TheSamba.com :: View topic - Largest Capacity Auxiliary Battery in stock location

Sun Feb 14, 2010 7:27 am

tencentlife wrote: Here, once again, for posterity's sake, I'm copying this useful list of connections on late fuse panels.

Awesome! Many thanks.

Mon May 10, 2010 8:13 pm

I'm about to do the now famous Westyventures 4 UB12220 pack, plus another 4, two under each seat, for a 176aH aux bank.

I posted the idea here http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4581988, but my thread doesn't seem very popuplar :( and I'd like some advice, so here are the details again.

I have a Multivan, no swivel, so I can fit two UB12220 under each seat, if I lay them on their side (will secured them to the body with wooden frames).

Here's are the wiring details:

My questions are:
1- Any problem with putting the batteries on their side (the specs I found say they're AGM, so that should be ok).
2- Do I need the two 80A class T fuses? It seems so, in case the wire between the two compartments gets damaged. But these fuses cost about 40$ each with holders, so if I'm missing something, please make me save some money:)
3- Any problem having different distances between batteries that make up the auxiliary bank?

Many thanks

Sat Oct 09, 2010 6:08 pm

Inspired by Karl, and my Odyssey PC1200 crap out, I put three of the Universal Batteries in because 4 was overkill for my needs. I found that you can get them in without drilling the battery compartment lid rivets and removing the lid if you center the battery in the opening and press them down. The side where the lid attaches will flex just enough to squeeze them down. I put double sided tape to hold them together, and a rubber mat underneath. No fancy bus bar, just 10ga wire. I like this set-up better than the Odyssey since I get about 50% more AH (66), and these batteries arrived with 12.67v, unlike the Odyssey that arrived brand new and had only 11.8v on it. I also upgraded my voltage regulator to the adjustable one to get at least 14.2v at the terminals. Thanks to all that did the ground work on these batteries....

Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:43 am

I'm thinking about moving my main battery to the rear (use a gel bat for the main) and putting 8 these up front...I might not need that much juice though, but I plan on adding a microwave and will have a furnace.

Where did you end up buying these batteries?

Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:21 am

purplepeopleeater wrote: I'm thinking about moving my main battery to the rear (use a gel bat for the main) and putting 8 these up front...I might not need that much juice though, but I plan on adding a microwave and will have a furnace.

Where did you end up buying these batteries?

batteriesasap.com , scroll back on this thread to get the link. The 3 I installed keep my Propex furnace going periodically on cold days, along with lights, water faucet pump, and stereo, for about 3 days. I don't run the Propex all night, and I don't use an inverter or other electronic gadgets. I find 66 AH to be adequate for my needs, and I rarely camp where there is shore power.

Sun Oct 10, 2010 12:50 pm

A bit OT, but one thing that made a huge difference for me was installing LED's.

Anyone have a link for adjustable voltage regulators?

I have three aux batteries, 90A alternator, voltage-sensitive marine charging relay. 14-14.5 volts @ 2500 rpm at the the aux batteries, but this goes down to 13.5 +- with lights, AC, etc. on and I want more, more, more! That is, the charge is marginal when there's a load on the system. Maybe an adjustable regulator would help. Or--not.

Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:12 pm

re: adj volt reg. I found one locally at an auto electrics place. For a web source, try here at dave barton's (scroll down for adj. internal reg)

http://www.davebarton.com/AdjustableVoltage.html

alistair

Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:42 pm

This voltage drop under load is likely nothing to do with the alternator. You MUST also measure the voltage at the alternator to know if the alternator is falling short. If the voltage is 14+ at the alternator but 13+ at the battery, the wiring is absorbing some of the voltage. Find where in the wiring the drop occurs and fix the wiring so the drop is gone. It is due to the most basic of electrical concepts. If you increase the amps passing through a wire, the voltage must drop. Making the wire bigger reduces the drop. Make the wiring big enough and the drop will nearly disappear.

In Vanagons the area of the charging wiring most at fault for large voltage drops is the wire from the alternator to the starter. That is why this upgrade exists:

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_780_683/alternator_cable_upgrade.html

Mark

Californio wrote: .........
I have three aux batteries, 90A alternator, voltage-sensitive marine charging relay. 14-14.5 volts @ 2500 rpm at the the aux batteries, but this goes down to 13.5 +- with lights, AC, etc. on and I want more, more, more! That is, the charge is marginal when there's a load on the system. Maybe an adjustable regulator would help. Or--not.

Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:56 pm

I recall seeing a 4pack of these somewhere for 145 bucks...someone posted it can't find it now...KRAP!

Hmm....
http://www.batteryplex.com/universal.cfm/m/UB12220?gclid=CLWlgZCayaQCFQJVgwodGXe1FA

Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:28 am

Does anybody know what happened to Karl's howto on the Westy Ventures site? It's not on there anymore as far as I can tell...

Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:53 am

Not to hijack this thread which is supposed to be about batteries, but:

I actually did email Dave Barton who seems to be the go-to guy on these regulators, but he said it sounded more like an alternator output/other issue than a regulator.

I installed the VC alt to starter upgrade as well as 8 AWG wires (both ground and +) with soldered terminals to all batteries. A separate 8 AWG ground wire bypasses the other grounds and terminates at the alternator case.

The alternator puts out maybe .03 volts more at idle than is shown at the aux battery terminal, with minimum load. However, as load increases (lights/AC/blower motors) the gap between voltage at the alternator and voltage measured at the aux batteries also increases.

With full load (everything on) at idle, voltage will be somewhere around 13.25 at the aux battery.

In practice, the batteries are typically at 12.7 after sitting 12 hours overnight.

Mon Oct 11, 2010 11:25 am

ragnarhairybreeks wrote: re: adj volt reg. I found one locally at an auto electrics place. For a web source, try here at dave barton's (scroll down for adj. internal reg)

http://www.davebarton.com/AdjustableVoltage.html

alistair

The Dave Barton regulator is overly complicated. I bought an adjustable voltage regulator of Ebay for $15 that is a direct replacement for the Bosch unit. I listed it in several posts and can try and find it again.

Make sure you get the right model number. Here's the link: http://stores.ebay.com/drdepnerdeals/Alternator-Ge...=598673786

Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:32 pm

PDXWesty wrote:
The Dave Barton regulator is overly complicated. I bought an adjustable voltage regulator of Ebay for $15 that is a direct replacement for the Bosch unit. I listed it in several posts and can try and find it again.

Make sure you get the right model number. Here's the link: http://stores.ebay.com/drdepnerdeals/Alternator-Ge...=598673786

Huh? What is complicated about unscrewing the old regulator and installing a new one? Make sure you get the correct one from Dave. It looks just like the original but has the adjustment screw hole.

Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:35 pm

Mr. Electric Wizard wrote: Does anybody know what happened to Karl's howto on the Westy Ventures site? It's not on there anymore as far as I can tell...

I took it down because I'm not convinced this is the best route for everyone - the batteries have a higher failure rate if not charged properly. I prefer to go with a larger aux. battery in the cubby or under the seat now. If you can give up the space, two 6V golf cart batteries are the way to go. I'm also having great luck with the 4D in my camper, although next time I will go with Trojan 6V batteries.

Mark makes a good point that many miss - upsizing the cables to charge the aux. battery makes a huge difference in getting the proper charge into a battery.

Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:55 pm

westyventures wrote:
Huh? What is complicated about unscrewing the old regulator and installing a new one? Make sure you get the correct one from Dave. It looks just like the original but has the adjustment screw hole.

It looks like an externally mounted unit from the link. It seems an integrated solution like that offered on Ebay is different. I have one and it works gfreat. Am I looking at the wrong product on the DB website?

Ok, I looked further down. It's the same unit I have with the internal adjustment, only I got it for $10 less. $19.99 shipped.

Mon Oct 11, 2010 2:01 pm

PDXWesty wrote: Am I looking at the wrong product on the DB website?

Ok, I looked further down. It's the same unit I have with the internal adjustment, only I got it for $10 less. $19.99 shipped.

Yes.

DB sells the same part most likely (made in China).

Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:12 am

So I want to make the jump on this, going to order my 4 UB1220's and other bits....Should I use the solonoid setup like gowesty sells or what?

Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:50 am

purplepeopleeater wrote: So I want to make the jump on this, going to order my 4 UB1220's and other bits....Should I use the solonoid setup like gowesty sells or what?

The Yandina and Surepower isolators are a better bet. Make up your own wiring, the wire size in the GW kit and others is too small. Better yet, have Norht Westy do the work or ask for his advice on wiring - he's close by you.

Sun Oct 17, 2010 8:26 am

Here's an update on my install of 3 batteries UB12220. I installed the adjustable VR and now have 14.5v at the alternator at idle. At the starting battery I found 14.3v and at the GW solenoid isolator I have13.8v and at the UB12220 batteries I have 13.5v. The reason for the big V drop is because the red wire going into the second battery box comes from the dashboard area rather than directly from the starting battery post. I then did what others have done and ran a 10ga wire directly from the starting battery to the hot side of the solenoid. This was easier than I expected and required no hole drilling, I just ran the wire from the top of the starting battery, under the carpet, and under the vinyl strip at the walk-through area and through the existing hole in the 2nd battery box. I safely disconnected and terminated the old red wire in the 2nd battery box since it is not needed here anymore. If the UB12220 batteries ever die on a trip, I can easily disconnect them and connect the old red wire to power the stuff on the second battery circuit. Anyway I now have 14.2v at the UB12220 batteries. Ideally you want 14.5v at the UB12220's. I could adjust the VR to provide this, but I'm afraid of having more than 14.5v coming from the alternator (maybe one of you can ease my fear of doing this). I'll be making it a habit to fully charge the UB12220's with my AGM Battery Minder charger within a day or two of returning from a trip so they have a longer life.

Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:22 pm

westyventures wrote: ... I'm not convinced this is the best route for everyone - the batteries have a higher failure rate if not charged properly. I prefer to go with a larger aux. battery in the cubby or under the seat now. If you can give up the space, two 6V golf cart batteries are the way to go. I'm also having great luck with the 4D in my camper, although next time I will go with Trojan 6V batteries.

JUST as I was seriously and nervously getting up the nerve to do this. I'm not sure I can make the room under the back seat - or that it would be good to have batteries that close to the toasty propex under the backseat, which has become the single best thing I've done for the Westy. (we're addicted to that cubby, it's easy storage access.)

Might have to figure out the other options, like the bottom of the closet or somesuch.