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Subject:91 Westfalia ground points, battery charging amps
From:Steve Williams
Date:Wed, 7 Sep 2011 23:11:52 -0600

Hi,

I am starting to familiarize myself with my 91 Westfalia's (2.1
standard) electrical system in preparation for a bit of a road trip.

I have been a lurker/occasional poster on this list and from my
eavesdropping, it seems like there are the following ground points:
     - Engine to chasis
     - Transmission to chasis
     - Fuse block
     - Battery negative cable (?)

I intend to remove the ground connection (both ends, one end at a time),
clean wire and ground point (wire brush), thin coating of dielectric
grease and re-assemble.   Have I missed anything?

I am also curious about what current the battery (or batteries if I put
a 2nd one in) charge at.  I realize that it changes over the charging
cycle, but what current would generally be expected to end up running
down the wire with the battery at maximum discharge (60% or whatever,
not FLAT) with a standard (90 amp?) alternator?  Ballpark kind of
figure...  this would be regular lead acid batteries.  (Assume good
grounds/cables and full alternator voltage getting to the batteries,
which I understand is not always the case).

Does the "charge time" roughly correlate to "discharge time"?  For
example, if I used 5 amps out of the battery for 4 hours and the
alternator recharges at 20 amps, would it take (ballpark +/-50%) 1 hour
to "replace" the juice I used?

I'm trying to figure out driving time vs. recharge time..  bit new to
this all.

Thanks,
Steve Williams

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