Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 12:45:43 -0800
Reply-To: Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
Subject: Re: Aux battery & isolator
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Matthew,
About a year ago I went to the expense of having a mechanic with an
impressive German accent install a solid state battery isolator. It may have
been a SurePower; I'm not sure. It was blue with fins and four connecting
terminals on it. It was definitely the one that was listed by the company
for the Vanagon. Even though the mechanic said he knew how to hook it up
and had done it before, he could not get the isolator to work properly. He
even called the isolator tech support number and their suggestions didn't
work either. I think the problem turned out to be that the Vanagon
alternators just don't put out quite enough power to make the solid state
isolator work properly.
Then I stumbled onto Vanagon.com. There is a section at that site about how
to install an auxiliary deep cycle battery, and how to connect a relay that
separates the starting battery from the auxiliary battery. I believe it also
warns against using the solid state battery isolators even though the
manufacturers say they work. Turned out the relay was right there all the
time in the aux battery hole. It worked perfectly.
I returned the solid state battery isolator and got my money back. Your
model may not have come with the relay installed. But I think these Bosch
relays are only about $4 or $8. And you don't have to run wires all the way
back to the alternator or mess with bending things on the alternator. The
wiring of all this is shown in the Bentley.
Good Luck
Bill
90 Westy Syncro
Lake Tahoe
-----Original Message-----
From: Pollard, Matthew <Matthew.Pollard@OREADCA.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 9:50 AM
Subject: Aux battery & isolator
>I have a SurePower battery isolator. It is of the solid state (as opposed
to
>relay) variety. It is made for vanagons specifically. Has anybody had any
>experience with installing these jobbies? The instructions call for some
>alternator tinkering, why? Can some one explain what the internal regulator
>does and why that function needs to be routed to the isolator. Will this
>tinkering jeopardize the integrity and reliability of my alternator?
>
>How does the VW isolator work? Where is it connected and to what? Is this
>something that someone with some electrical background can quickly fashion
?
>
>Thanks
>Matthew Pollard
>84 Wolfsy
>89 7' 6" Doug Haut "gun"
>
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