Date:         Sat, 23 Jan 1999 19:41:17 -0600
Reply-To:     Darrell Boehler <midwesty@MIDWEST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Darrell Boehler <midwesty@MIDWEST.NET>
Subject:      Re: Isolator, where to put it?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

---------------------
Hi Volks,
    There seems to many levels of bentley books when it comes to the camper
section.  Mine shows (on 97.34d camper 1986 - 1989)  the aux battery and the
battery connected with a relay. This relay is energized anytime  the
alternator is charging and key not turned to start.  This is a 30 amp relay
on my 86 westy.  With this set up and a dead aux battery it would seem to me
that the battery cutout relay would indeed get warm (if not burned) contact
points with a fully charged battery and a 90 amp alternator when the cut out
relay is first energized.  I have had some serious questions about this
circuit,  in fact I installed a 30 amp fuse in series with the relay points
but it has never blown.
Darrell

-----Original Message-----
From: Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Saturday, January 23, 1999 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: Isolator, where to put it?


>Harold,
>Not disputing any of what you said... all good info. I really don't have an
>opinion of what is right or wrong or the best way on this. But since some
>people tend to take posts as gospel, just wanted to point out that the
>Bentley does show auxiliary battery hooked up to the relay on at least some
>Vanagons. You had said, "There is a possibility that, if one is using that
>[relay] to also charge a second battery, that the relay or the wiring could
>be damaged." It is possible that you are right and the German engineers are
>wrong. I don't know.
>I liked the isolator. It looks cool with the little blue fins and all. The
>only reason I don't have one in my Vanagon is that it didn't work properly
>for me. Perhaps the mechanic that installed it did it wrong. He sure
screwed
>up some other things in the process. And then the mechanic that I do have
>confidence in (he drives a syncro and is on the recommended list at
>vanagon.com) said that the relay was a better way to go. Perhaps he is
wrong
>too. I don't know.
>Bill
>90 Westy Syncro
>-----Original Message-----
>From: harald_nancy <harald_nancy@EARTHLINK.NET>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Date: Saturday, January 23, 1999 1:48 PM
>Subject: Re: Isolator, where to put it?
>
>
>>Bill,
>>Just a quick comment on the relay.
>>Of course, everyone can make up their own mind,
>>and I respect everyone's opinion.
>>But, the way I see it, with respect to the relay:
>>In my Bentley (1980 to 1991 vanagon):
>>on page 97.33b, camper from '86,
>>They call the relay a "refrigerator 12 volt heater relay".
>>The main wire to the relay from the dash is a 2.5 mm
>>cross-section wire.
>>
>>On the page that you mentioned, pg. 97.222,
>>(I think this page is for a weekender with a dual battery setup?)
>>the relay is called "battery cut-out relay".
>>The wire going from the main battery to the aux. battery
>>is a 6.0 mm cross-section wire.
>>
>>I might be wrong, but my assumption is that those 2 relays
>>are different in size. Also there is a big difference between
>>a 2.5 mm wire and 6.0 mm wire.
>>
>>So, you can see in our westy full campers, the
>>refrigerator 12 volt heater relay setup is not as strong as the
>>relay setup on pg.97.222.
>>
>>Harald
>>'90 westy
>>
>> Bill wrote:
>>> Actually, if you look at the wiring diagram on page 97.222 of the
Bentley
>>> you will see that the relays that came on Vanagons from 1986 were ment
to
>>> work with an auxillary battery. Weather the stock wiring was adequately
>>> designed or not I don't know. I do know that this set up seems to work
>>fine
>>> on my 90 Westy Syncro.
>>
>