Date:         Mon, 6 Feb 1995 20:00:44 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jack Agnew <jagnew@svpal.org>
Subject:      Re: westy auxillary battery set-up

On Sun, 5 Feb 1995, Steve Manning wrote:

> I have an '81 westy and was thinking about a auxillary battery for 
> camping. I have a auxillary heater, so this would come in handy as well 
> as using the radio and lights etc. Is there anyone who has done this 
(snip)

I have added a small one to my '86 - a little more complicated that to an 
older models that had LOTS of room in the engine compartment.
The 80s series of Vanagons has a second battery compartment under the 
driver's seat. It is meant for a special battery when there is an 
electric only refrigerator - the relay and other stuff is missing from 
the ones that have the 3 way unit. Don't try and get it from a dealer - I 
did that and it is really frustrating (expensive too :(

The second problem is to tap into the fuze block for the vanagon. It is a 
rather sealed printed circuit board thingy so you can't find a simple 
"gozinta" with a matching "gozouta" which would really be nice since 
everything you would want to get are all on Fuze #3. 
 
The second area for a large second battery is under the passenger seat. 
We have ours full of camping stuff though and don't want to give up the 
scarce storage space.

I have been told that the "best" second battery (read most inexpensive 
with greatest storage) is a pair of golf cart batteries. Shop around.

While you are at this, you might also want to look into solar as a 
charger. Neat!

Good Luck - Jack