Date:         Fri, 1 May 2009 12:12:11 -0400
Reply-To:     Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Surepower 1315, auxiliary fuse block,
              Progressive Dynamics charger,
              and Vitrifrigo installation questions
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I have a 91 Westy and am about to install the Surepower 1315, an auxiliary
fuse block, the Vitrifrigo fridge and a battery charger but have a few
questions.  Over the last few days, I have poured over the archives and have
read and printed a lot of information but in a few cases I have conflicing
information and incomplete information and just need some advice.  Go easy
on me since I do not have an electrical enginering degree and have not slept
in a Holiday Inn Express in a good while.

At present, I plan to use the regular group 41 battery under the passenger
and driver seats since both batteries are relatively new.  While I think I
have a pretty good understanding of the equipment, I am uncertain as to the
correct wire size and some of the connections and want to do this correctly.

1) I have the Surepower 1315 and plan to use it to replace the silver fridge
relay and do not plan to use the "starter assist mode" built into the
Surepower 1315.  In that case, it appears that there is no advantage to
replacing the existing wire from the starting battery with a larger wire.
Is that correct?  Am I also correct that I should just "tape up" the westy
blue wire from the alternator and the ignition switched on wire?

2) I plan to run wires from the auxiliary battery to a Blue Sea ST blade
fuse block (http://bluesea.com/productspecs/5025) to do away with the
current jumble of wires and inline fuses running from the positive terminal
of the auxiliary battery.  This fuse block will be mounted either on the
wall behind the drivers seat or in the cabinet by the new fridge.  My
intention is to run wires from the fuse block to the existing Propex heater,
to fuse position #3, the new Vitrifrigo fridge, etc..  What size wire should
I use from the battery to the positive and negative terminals of the fuse
block?

3)  According to where I end up putting the fuse block, the length of DC
wires that come with the Vitrifrigo may not be long enough to reach the fuse
block.  Can I just tie in enough of the same size wire to reach the fuse
block?

4) The Progressive Dynamics PD9130 converter/charger (
http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9130_2.html)
is highly recommended by several people on the list. Only because the height
dimenstion is 1" less, I have looked at the Iota DLS-30 (
http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls30.htm) as a substitute.  I do not
understand all of the specifications and need advice as to whether the Iota
is a decent substitute.

5) I have found a good buy on the Progressive Dynamics PD9245C
converter/charger (
http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9245c_2.html)
which would make it cheaper than the PD9130 unit.  Would there be a problem
with using this unit?

6)  What size wire would you run from the converter/charger to the auxillary
battery?

Thanks for any and all advice or comments,

Harold
___
Harold Teer
1991 Westy (Vangaux)
Harrisonburg, VA