Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 12:52:56 -0700
Reply-To: Mike Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Battery Woes/Choice
In-Reply-To: <000801c8bf66$7642ae30$0201a8c0@troykv7nw3q4te>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
After being stranded for a while with a dead starter battery (on account
of I wasn't bright enough to use a dedicated aux battery for camping) I
now never use the starter battery for anything but starting the engine.
When a fellow has a vehicle with an automatic transmission, he is acutely
aware of how limited his starting options are. Those of you with manual
transmissions, the majority of Vanagon owners, can be a little more
casual, I reckon.
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR
On 5/26/2008 12:26 PM Troy wrote:
> Hi Dennis:
>
> Well, I am certainly not bent on spending more money or increasing
> complexity, just exploring options. I have already spent a good eight hours
> putting a fuse panel, solenoid, switch, etc. in that box behind the driver
> seat. Putting a regular flooded battery in there, does not seem to offer any
> improvement over the Odyssey and would necessitate a lot additional labor
> for little or no improvement if I read the figures correctly about the
> reserve capacity of a type 42 or 41 battery.
>
> I think the biggest problem with an AGM battery, is they require a sustained
> charge rate to get them to their maximum capacity. This means one needs to
> frequently put it on a smart charger or install a solar collector. (Talk
> about increasing complexity!) Had I know more about AGM's when I started
> this project, I probably would have done something differently from the
> get-go. I'm doing my best to not add insult to injury. The reality may very
> well be that a standard flooded battery may/could provide for more reserved
> power simply because it's easier to charge them to full capacity with a
> stock alternator. Don't know.
>
> I thought that adding a small battery to my existing setup might just be the
> ticket, but after I posted that I did a little more reading on Gel
> batteries, and you're right, they do tend be kind of finicky.
>
> What I really need is a 75 to 100 AH reserve, and that means a battery under
> the rear seat. Short of that, putting some expensive solar collector on the
> roof would do the trick, but that seems a very expensive option/solution.
>
> The other option at this point is to link the Odyssey battery to the main
> via a switch already installed thus creating close to 80AH's, but this is
> tricky as it can leave you stranded if it's not monitored closely. At first
> glance, it does seem to work okay, and this my simplest solution so for.
>
> So, things are not as simple as they sometimes 1st seem;)
>
> Troy
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> To: "'Troy'" <colorworks@gci.net>; <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 10:12 AM
> Subject: RE: Battery Woes/Choice
>
>
>> Why are you bent on spending more money and having more complexity and
>> still end up with the same performance as a stock battery under the
>> drivers seat? Gels can be even more finicky than AGM.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>
| 
