On Tue, 11 Oct 94 18:21:28 CDT David Carment said:
>drain on the battery. Three questions -
a) any experience with Interstate in cold weather?

nope. i've always used Sears Die Hard or Champion (from Wal-Mart ... same
warranty as sears, but cheaper. and wal-mart just hands you a new battery
... no proration or anything. well, at least they did me that way).

b) is there a definite choice of battery/amps for cold weather?

big amps is better. CCA (cold cranking amps) should be as big a number as
you can afford. how much is enough? good question, but i don't know. then
why get big/bigger/biggest? well ... it SEEMS like a good idea. :)
seriously, i think the deal is that the bigger the CCA number, the more
cranking you can do to get the car started. that is, the battery won't go
flat after only three minutes of cranking.

>and  c) would a head temp gauge and oil pressure gauge that are live (not
>hooked up through the ignition) be a slow current drain?--

that's a possibility, especially over such a long time. but the amount of
current should have been so small that i wouldn't think it would do it ...
but i did leave an interior light on all night one night, and the battery
was dead the next morning!

>I am thinking of hooking up a permanent battery charger that would be
>plugged in via the 120 v system or alternately hooking up a solar battery
>charger to keep the amps up.......any ideas appreciated - DC

there are some flexible sheet solar cells that are quite large (like 2x3
feet!) that can really charge up the batteries. and cost only about $150.
although intended for yachts and boats, they could be fitted to the top
of a camper. one fellow last year lived in his camper on campus (not here,
he was on the internet, telling about this) and he hooked up such a system.

>PS is jump starting an FI Vanagon ok?

well ... you are NOT supposed to jump-start computerized fuel injected cars.
according to the Common Wisdom, but my 88 owners manual has a section on how
to jump-start my bus. ?? i've never had to jump-start the bus from another
car, but i have done it from my Super-Deluxe-Big-Mutha battery charger (from
Sears, of course) with no ill effects. (the charger is a really neat thing
that is about the size of a microwave and plugs into the 120v socket and
can be switched to 6v slow, 6v fast, 12v slow, 12v fast, and 12v starting.
sure has paid for itself over the years ... even on the lawn mower (the
Turbo Turtle, a Big Green Mowing Machine. :)

joel