The florescent is wired to the main battery but you can quite easily
route it to the aux battery.

The light above the driver's door has 2 red wire feeds.  Pull out the
light and you'll see.  One of red wires those goes to power the
florescent.  The trick is to guess which one.  I guessed right and I
think it was the one closest to the outside - no guarantee however.

Anyway, on my 90 Westy, I simply disconnected this wire from the light
and spliced it to a new wire that I ran (over the headliner) to my aux
battery +'ve.  Very quick and easy.  Now I have no worries about using
the florescent while camping.

-------------------------
Laurence Smith
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
90 Westy (fanumbos)
87 GL
-------------------------

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List
> [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
> Of Neil Wasbrikoff
> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 10:41 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: westfalia 2nd battery question
>
>
> Hello Vanagon community,
>
> I've run into a recent issue with my 1987 Westfalia
> camper's 2nd battery. I thought I will ask for suggestions here.
>
> On a recent road trip to California, over hundreds of miles
> ... my brand new second battery failed to charge. We used
> it till it was low, when we were camping the day before,
> and thought it would charge on the 800 mile road trip we
> took the following day. It didn't.
>
> Any suggestions for what to check, to allow my aux battery
> to charge when I drive? Should the aux battery charge when
> being driven?
>
> I have the camper with no appliances, and am wondering also
> ... what all does the second battery power?
>
> I ask, because, when our second batter died, my interior
> fluorescent light kept shinning bright, as if it were
> running off my main battery under the passengers  seat. I
> thought the fluorescent light in the main area was powered
> off the aux battery. So, I tried and experiment. Knowing my
> aux was low, I disconnected my main batt. My fluorescent
> light went out, suggesting it was powered off the main batt.
>
> Would this occur, because my aux battery was low/dead?  I
> am trying to figure out, what the aux battery powers, if my
> fluorescent light seems to be wired to my main battery. Can
> I change the wiring easily, so that my interior lights can
> be wired off my aux and not my main?
>
> just trying to learn more about my van and it's wiring...
> thanks,
> Neil
>
>
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