Date:         Sun, 1 Oct 2000 01:29:05 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: assorted ailments
Comments: To: Oxroad@AOL.COM
In-Reply-To:  <b8.be354fe.2708223a@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Jeez, guys -- there's no magic in that stupid little light.  It's set at
the factory to turn from green to yellow at 12.5 volts.  You can check with
a voltmeter to see if it's doing what it's supposed to, and if it is you
can look into your battery and charging situation to see what the problem
is.  If the calibration of the light is off you can adjust it with a little
pot on the LED board.  Just like the water LED, they set it so that it's
only green when the battery is almost full, difference being that battery
condition is a lot more complicated than you can show with three little lights.

This is not Vanagon magic, it's just a car battery and alternator.  The
only difference is us Westy folks got a light to give us some faint idea of
where the battery is.  If the light weren't there you wouldn't bother about
it until you had trouble starting, right?

david

At 01:14 10/1/2000, Jeffrey R wrote:
> > The only time it is ever green is when it's running.  Two minutes with the
> > interior light on, and its yellow.
>
>Jeff-
>
>Do you mean with the engine running and the interior light on the LED to
>turns to yellow?
>
>My LED will turn yellow if the engine is off and I turn on the interior light
>almsot immediatly. If I turn off the interior light and leave the bus alone
>for a few minutes the LED will return to green. This has been "normal" for my
>bus for the four years I have owned it. Whether this is actually a normal
>operating condition I don't know.
>
>I installed a new Sears Die Hard battery two months ago and the light would
>be green when running then go to yellow after I shut off the engine. No
>starting problem. I had mostly used my bus locally. When I finally took the
>bus on a long trip the light now stays green with the engine off. The same
>Yellow light comes on after using the interior light for a few minutes.
>
>I'm curious how long other's green light stays green while using interior
>lights--so I'll watch this thread to find out if my "Normal" operation is
>actually OK.

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"