uhhh, from a MinneSnowta perspective, I always ran my vehicles for 10
minutes at Highway Speeds (50 MPH or above) and would consider the Battery
to have fully charged as much as it was going to charge.  Didn't matter if
the van started right up, or had issues starting.  If it was dark, i'd
consider 15 minutes fully charged because the headlights were on.

This worked fine for many a long cold and dark snowy winter over the many
years I lived in MinneSnowta, with many VW's owned including SyncroBeast,
the GTI ('87), the Scirocco ('78) and a plethera of early Beetles and
Breadloaf Vans, most of which had modified engines in them.

Now we live in the GAwd Forsaken state of New Jersey and don't worry any
more about Winter..... 'cause Jersey (south anyway) don't get no snow to
speak of, and if it does snow.... wait a day and it will be gone!  Sure do
miss MinneSnowta.

YMMV....

Ch
carl_hansen@ieee.org

'96 GLX Passat Wagon
'87 944 na - RED! needs head gasket & tires (but what a sweet ride)
'89 SyncroBeast Vanagon - parked for the winter - boo hoo
'87 & '89 16V GTI's - PARTING OUT - good motor and tranny
'03 Beetle turbo - BLUuuuu (SO's) (dang, faster than anything I've
currently got running!)

When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the World will know
Peace.  Jimi Hendrix
I need a new tool dear!  Ch

Date:    Sun, 9 Mar 2008 10:16:12 -0700
From:    Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: How Long Running to Charge the Battery After Starting?

Here is a question for the Vanagon electrical gurus out there.  I've always
been of the understanding that the folk wisdom of "If the vehicle is going
to be unused for a period of time start the vehicle and let it idle for a
while to keep the battery charged" was a bad idea because it took more
energy from the battery to start the engine than you got back with a 'few
minutes of idle'.
So the question is, just how much engine running (at idle) or how much
running on the road does it take to replenish the energy used to start the
Vanagon?  BTW, this assumes easy starting, a healthy engine/FI/electrical
system.