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Date:         Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:59:33 -0700
Reply-To:     Andy Highland <andy@420.AM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andy Highland <andy@420.AM>
Subject:      report: Installing new Gowesty aux battery kit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

I installed the new Gowesty auxiliary battery kit today. It comes with a solenoid, circuit breaker, fuse, wiring, and all the necessary hardware to connect the battery to run the fridge, radio, interior lights, and 12V outlet. It is meant to be used with an Odyssey 1200 dry cell battery (also bought at gowesty) which fits nicely in the aux compartment. The included instructions are straightforward and well written. As a result, the installation was rather easy, taking me about 3 hours.

There were only a couple of surprises. One was that the instructions say to connect the ground strap before splicing into the fuse panel. I would think that you would not want a live system while splicing into the back of the fuse panel. I left the ground strap disconnected until the very end. Making the connection to the fuse panel was by far the most difficult part. Getting the connector free took a lot of wrestling. The leverage of a flat blade screwdriver eventually helped it out. The other surprise was that the battery light on the dash stays on when I start the engine until I blip the throttle, apparently kicking the isolator solenoid over with an audible 'thunk'. The same 'thunk' can be heard when switching off the engine. Oh, and the included grommet for exiting the battery compartment was completely the wrong size. I ended up not using a grommet at all.

The kit is not cheap ($49.95). I have not priced out the parts that are included, but I would guess that they would cost about half as much if purchased individually through regular retail channels. However, I think that it is worth the money if you don't know exactly what parts you need, and for the very convenient, step-by-step instructions. I'm sure that this kit saved me a significant amount of time shopping for the correct small bits and scratching my head over the finer points of the installation.

So far, I am a satisfied customer. Now we'll see how the battery actually performs.

I am not in any way affiliated with Gowesty.

Andy '90 Syncro Westy '01 Golf GLS TDI SF CA


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