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Date:         Sun, 30 Jul 2000 17:59:17 -0700
Reply-To:     Bill Davidson <wdavidson@thegrid.net>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bill Davidson <wdavidson@thegrid.net>
Subject:      Re: Running fridge with an aux battery
Comments: To: Brent Christensen <bpchristensen1@home.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Brent, Assuming that, like you say, the wiring is correct and the relay is working properly ....

My guess is that the fridge is just drawing more than is being supplied though the relay from your alternator... so it makes up the difference by drawing down the auxiliary battery...

The stock wiring should easily supply the fridge since it was designed to do so.... so what are the possibilities?....

Could be you are drawing more than the 7 or 8 amps the fridge is supposed to draw (perhaps other accessories... or even a short)...

Could be the alternator is just not putting out enough juice to run the fridge and what ever else you are running off the starter battery system...

Both of the above?

Easy enough to check... just use an ammeter in line between the auxiliary battery and the relay... start the engine, turn on the fridge and wee what the alternator is supplying.

Bill

Easy enough to test ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brent Christensen" <bpchristensen1@home.com> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2000 4:23 PM Subject: Running fridge with an aux battery

> OK, just when you thought there could be no more written about this > subject... > > Here's a tricky one for y'all: > > I have a pair of auxiliary batteries wired up using the stock relay and > harness (yes, yes, they are wired correctly). The lead from the starting > battery attaches to terminal 30 of the relay, and the fridge and auxiliary > batteries are attached to the two #87 terminals. Everything works dandy, > and has for over a year now, with one exception. If I want to run the > fridge on 12v while underway, it now pulls from the aux. batteries rather > than the alternator. (I have found this to be empirically true, since I > have arrived at camp with the aux batteries drained down to 50% or so after > driving a couple of hours with the fridge set to 12v) > > After poring over the Bentley wiring schematics, this seems to be a design > limitation. (Needless to say, I drive around with the fridge running on > propane when going to a camp site) Or am I missing something? > > Any brilliant ideas on modifying the wiring so that the fridge would run > from the aux. batteries while camped, but from the alternator while > underway? > > BTW, whatever solution I (we) come up with will be documented (with > pictures) on www.vanagon.com for the enjoyment of the community... > > Thanks! > > Brent Christensen > '89 GL Syncro Westy "Klaus" > Santa Barbara, CA >


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