Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 09:32:32 -0500
Reply-To: hurley@ACX.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Hurley <hurley@ACX.COM>
Subject: Re: Aux battery kit from Bus Depot (fwd)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Date: 11/04/1999 09:32 am (Thursday) From: John Hurley
To: "MIME :ron@NETCARRIER.COM".TFS.ACX_HQ; "vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM".TFS.ACX_HQ
Subject: Re: Aux battery kit from Bus Depot (fwd)
Someone also asked about some sort of idiot light / failure indicator etc. The harness i've made has an LED to tell you when the batteries are in parallel. If the LED is on, that means your engine is running. Should the light ever come on while you're camping with the engine off, you've got a bad relay.
Does anyone know if the HELLA unit is a custom part or is this a standard harness. If anyone (vendors listees) are interested in making harnesses like i've made, i'd be glad to work with them on a design similar to mine which would have fuses, indicator lights, etc. If enough people express interest I could look into having someone fab. them.
John
>>> "ron@NETCARRIER.COM" 11/03/99 09:09PM >>>
> Ron:
> A recent post from an owner who installed your (new) Hella aux
> battery kit has prompted a big discussion on merits of various
> set-ups. Can your briefly tell us what your kit is designed to
> do: e.g. charge both while driving, open switch to starter battery while
> camping, etc? I would like to buy the kit and I am not alone.
It's a basic relay with a built-in blade fuse for protection, and includes
wiring and instructions. It connects both batteries in parallel when the
ignition switch is turned on, and isolates them when the ignition switch is
off. Very simple yet effective. As several people have noted, a relay is
probably the best way to run a dual battery system on a Vanagon, and these
Hella units are designed specifically for European camper vans (e.g.
Vanagon/Bus). Besides, they're very inexpensive.
Bad news is, they are now sold out for about 8-10 weeks. I underestimated
how popular these would be - sold close to 100 of them to list members! I
get them directly from Europe so it takes a while. They will almost
certainly remain under $20 when I get them back in. I will notify the list
when they are available again.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
http://www.busdepot.com