I like that simplicity, Scott. You lost me on the second switch, though.
Electrical isn't one of my specialties. I did manage to hook up an aux to
the stock relay under the seat. I'll go with a manual switch in the future.

On Fri, May 7, 2010 at 6:44 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> Is your thinking that your  charging and two-battery problem is related to
> the stalling, or difficult idle ?
>
> it could be I suppose.
> to be sure, you could 'back up' to just the one battery ,undo the rest, and
> see if that helps.
> I suspect you could be having to separate problems, and battery charging is
> not related to the idle issue.
>
> and I'll tell you what I like ..
> so there is No Doubt about what battery is getting charged how much etc...
> is Full Manual Control.
> I leave my starting battery fully stock.
> I wire the aux battery in parallel with a simple heavy duty on/off switch.
>
> nothing could be more reliable or simple.
> Ya fire up the van, and when it's running and changing, you close the
> switch
> to charge # 2 batt.
> when you shut off the van, you open the switch ....isolating your aux
> battery so as you draw from it you're not affecting the starting battery.
>
> no electronic controls. Nothing fancy. About as simple and reliable as
> could
> be.
>
> for an embellishment....make the cable to the # 2 batt battery cable size,
> and put a switch on the starting battery ..
> then you can start of either battery, or even both at the same time.
>
> every time you add 'automatic controls' .........you loose, you loose other
> capabilities.
> just like say ....car locks that lock automatically as soon as you drive.
> Totally stupid.  Causes people to get locked out of their car sometimes.
>
> so the manual switch on the batteries is very low tech ..
> but you have FULL control , plus more than one mode.
>
> Ever notice that a basic Cessna single engine aircraft has full manual
> controls on everything that's critical ?
> Takes more brains to operate it properly, but you have Full control.
> Something to be said for that.
>
> nothing pops to mind about your idle thing ...
> but it would be nice to make sure it's not somehow related to your idle
> issue.
> was that simple enough of a post ?
>
> smiles, Scott
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Sullivan" <sandwichhead@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 3:21 PM
> Subject: Re: Stutter and Low Batt
>
>
>  Karma is a b*&^%, I guess. I took it for another ride and it just seems it
>> is not charging correctly and I have to rev it to get it to idle while I
>> back out and put it in D. Once I drive a few blocks, it starts to idle,
>> but
>> letting it rest does not seem to help on start up. Concerned bcuz the alt
>> s/b charging the main and overflow to the aux battery.  Thinking along the
>> lines of Jim Arnotts 2004(?) write up involving the 1315 and an extra HD
>> wire to the alt.  Got in-laws here so gotta get friendly, so I'm gonna put
>> on a smiley face and think about it in the background.
>> Michael in San Antonio
>> 91GL Weekender AT 2.1L 'Gringo'
>> 73 Beetle
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 7, 2010 at 5:06 PM, Robert Fisher
>> <garciasghostvw@gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>  Either the Honda salesman sabotaged it, or it's protesting your
>>> unfaithfulness in dumping a bunch of money into another machine.
>>>
>>> Cya,
>>> Robert
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>>> Of
>>> Michael Sullivan
>>> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 2:34 PM
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Stutter and Low Batt
>>>
>>> Just left the stealership and bought the young'un a Honda Fit for
>>> graduation. Still would not trade my van for a brand new Fit, tho.  BUT,
>>> on
>>> access road, van died when I came to some traffic.  Started right up, but
>>> hard to get it to idle. Noticed that my main battery is reading 12.14
>>> while
>>> off and was as low as 12.08.  The aux batt is at 13.36. Can someone get
>>> me
>>> on the right track to checking why the main battery is so low and why
>>> stalling all of a sudden.  I do have the SurePower 1315 and am monitoring
>>> the charge on the VoltMinder.
>>> I did replace my dizzy last year and eyeballed the timing at that time.
>>>  Van
>>> usually idles around 1000. Was fine before the car place, but then... I
>>> left
>>> it parked at the grocery for 20 minutes, and still same problem.
>>> Any and all advice is appreciated, but keep it simple to start, duuhhhh.
>>> Thanks.
>>> Michael in San Antonio
>>> 91GL Weekender AT 2.1L 'Gringo'
>>> 73 Beetle
>>>
>>>