In addition, others on the list have pointed out that the VW alternators/regulators don't cope well with the additional voltage drop that the diode-type isolators (the ones with fins) provide, so with those isolators, you may end up not having either battery completely charged. When I put in my Optima, I just replaced the original relay (30 amp) with a 50 amp headlight relay. Works perfectly, but I think the original relay should work fine also, since I put a 30 amp fuse in the secondary charging circuit when I added the Optima and it has never blown, even when charging the Optima from dead discharged state. Dave Lincoln MA. 87 Wolfsburg 90 Westfalia At 08:29 AM 10/30/97 -0500, Lawrence Johnson wrote: >Steve, >A relay from a set of driving lights rated at 40 amps is sufficient for this job >(under $15). An isolator is not necessary and wastes energy (hence the cooling >fins). To be on the safe side, add your own wire (6 gauge) for the charging >circuit. Leave the existing fridge wire and relay because you do not want to >discharge either battery with the power hungry fridge. Change over all the rest of >the camping wires to the aux battery (fusing each of course). An easy way to put >the cabin lights and radio and cig lighter on to the aux battery is to remove fuse >number 3 and run a wire from the aux battery to the fuse connector. >Larry >'86 Syncro Westfalia >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Steven X. Schwenk wrote: > |
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