Davidson wrote:

> Harold,
> Not disputing any of what you said... all good info. I really don't
> have an
> opinion of what is right or wrong or the best way on this. But since
> some
> people tend to take posts as gospel, just wanted to point out that the
>
> Bentley does show auxiliary battery hooked up to the relay on at least
> some
> Vanagons. You had said, "There is a possibility that, if one is using
> that
> [relay] to also charge a second battery, that the relay or the wiring
> could
> be damaged." It is possible that you are right and the German
> engineers are
> wrong. I don't know.
> I liked the isolator. It looks cool with the little blue fins and all.
> The
> only reason I don't have one in my Vanagon is that it didn't work
> properly
> for me. Perhaps the mechanic that installed it did it wrong. He sure
> screwed
> up some other things in the process. And then the mechanic that I do
> have
> confidence in (he drives a syncro and is on the recommended list at
> vanagon.com) said that the relay was a better way to go. Perhaps he is
> wrong
> too. I don't know.
> Bill
> 90 Westy Syncro
> -----Original Message-----
> From: harald_nancy <harald_nancy@EARTHLINK.NET>
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Date: Saturday, January 23, 1999 1:48 PM
> Subject: Re: Isolator, where to put it?
>
> >Bill,
> >Just a quick comment on the relay.
> >Of course, everyone can make up their own mind,
> >and I respect everyone's opinion.
> >But, the way I see it, with respect to the relay:
> >In my Bentley (1980 to 1991 vanagon):
> >on page 97.33b, camper from '86,
> >They call the relay a "refrigerator 12 volt heater relay".
> >The main wire to the relay from the dash is a 2.5 mm
> >cross-section wire.
> >
> >On the page that you mentioned, pg. 97.222,
> >(I think this page is for a weekender with a dual battery setup?)
> >the relay is called "battery cut-out relay".
> >The wire going from the main battery to the aux. battery
> >is a 6.0 mm cross-section wire.
> >
> >I might be wrong, but my assumption is that those 2 relays
> >are different in size. Also there is a big difference between
> >a 2.5 mm wire and 6.0 mm wire.
> >
> >So, you can see in our westy full campers, the
> >refrigerator 12 volt heater relay setup is not as strong as the
> >relay setup on pg.97.222.
> >
> >Harald
> >'90 westy
> >
> > Bill wrote:
> >> Actually, if you look at the wiring diagram on page 97.222 of the
> Bentley
> >> you will see that the relays that came on Vanagons from 1986 were
> ment to
> >> work with an auxillary battery. Weather the stock wiring was
> adequately
> >> designed or not I don't know. I do know that this set up seems to
> work
> >fine
> >> on my 90 Westy Syncro.
> >

Thanks for all the help. When I get the system installed I'll let you
know.

Mitchell 84 Westy