Date:         Sat, 13 Nov 2004 12:34:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Paul Connelly <paul@THEMOUNTAINSUSA.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Paul Connelly <paul@THEMOUNTAINSUSA.COM>
Subject:      Re: Cabin lights, aux battery, venting?
Comments: To: Brian Wasson <BWasson@MAIL.ACPONLINE.ORG>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

As Jim said, fuse 3 supplies the cabin lights, cigarette lighter, radio etc.
On my '86, I had to use a meter to figure the pin-out from the connector on
the back to the #3 fuse (3 or 4 pins if I remember correctly) and splice
into the wires directly. The red wires from the Westy fusebox only supply
the fridge, water pump and panel (indicator) lights.
The deep cycle Optima's are completely sealed (and can be mounted in any
orientation), so no gassing problems.

Paul.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Wasson" <BWasson@MAIL.ACPONLINE.ORG>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 8:44 AM
Subject: Cabin lights, aux battery, venting?


Hello all,

I installed an auxilliary battery in my 88 Westy this weekend following the
directions on the vanagon.com site. However, according to the directions,
the cabin light (the one over the stove) would also be wired to the aux
battery when the wires that were previously on the relay were attached
directly to the battery. I noticed when I had the two red wires from the
relay disconnected that the cabin light still worked. It would seem that if
one of the red wires supplies power to the cabin light, and if it was
unhooked from the relay and not otherwise provided with power, then the
light would not work.

Must I rewire the cabin light somehow to the aux battery? I'd really like
the cabin light to run off the aux battery, as I'll probably use that more
than the frig on 12v power. I'll probably also rewire the dash stereo and
cig lighter socket to the aux battery at some point.

On a related note, I'm currently using a regular (non deep cycle) battery
mounted under the driver's seat as the aux battery. I had thought, though,
about using the space in the cabinet next to the frig (just behind the
driver's seat) to house a larger-sized deep cycle battery. Is there any
problem doing this relating to battery gasses or the like? If so, perhaps a
few carefully drilled holes in the side of the cabinet facing front would
provide adequate ventilation? I'd actually like to open up the spare battery
compartment for use as a "secret compartment" (well, for non-Vanagon
owners!) for hiding valuables when parked.

Thanks for any thoughts...

Brian