85 westy -- I put an optima yellowtop under the bench seat on the far
left (when facing front).   Left the charging relay under the driver's
seat and ran additional 8 gauge wire from there to the bench seat
location.  I didn't know about the #12 red wire / fusebox trick, so I
ran extra wires under the carpet to the radio, cigarette lighter, and
to the fluorescent light to move them onto the Aux battery circuit.

Pros:

* it fits very snugly next to the heater box

* a short wire run from there to an extra fuse box in the "secret"
compartment, where the rest of he westy wiring/fuses are.  There's a
convenient ground spot in the bench seat area as well (seatbelt
mounting point).

* Mounted a 300W inverter on the front of the bench seat, also a short
wire run.

* Side benefit:  I left the carrying handle on the optima and use
heavy-duty spring clips with rubber sheaths.  As a result, in a bout
30 seconds I can remove the aux battery entirely for jump starts or
camp lighting.   Not easily done if the battery is under the driver's
seat.

* no modification of the battery is required, and an even larger
battery would fit.  under-driver-seat location are often tight.

Cons:

* takes up valuable bench seat space

* the 85s have chronic aux battery charging problems due to the long /
thin wire run from alternator to starting battery.  The location under
the bench seat makes this worse.  I plan to solve this by running a
beefier parallel wire from alternator to starting battery.   I could
also run a wire directly from alternator, through the body to the
bench seat, though this sounds like more work.

* if you have a messy under bench seat, beware of metal object
shorting out your aux battery!

-mike

On May 8, 2008, at 11:29 AM, neil N wrote:
> I found the driver side (81' gas Westy) was handy for aux battery. The
> wires I needed were there.
>
> A bonus: a #12 red wire that *used to* supply power FROM fuse panel TO
> kitchen stuff became two wires. One to take power FROM aux battery TO
> kitchen sink pump, fridge fans and future loads, the other to supply
> power FROM aux. battery TO fuse panel to provide power to kitchen
> light*** and front interior light. I also hooked up the radio to this
> fuse.
>
> This required moving this #12 wire at fuse panel to another
> appropriate connection at fuse panel.
>
> *** not certain if "interior lite rear" in Bentley (P 97.16) means the
> kitchen light, but that's how it worked out.
>
> Oh and another bonus. I can use the radio and kitchen light during the
> process of the conversion I'm doing. (starter battery disconnected)
> Totally separate circuit. How convenient!
>
> Neil.
>
> On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 10:33 AM, Neil2 <vidublu@gmail.com> wrote:
>> If you've installed an aux battery in your vanagon I'd like to know
>> where
>> (driver's ped/passenger's ped/other) you did so and the whys/why
>> nots.
>>
>> The driver's seems the best electrically but the passenger's seems
>> the best
>> accessibility-wise.  I suppose it's low maintenance, so
>> electrically wins
>> out?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> --
>> Neil
>> '82 Diesel Westy
>> Peace of
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
>
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/