Date:         Mon, 4 Nov 96 13:01:22 -0600
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Rocko Flamefart <-@--.-->
Subject:      On-board Charging.

Ron had asked if anyone has added a charger to their battery system.

aa-yup.  sorta.  for a while.

but my primary purpose was to assist winter starting.  in the passenger side
battery box i had added a battery blanket (works wonderfully) warmer and
also wanted to add a charger to keep the battery topped up.

i just connected the leads of the charger right to the cable clamp bolts,
ran the leads outside the battery box thru an indentation in the box i'd
made for the battery blanket cord.  plugged the charger into a flat, HD
extension cord i have running from the 110v outlet inside the cabinet under
the sink over to the battery box.  was pleased as punch.  i plug in the van,
the battery warms and charges.

then i thought "i wonder how much leakage the charger diodes have" as they
are made to be connected only when it is plugged in to 110v.  measuring the
reverse current going back into the charger, the diodes allowed about 3 mA
leakage.  not much but it bothered me.  so i unhooked the charger :(  

i may reinstall it with a better blocking diode in place and would be
grateful for any PN suggestions.  should be able to handle about 10 amps.  i
realize the clock, radio, and ECU parasitic draw probably exceeds 3 mA but
since this is so easy to hook/unhook i thought i'd experiment a little with
getting the leakage to near zero.  

-dan