Date:         Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:33:41 -0800
Reply-To:     M'obeechi <obeechi@RUNBOX.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         M'obeechi <obeechi@RUNBOX.COM>
Subject:      Heater, 3 Group 31 Batteries, PureSineWave, Solar Panel
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15"

I have to retract an idea I've thrown out here, and that's putting three batteries, behind the front seats, and then the heater behind the three batteries, with an inverter belly down to the side of the heater.

I thought about it, and then thought about those combustion hoses in such close proximity to the gas tank, of which I've had those leaks where you fill it up and gas is everywhere... I've had those fixed twice now... and when I put in a South African bigger tank, of which I'm told I was the first for this particular tank... there was a period where the fill tank was leaking gas all the time. I'd drive and there would be a trail of gasoline. That's no longer an issue... but still... I've really thought about it and I don't want the heater near either the gas tank nor the batteries (so I'm also nixing my once upon a time idea of a Propex and batteries under the rear seat  -- I did notice the dimples made by VW apparently for a battery under the rear seat -- meaning for vent holes to be drilled.. they have also dimple pairs under each front seat... and the passenger side is actually drilled through already, but even so, with a Carat, and a heater, I don't want batteries under the rear seat anymore, and neither do I want them back in the stock position, which has its own problems.)

I also read (online) manual for the Exeltech XP 1100 Pure Sine Wave Inverter, and they state that the most preferred install configuration is with the fan face down, so this makes the orientation vertical, and that changed my mid-bench configuration possibilities, which previously was based on Xantrex XM1000 recommendations. 

Also, thought about battery selectors some more, and looked at some diagrams from West Marine, as well as Bluesea, and not being really satisfied with them, finally came to realize the ideal is to have two Battery Selectors, one a 4 position selector, and the other a 2 position selector. The first selector would be for joining power between the engine and the batteries where "0" is off, "1" is starting battery, "2" is house battery, and "1+2" is starting and house in parallel. Then, the second selector would be for joining accessory power between both 12 volt and 120 volt power and the house battery, where "0" is off, and "1" is house battery. 

Then, in practice, if your starting battery is dead, you then turn the first selector to "1+2" and the second selector to "0", then crank the engine, and run until charged. The same prescription applies if the house battery is dead, provided you want to charge the house battery faster than either the automatic charging relay or the solar panel will (i.e. first selector set to BOTH and second selector set to OFF). Or, if the house battery is defective, you then turn the first selector to position "1", and the second selector to "0", and drive to pick up a replacement Finally, whenever the the starting battery is defective, you then turn the first selector to position "2" and the second selector to "0", and drive to pick up a replacement battery.  

In normal practice the first selector would always be set to position "1", and the second selector would be set to either "0" or position "1", depending on whether you want accessories to receive power, meaning the second selector would act as a master switch for all 12 volt and all 120 volt power non-engine power. 

To give more control, two more switches could be added where one turns power on and off for all 12 volt power, and the other turns power on and off for all 120 volt power (meaning it controls the inverter). These would be sub-master's to the master switch for accessory power. 

The newer idea of a layout for three batteries, heater, inverter, charge controller, is that 
1. The heater is under the rear seat, with heat being directed to venting at the middle center of the kick panel, where propane would be piped in from the side you have the propane tank mounted, whichever side that is, so the Propex would be installed on the same side the propane tank is installed. 

2. The three batteries would be installed behind the front seats in an enclosure, with venting on the far sides (and some space for would be left-over on the sides for ... ). The driver side battery would be the starting battery, while the other two would be a house battery bank (wired in parallel). A relay from Bluesea (a CL-Series BatteryLink with fuses on either side, preferably Terminal Block Fuses, and with rubber cap insulators on the studs of the relay, cause I don't want another fire like I had recently) would join starting and house batteries. Since I have a Subaru, and since Haynes said there is a limit to which the Legacy engine can handle charging a multiple battery bank, I'm hoping the limited current of the BatteryLink will help the alternator (i.e. be easy on the alternator). This relay is 60 Amps, so its good for thin wire, and thus limited current. 

3. A Charge Controller (Bluesky 2512iX) would be mounted on the passenger side of this mid-bench, on the vertical side of the mid bench, facing to the right, mounted closer the rear of this side than to the front, so you can view it when the sliding door is open. The faceplate acts a heatsink for the unit. The Charge Controller will be connected to the solar panel via 10 gauge wire, not more than 10 feet, which runs up the column between front and sliding doors. 

4. Exeltech Inverter will be mounted on the same side as the Charge Controller, but more to the front than the back (closer to the front, but mounted vertically and hidden by the right side face of the midbench.

5. Selectors will be about as high the battery heights, and their fronts would be mounted so they are facing the rear, but will be behind a locked small door, so no passenger can turn the power to off while the engine is running (which can kill an alternator), and a thief would have a harder time stealing the vanagon. Selector for the engine, would be on driver side; Selector for accessories would be on the passenger side.

6. Household and 12 volt plugs would be above the battery selectors, on both far sides, mounted closest to the top, which serves alternately as a sitting area, or a place to sit shipping boxes, and while 18 inches when inside the van, when standing outside, at the sliding door, the height is higher, and is a good space to lay screws while working on the vanagon (I have a cardboard template, and this was an unexpected benefit, didn't plan on this, but its nice to have... )

7. Aft of the rear batteries would be five horizontal drawers which open moving to the rear, with internal dimensions of 3 x 14 x 48. The premise here is that I want a drawer that can easily, and stealthily hold a Fender P Bass Guitar, so if Robert Plant invites me to a song writing session out in the woods, I can meet him immediately, without someone stealing the instrument while I'm using a gas station restroom en route. 

8. Above the batteries, and to the front of the p-bass drawers, immediately behind the front seats, would be a place to stash pillows, blankets, and curtains for instant siestas at Wal-Mart. Just the savings in Hotel Expenses is enough to easily pay for the batteries, pure sine wave inverter, charge controller, and solar panel. 

9. Under the rear seat, above the Propex heater, would be a 60 inch wide place to store tools, meaning its 5 feet wide, and there should be a lower drawer, or area, under the tools, but to the side of the Propex, for additional storage. 

10. Kyocera 135 Watt Solar Panel would be mounted at the front on Thule commercial type racks -- though I really some way to lock there things, and would power the two house batteries, while any overflow current would pass though the BatteryLink relay and charge my starting battery. 

Its not easy making an iVan, but someday I'm going to drive by 1 Infinite Loop and honk my horn until Jobs buys my Vanagon for several cool million. 

Someone told me, well, you can just get a Honda Generator... yes I could, but then you have to roll it out, set it up, and power it up, and thats the same thing as the Starbucks dilema where you drive there to get some field level office work done, and you can't find parking, then you can't find seating, then you have to fight to get a plug, and after you do all that, you realize their wifi is down for the count. Then what, drive to another and begin the process again? Even when it goes well, some idiot on a cell phone is going to hollering into a cell phone in the most excited Russian you've ever heard, right between the grinding of the coffee preparations. I'd rather have the flexibility to park and work 24/7, even down at the beach on a nice sunny day, or between meetings at the most convenient place to eat on the way to the next meeting, and if the meeting is canceled, then I can go take a nap at Walmart, or really, anywhere. 

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