TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1990 auxillary battery question and tire size

Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:30 pm

hi, i just purchsed a 1990 westie and the aux battery under the drivers seat is no good. what battery does anyone recommend for this? would a marine deep cycle do and wouldnt i have to change the posts. also what is the aux battery used for and how does it get recharged is it necessary for me to install an inverter or is the 1990 set up ready to go as is. ?? will one of the plugs in the westie be functional without an inverter and without the van being plugged into an electrical source at a campground. there appears to be 2 outlets. i really need a couple manuals, nothing came with the van and especially some info on the camping stuff.
also not ready to upgrade my wheels as i have been reading . how important is it to use the 6 ply 14 inch c tires recommended for the van . right now it has regular tires on 205-75 14 and have had 2 front tires have a belt slip ( a week apart!!) causing a lot of shaking in my steering wheel and need to replace tires. thanks for your help

Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:38 pm

Do a search on the battery thing. There has been a LOT of discussion on the topic. I personally have an Optima Yellow Top in my westy, but I would buy the Odyssey if I had to do it again as it will fit better.

The Aux. Batt. will not run the 110 outlet in the back unless you wire an inverter into it. I set my inverter up to power the upper outlet, and left the lower one connected to the shore power inlet. do a search of my old posts and you'll find instructions on how to wire it up this way.

Aux. Batt. should charge whenever the motor is running if everything is working correctly.

As for tires.... Get the right ones...NOW. they will drive MUCH better, and be much safer. You will not regret it!

Welcome to the SAMBA

Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:20 pm

Do a search in this forum for "Yandina." It is a device for charging, combining, and seperating battery banks.

Even if you choose not to use the device, the search will pull many useful threads.

Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:00 pm

*Definitely* welcome to The Samba! (Which is kinda like saying, "Hello, Alice - welcome to Wonderland!") You are gonna find *so* much neat stuff here! :-)

Tires - use the Search feature for the most info; tire preferences, data, etc. have been kinda done to death here, but they're a favorite topic as well.

Vanagons are kinda funny about tires - the vans look so lightweight, but they're not, especially if they are a Westy, like yours. They place loads and stresses on tires *far* beyond what you would expect. And then all kinds of stuff and people gets loaded into our rides, which makes them even heavier.

There really are only a few good tires on the market that are truly suitable for your ride, and I recommend you do some quick research (especially in this forum) and, as stated, get some new tires NOW! (Used tires on a Vanagon are almost certain death - don't do it!)

Meanwhile, if you can't get tires immediately, put your bad front tires on the back and lower your speed - you *do* have a good spare, don't you? Better to blow a rear tire than a front....

IMO, "regular" tires - even many light truck (LT) tires - on any model Vanagon are a potential disaster waiting to happen. I say this because back when I was young and foolish (and broke) I put on a set, and almost rolled my ride on a quick lane change when the non-reinforced sidewalls tucked under the rims. Scared the ___ outta me!

So, how important is it to use the correct tires? It depends on how little grief you want entering your life. All I know is I'll never make that mistake again!

I use Hankook RA08's in 195R14 size on the OEM alloy rims on my one-owner 91 Carat. Very quiet performers. Can't slide 'em, wear like iron, zero crosswind problems (gets kinda gusty near Tampa Bay) and paid $66 (plus s/h + mounting - about $106, total) each from www.onlinetires.com. Load Index is 106, which is overkill for my van - might be about right for yours. (But use the Search!)

Anyway, Hankooks gave me a return to performance and driving confidence I have not felt for years. Makes my ride *almost* a sports car!

Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:45 pm

You can set up an inverter to run off your aux battery and wire it to the built-in duplex edison if you want, BUT, you must split it from the shore-power AC feeder. If you just make them commonly feed the edison, shore power will backfeed the inverter and ruin it. Inverters will not tolerate backfed AC into their outlets.

So, either split the duplex, and have the upper socket fed by shore power and the lower fed by inverter, for example, or put in a separate duplex wired exclusively to the inverter output, or get an RV transfer switch that will automatically disconnect the edisons from the inverter feeder and switch them to shore power whenever shore power is sensed on the line.

Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:34 am

> what is the aux battery used for

it powers the light over the rear table (and I think also the dome light at the driver door.

You should not use aux battery to power the fridge unless the engine is running, and it powers the radio and cigarette lighter when the engine is off (if it has a wire from the battery box to the front fuses, depends how it was originally wired)

I am very happy with the Odyssey 1200 battery

you might post a photo of your battery box and some folk might be able to recognize what kind of wiring kit was used

if there is a wire to the fuses, its likely under the carpet under the drivers left leg, exiting a hole at the left front of the driver seat pedestal..

House battery is also used to power a house heater, like a propane furnace, which you dont have.

mostly aux battery is so you can run interior lights and music during a campout, without fear of draining your starter battery

Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:51 pm

I've started using the Universal Battery UB12220 batteries. Four of these 22 amp/hour AGM batteries wired in parallel store 88 a/h, and fit nicely (but snug) into the Vanagon battery box. The Odyssey is only 44 a/h capacity, the Optima 55 a/h (both AGM as well). This makes the choice quite clear for me. The only downside is you'll need to fabricate a parallel cable to wire the four negative and four positive posts together. In my new project (factory Syncro diesel) I have 88 a/h of storage under each front seat as the starting battery is in the engine compartment.