Date:         Mon, 6 Jan 1997 21:51:34 -0500 ()
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Harold  Teer <teerhb@jmu.edu>
Subject:      Connecting  a 2nd battery & fridge questions

Would appreciate any comments on the following electrical and 
fridge questions.
  
Last year, I purchased a '91 camper in which the previous owner had 
already installed a 2nd battery.  This last week (during a warm spell) 
I installed a Propex heater (thanks much to Tom Forhan for his 
how-to-install postings).  When I looked at the van's 2nd battery 
setup, it differed from the setup as indicated on the FAQ about "How do 
I connect a 2nd battery?" The FAQ said to:

 1. Disconnect your primary battery at the ground strap. 
 2. Disconnect the 2 red wires leading from the fuse box behind the 
    drivers seat from the relay terminals.
    These wires lead to your fridge and cabin light. 
 3. Connect these two wires to the + terminal on the aux battery. 
 4. Run an 8 or 10 ga wire from the + terminal on the aux battery to 
    terminal #30 on the relay. This terminal supplies current to 
    charge the aux battery when the van is running. 
 5. Connect a ground strap to the aux battery. 
 6. Reconnect the ground strap on the primary battery. 

The previous owner did not perform steps 2 and 3. He left the 2 red 
wires connected to the silver relay switch.   My guess is that in this 
setup, the fridge, water pump, and control panel would all draw power 
from both the 1st and 2nd battery and could run both batteries down 
leaving me stranded if I forgot to turn something off.  Is my thinking 
correct on this or was the setup such that the 2nd battery wasn't 
powering anything? 

Under the recommended setup, it appears that the fridge, water pump, 
etc would draw power from only the 2nd battery until it ran down..  Is 
this correct?  

While I had the fridge out to install copper tubing for the Propex, I 
took Harry Yates advice and checked for rust and thankfully, found 
none.  In looking in the archives, I found Derek Drew's postings from 
1994 about the wisdom of installing a small fan in the fridge to 
circulate air over the cooling fins to increase overall cooling.  He 
installed a matchbook size fan from Radio Shack (they still sell it) 
over the cooling fins and connected it to an external switch so he 
could manually turn the fan on and off. I have the same problem with 
inadequate cooling and am considering installing the fan in the fridge. 
However, I was wondering if anyone had connected the fan directly to 
a terminal on the fridge so the fan would automatically come on anytime 
the fridge was running on AC, DC, or propane? If I could do that, I 
would never have to worry about accidently leaving the fan running when 
I didn't have the fridge turned on.  If this is feasible, to which 
terminal would I connect the fan?

While the fridge lights everytime I put it on propane, I had never been 
able to take the cap off the drainage tube until I had the fridge out 
of the van.  The postings refer to blowing air in the tube if you ever 
have trouble lighting the fridge. Thought I would check this out, and to
my disappointment, I can not manually blow any air through the tube. It 
appears to be blocked.  I don't have a local fridge dealer, but could 
probably find one within a 100 miles.  Should I try to find a dealer to 
check the fridge, so should I leave well enough alone since the fridge 
lights easily? 

Thanks for any advice

Harold 
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Harold Teer
Department of Marketing & Hospitality Mgmt.
James Madison University
Phone (540)568-3049   FAX (540)568-2754
teerhb@jmu.edu