want to use propane.
>
>-- Craig
>
>
>
>On Mon, 29 Apr 2002, Russell, William wrote:
>
>> I've been considering and researching a second battery for 
my 1980
>> Westfalia since before I even bought it last September.
>Unfortunately,
>> with lots of research, sometimes comes lots of confusion.  
So, I'm
>> looking for advice.  Here's the situation:
>>
>>
>>
>> I like music.  I like it a lot.  After purchasing my 
Westfalia, I
>> installed an aftermarket stereo system.  I installed 4 - 
5" Pioneer
>> speakers, a Pioneer AM/FM/CD Player (low end model), and a 
Pioneer
>power
>> amp driving a nice big sub-woofer in one of those carpeted 
boxes at
>the
>> end of 6' of speaker wire so that I can move it to 
wherever is most
>> convenient at any given time.  The sound is excellent!  I 
think I need
>> to fine tune the EQ because the stereo seems to have to be 
so loud
>that
>> it hurts my ears when I'm driving.  But, when I am parked 
it sounds
>> superb.
>>
>>
>>
>> After reading through the archives at westfalia.org, I was 
under the
>> impression that my best option was to install a second 
battery that
>was
>> exactly the same as my primary battery.  Since I needed a 
new primary
>> battery anyway, I purchased two GR41/60 MM72 batteries
which seemed to
>> be the largest ones that would fit in the van.  I 
immediately
>installed
>> the primary but the secondary is still sitting idle under 
the driver's
>> seat.  They have actually been rotated a couple of times 
already
>because
>> I was having problems with the starting system.
>>
>>
>>
>> As I continued my research during the Canadian winter, I
realized that
>> for the type of camping I like to do (long weekend 
festivals with no
>> power hook-ups and plenty of need for loud music and cold 
beer); I
>would
>> probably need an alternate power source to ensure that I 
could live to
>> my expectations.  I think that I have decided on 
installing a solar
>> panel lying flat in the luggage rack over the passenger 
compartment.
>> However, I don't have the money right now to make the
purchase or the
>> time to perform the installation.
>>
>>
>>
>> What I would like to do right now is hook-up the second 
battery.  I
>want
>> it to charge from the alternator when the engine is 
running, yet be
>> isolated from the primary batter when the engine is shut 
off.  I
>figure
>> that I should hook the stereo, the sub-woofer, some 
lighting, and the
>> fridge to the second battery.  In another few months, I 
would like to
>> install the solar panel and connect it to the secondary 
battery as
>well.
>> At that time, I would like the solar panel to charge the 
second
>battery
>> when the van is off, but I would still like to make use of 
the
>> alternator for charging the second battery when the van is 
running.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, first of all, can I do all this?  Am I missing any 
important
>facts?
>> Secondly, how should I isolate the batteries?  I've read 
that a relay
>is
>> enough, and then I read that a relay isn't enough and I 
should use an
>> isolator.  Will either or both of these work with my
planned solar
>panel
>> setup?  Where can I order the required parts and is this a 
task that I
>> can really do myself?
>>
>>
>>
>> Any assistance or input is GREATLY appreciated.  I want to 
do this
>right
>> and only do it once.
>>
>>
>>
>> \/\/i!!y
>>
>>
>>
>> 1980 Vanagon "Jazzy"
>>
>
>--
>Craig Oda   craigoda@communitybuilders.info
>VW Info: 1983 VW Westfalia, water-cooled, automatic
>http://communitybuilders.dhs.org/craigoda/vw/