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Sun May 04, 2008 2:29 pm

Thank you for the info and the links, McVangon. That is a huge help to me.

Sun May 04, 2008 3:31 pm

Thanks from me too. You made things very clear! :D

Mon May 12, 2008 4:35 pm

I finished my aux bat install. Not as neat as some, but OK. I have been reading the FAQ's about the Yandina and haven't found the answer to a question.

When I turn off my van, the Yandina 'combined' light comes on for about 2 minutes, then goes off. Is this normal? I would think that since when the vehicle is off the batteries are supposed to be independent the light would stay off...

Since I don't have the cabinet space of a Westy, I put my fusebox on the front of my driver's seat base..time will tell if that will work out. I didn't want to use up 'interior' space.

Mon May 12, 2008 7:54 pm

The Yandina has a time delay on any action, to let conditions stabilise in order prevent hysteresis (cycling rapidly on and off).

Looks like a pretty nice install, Texxxx. Fuses should be easy to get at there.

Tue May 27, 2008 10:00 pm

what's the difference/advantage of the Yandina & the relay wired in (under driver's seat in my 85) that's "supposed" to isolate the two batteries?
My vanagon has a battery bucket & voltage test meter (PO) under the rear seat... althought I hate to give up the storage space, it appears that finding a battery that will fit correctly (no modifications) under the driver's seat.
later,
Peter

Wed May 28, 2008 2:55 am

Yandina vs Relay.

With a simple switch (not included) you have the option to force the Yandina on, off, or leave it automatic. It it also rated at 100 amps, so I believe it will allow more juice to get to the aux battery, allowing it to charge in less time. (if you use decent gauge wire)

The li'l LEDs are nice to see if/how it is working at a glance.

Wed May 28, 2008 7:30 am

> Another question, when you install the yandina, is there any use for the old relay? Would it be a good idea to set it up to only allow the refrigerator to run on 12V when the engine is running, and battery charging? That way I can't accidentally drain my aux battery when camped, or stopped along the way. What are others doing?

Yes, keep the original relay operation for the fridge.

You do not want to run your fridge on the house battery with the engine off. You should run on propane when stopped. You can also run on Propane when driving, instead of forgetting to switch to Propane when you stop.

My house battery, is the Odyssey 1200 and I use the GoWesty kit. It powers my radio, house lights, and cigarette lighter, plus an inverter, which I use to charge my shaver, computer, iPhone, Bluetooth.

IF I ever need a jump start, I have to remove the driver seat to get to the Odyssey positive and negative posts, and use jumper cables to the starter battery terminals.

I like the GoWesty kit so much, I put it into 2 of my vans. Its a 49 dollar kit, less than the Yandina.. The GoWesty kit includes all the fuses, wires, AND instructions. Including the wire to the front fuse panel to reroute power for radio, house lights and cigarette lighter to come from the House Battery, instead of the Stater battery.

Wed May 28, 2008 8:54 am

fwiw, here is an old writeup about my fridge solenoid wiring.. etc

---

I had a long conversation with GoWesty and ended up not removing the stock relay under the drivers seat. And not using the blue wire to trigger the GoWesty solenoid.

My goal in keeping the stock relay, was to have the fridge operate on battery power only while the ignition is on. I did not want my fridge to run off the aux battery at all.

I have the GoWesty solenoid triggered by the fridge terminal on the stock relay. Power to the GoWesty solenoid comes from the sink faucet pole on the relay, which is common to the power post on the relay. I do not alter nor remove the power wire to the stock relay, also contrary to the GoWesty instructions.

In this arrangement, I do not make any change to the stock location of the blue wire, that the "normal" GoWesty instructions uses to trigger the solenoid.

Again, and I hope this makes sense, I trigger the soleoind from the fridge, not the blue wire.

I will try to detail the wiring..

1. I built a wire that uses a female spade on both ends, connected to the fridge post of the stock relay, and to the male spade on the trigger post of the Go Westy solenoid. I then ran another wire back to the fridge wire that I removed from the stock relay. The wire for the fridge is attached to the solenoid trigger post by way of the nut on that post. this fridge power wire has a Female spade on one end and a small ring on the other.

2. for the power supply to the Go Westy solenoid, I built a pair of wires, similar to above. The sink output pole on the stock relay connects to a wire that has a female spade on one end, and a medium ring on the other. The ring attaches to the power post of the Go Westy solenoid. A second wire with a ring attached to the solenoid power post, ends in a male spade, which plugs into the faucet wire that was removed from the stock relay..

this configuration charges house battery with ignition on, does not power the fridge unless ignition is on, and does not use the blue wire, nor does it remove the stock relay, or alter the stock power wire to the stock relay.

I did run the GoWesty kit wire from the house battery to the dash, and connected the radio, house lights and cigarette lighter circuits to it, per GoWesty instructions.

Sat May 31, 2008 8:34 am

I am going to be installing an auxiliary battery very soon and have read quite a few of the threads here to explore options. Good stuff...

The previous owner of my Westfalia had done some mod's of his own as the radio will run without the key, there is a amplifier rattling around in the dash behind the deck (coming out as soon as I get this aux battery hooked up), a wire with an in line fuse running from the main battery to up near the ignition and the set up in the auxiliary battery bay under the drivers seat as pictured below.

A close up

The numbers are 411915511 B. Although I do own a copy of the Bentley, I am not able to find the info on the "stock" relay that some of the Westy's came with and I am wondering if that's what this is or something the PO put in? Might also mention that there are 2 (inline fused) wires coming off this unit and tucking in behind the fridge/stove cabinet.

If this is the stock relay, why don't people use it? If it isn't, any idea what it is?

In case you haven't figured it out yet, electrical/wiring is not my thing-rather be turning a wrench-but willing to learn.....

Thanks in advance for any replies.

CT

Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:25 am

Texxxxx, two things that hard to tell from the photo. What exactly is the aqua blude device between the Odyssey and the Yandina? And, it looks like you ran the Yandina switch wire (green?) to the fuse panel. Why?

Thanks for the great pic; it's very helpful for newbie like me still trying to get his bearings.

And, if there's somone out there who installed the aux. battery in the rear bench seat, what is the best path to run the wire between the two batteries? And then from this location to accessories?

Great stuff.

Texxxxx wrote: I finished my aux bat install. Not as neat as some, but OK. I have been reading the FAQ's about the Yandina and haven't found the answer to a question.

When I turn off my van, the Yandina 'combined' light comes on for about 2 minutes, then goes off. Is this normal? I would think that since when the vehicle is off the batteries are supposed to be independent the light would stay off...

Since I don't have the cabinet space of a Westy, I put my fusebox on the front of my driver's seat base..time will tell if that will work out. I didn't want to use up 'interior' space.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:12 am

The aqua blue thing is a fuse holder between the Odyssey and the fuse box, not the Yandina. I have an 80 amp fuse in there. I'm really not sure if 80 is the best choice, but it seemed like a good number...lol. It is sitting on top of some wood blocks that take up the excess space.

The green wire is for hooking up to a switch like in the great illustration by McVanagon earlier in this thread.
"The green remote wire is usually left unconnected for automatic operation. It may be cut short if desired." - Yandina Combiner 100 Manual
I just put an orange wire nut on it that you can see just next to the Yandina...it doesn't go to the fuse box.

Good luck...there are lots of very electrically savvy folks in this forum...I'm not one, but I have learned much here.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:24 pm

That's a very cool setup. Did you put a big fuse between the house and main batteries too like I think TenCentLife has suggested either in this thread or elsewhere? Also, how did you decide on the mounting location for the Yandina? The reason for my questions is b/c I'm thinking of installing the house battery in the rear bench seat so that eventually it can run a TruckFridge, as per Karl at WestyVentures. It seems the larger dimensioned batteries are a better value compared to setups adapted to fit in the driver-side compartment and I don't mind losing a little storage.
So, I'm trying to create a map of location and specs for the parts (ie. Yandina goes in location X, fuse panel in location Y, inline fuses at ..., etc...). Evidentually, the stock relay for the Dometic fridge will get bypassed altogether. I'm on week 6 it seems of piecing this all together and your setup, along with other posts are helping me get there, abeit slowly due to my lack of experience.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:52 pm

Tencent is 'The Man' when it comes to 12V.

Just so you know, my van is not a Westy. That determined a lot of what I did...like putting the Yandina and fuse box where I did.

I put the big fuse between the aux battery and the fuse box, so if I had too many things running and drawing too much power, it would blow before whatever worse happens if you don't. Wires melting? Batteries exploding? Fires? The End Of The World As We Know It?

My setup works well for me, but I think there are better places to put things if you have the storage of a Westy.

You'll get there, and will have a setup that works well for you. There is a lot of information in this forum and you are doing the right thing by looking up all the threads by these knowledgeable and creative people, sifting through it and then applying it.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:31 am

I dunno. I think Karl and especially Mark are both super-smart on auto electrics, and some other folks I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Texxxxxxx the one thing I would do with your setup is move the red wire that goes from the Yandina to the aux battery to connect after the fuse, instead of direct to the battery as you have it. That way you gain the fuse's protection on the whole combiner circuit, at least for shorting current from the aux. To totally protect that circuit you would also need a fuse at the starting battery end, but don't sweat it; I don't have that end covered either.

Nice work, by the way.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:32 am

tencentlife wrote: I think Karl and especially Mark are both super-smart on auto electrics, and some other folks I'm sure I'm forgetting.
Very, very true.

tencentlife wrote: ... move the red wire that goes from the Yandina to the aux battery to connect after the fuse...
Thanks for the tip, $0.10!

Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:04 am

I have a question for all of you aux battery gurus.

I am getting ready to do a 2nd battery, I have a guitar jack, that I installed in my side panel, that is wired into my stereo. I am also running 2 power amplifiers, one for the subs and one for the mids. The amps are of course hooked up to the original battery.

My question: do I leave the amplifiers hooked up the original battery or do they need to be wired to the 2nd battery. For this setup what would be better, the yandina or the gowesty kit, or both?

Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:11 am

in my opinion the yandina is always a better solution. it's simply a more sophisticated mechanism - you can force combination/separation, it cycles itself when the current is large and has a timing mechanism to prevent hysteresis, and has internal protection. it can carry more current, meaning that your aux will charge in a reasonable time.

definitely definitely put the amps on the aux battery. most anything that you think you'll use while stopped should be on the aux, esp those with a large draw. with a proper solution your batteries will be combined while driving, so you can use the amps any time.

1991VanagonCarat wrote: I have a question for all of you aux battery gurus.

I am getting ready to do a 2nd battery, I have a guitar jack, that I installed in my side panel, that is wired into my stereo. I am also running 2 power amplifiers, one for the subs and one for the mids. The amps are of course hooked up to the original battery.

My question: do I leave the amplifiers hooked up the original battery or do they need to be wired to the 2nd battery. For this setup what would be better, the yandina or the gowesty kit, or both?

Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:21 am

Agreed, on both points.

A proper combiner will be easily superior to a relay solution. An OEM-style relay will really limit charging current when your aux is deeply discharged, and we know that they can severely overheat in that situation with even a middling-small 44Ah battery in the aux position. The GW kit, which simply uses a higher-current contactor, at least won't limit current , but has no intelligence built into its controls. The Yandina is becoming popular for its versatility and intelligence, but there are others, Surepower, etc. I haven't used them, but they have their fans among people who do a bunch of these type of installs.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:33 am

tencentlife wrote: I dunno. I think Karl and especially Mark are both super-smart on auto electrics, and some other folks I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Texxxxxxx the one thing I would do with your setup is move the red wire that goes from the Yandina to the aux battery to connect after the fuse, instead of direct to the battery as you have it. That way you gain the fuse's protection on the whole combiner circuit, at least for shorting current from the aux. To totally protect that circuit you would also need a fuse at the starting battery end, but don't sweat it; I don't have that end covered either.

Nice work, by the way.

1. What size fuse should be used between the Yandina and the aux. battery?
2. Should there be a fuse of similar rating between the Yandina and the main battery too?
3. If not 80 as in Texxx's setup, what size fuse should be used between the fuse panel and aux. battery?
4. If I install the aux. battery in the rear bench seat, do the ratings of these fuses and wires change?

Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:35 am

1991VanagonCarat wrote: I have a question for all of you aux battery gurus.

I am getting ready to do a 2nd battery, I have a guitar jack, that I installed in my side panel, that is wired into my stereo. I am also running 2 power amplifiers, one for the subs and one for the mids. The amps are of course hooked up to the original battery.

My question: do I leave the amplifiers hooked up the original battery or do they need to be wired to the 2nd battery. For this setup what would be better, the yandina or the gowesty kit, or both?

I must say, your van looks sweet, with the guitar jack and the shag carpet! :D You should definitely hook the amps (and the head unit) to the house battery. The head unit can be attached at the "fuse 3" connection on later model vans.

I would recommend the combiner over the relay; however, I don't use either, with my low-voltage-disconnect relay and my starting and house batteries hard wired together. My setup is unconventional but it works great; I get 136 Ah for house duties with only the two batteries in my van.