Dead battery after wiring in VDO oil gage/cigarette lighter

[catahoula lou]

Group:

I have a 12V '59 (Sept '58 build) lowlight with the OG 4-fuse box and a 2-year-old 12V Interstate battery. Live in local mountains, so battery does not sit in the intense heat like my '59 Bug's battery did in Phoenix...

Yesterday wired in my 12V VDO oil gage I'm borrowing from my Bug until I put it back together.

Also wired in a cigarette lighter that I'm borrowing from my Bug so that I can run a 3 amp/12V space heater (see link below) during the winter, as my OG heating is lukewarm (been in the 20s lately):

https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/9247804/00608

Ran both VDO gage/cigarette lighter in the Bug in the past with no problems, on an OG 4-fuse box and 12V battery. Don't recall to which fuse(s) I connected them to, as I've been on a long-term restoration of the Bug.

Hooked positive wires for VDO gage/cigarette lighter to front side of No. 1 fuse. After test drive to ensure gage is reading properly and lighter can light my cigar, turned off engine and tried to re-start.

Battery was essentially dead. Generator light was off entire time and no loose wires. Battery has been working perfectly until yesterday. Ran out of time to solve problem (Thanksgiving).

Should I connect the positive wires to other fuse(s)?

Best,

Thom
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).

[runamoc]

[catahoula lou]

What's your point?

If you look at the product photo, you'll see that Pep Boys is simply passing on what's printed on the manufacturer's packaging...

I was asking about where to properly connect the cigarette lighter/VDO gage positive wires, considering what I described above.

Any helpful comments are always appreciated.

Best,

Thom
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).

[sjbartnik]

Make sure your lighter socket is rated for 17A, most of them are 10A max. Also realize that a 12V electric heater is essentially worthless. Think of basically running a 200w light bulb in car; it's not going to do anything to meaningfully raise the temp inside of the car - your time/money would be better spent getting the stock heater into proper working order. If it's just lukewarm, that's how you know it's not in proper working order.

Also the wiring you used to wire the socket needs to be rated for 17A. If your wire run is < 10 ft. you'll need 10 gauge wire.

As far as what killed your battery, nothing you did should have that effect. Most likely one of your battery terminals is loose.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[catahoula lou]

Thanks for the reply. Lighter socket bought decades ago from a VW supplier that I can't recall name. At least has matching ivory knob and can light my cigars. Will check rating though...

Given that I've sealed up all the holes in the lowlight, I can tell it's pretty air-tight, as my cigar smoke hangs in place while driving. That being said, plan to (carefully) use the old blanket/heater trick for the interim.

I do get some air up front, as well as the back window defroster.

I'll take another look at my stock heater setup, including how much my heater boxes open up.

You're likely right about the battery cause, as I never had this problem on my '59 Bug, which is a very similar electrical set-up.

Best,

Thom

PS But am I connecting the wires to the correct fuse????
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).

[SoCalJes]

Just a shot in the dark!
But make sure that the light in your gauge is not running constant.
_________________
Jesse
71 Ghia
______________________________________
Just because it didn't come that way, doesn't mean it shouldn't have.

[sjbartnik]

[catahoula lou]

You're likely right about the packaging being incorrect. Appears you recall one or more formulas we all encountered during high school physics (can't recall, myself).

Like the advice! Have some heavier-gage wiring that I can run between the lighter/battery, along with the in-line fuse (although lighter has the lighter-gage wiring right now), but will check lighter rating, provided it's marked somewhere. Will also look into the relay/ignition switch option as well.

But first, will check on stock heater system in case I don't need to do more than what I've done so far...

Will also re-check on the constant-light VDO gage possibility, although it's spliced into my dash light circuit and appears to work properly, and clean battery terminal connections.

Best,

Thom
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).

[catahoula lou]

Well, it turns out that my LHS heat exchanger internal flap would not open - even a bit - whereas my RHS would open all the way. Had to hard-wire the LHS flap all the way open (the old baling wire trick) for the time being. Will see how the heat does over the next couple of days, hopefully will only need lighter to light my cigars and not run a 12V heater.

Question: Are the cables to the heat exchangers of different lengths? Seems like the RHS could barely reach and the LHS was too long, to the point that to operate the LHS flap correctly would have to tighten connector ahead of the end-piece, which would not pass completely through the connector due to the factory crimping.

On the battery, the positive connector to the post was almost completely broken through. Had another one, cleaned all connections, jumped it, ran it for ~20 minutes or so, and now turns over like before.

Best,

Thom
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).

[catahoula lou]

Update on the cigarette lighter/heating issue:

During the past year, I've been able to use my Black & Decker dial-in air pump to re-fill tires, which plugs into my cigarette (cigar) lighter. It draws only 8A and has caused no problems, even with headlights/wipers on to max out amperage while running engine.

Living in the mountains, with snow, the Ghia does not really get warm at all. So, I bought the following electric blanket that plugs into the cigar lighter the other day, which draws only 4.6A (~half that of the air pump):

https://www.amazon.com/Roadpro-12-Volt-Fleece-Heat...0%25+polar

Within ~10 minutes, I'm nice and toasty!

Best,
Thom
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).