TheSamba.com :: View topic - Aux Battery & Accessory Setups: Pictures & Diagrams

Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:36 pm

This thread is an attempt to have one location of everyone's auxiliary battery and accessory setups in their vans. Please post pictures of what you have and any wiring diagrams that will help others in their searches.

Here is my setup and updated wiring diagram

This is the 2nd battery box setup, running a blue top X2 AGM battery model SLI34-78AGMDP about 55ah. Please ignore the relay wiring I finally figured out what my issue was. The black wires in the picture are to the Power sport 8 onboard charger each lead running to the two sides of the solenoid.
Under the drivers seat is a Boss powered subwoofer that fits very snugly

This is just inside my cabinet under the sink, switch box is for future additions, dimmer is for led lights that run throughout the camper and front dash panel, main breaker switch, fuse panel that runs propex heater, led lights, 12v acc. to the front dash, behind the seat and rear cabinets, USB ports to the front dash and rear cabinet, and a switch that runs the solenoid that controls the winch with battery cables that I have run from front to back so that I can use the winch front or rear.

In this picture you can see the black magnetic switches for automatic led interior cabinet lights to the right, just above the battery which is a Sears Platinum Marine Battery 100ah

This is the onboard battery charger, solar charger, 12V accessory, and LED battery status gauges. The black wire that is not hooked up is the CB radio.

Tue Jul 28, 2015 7:05 am

I finally got around to making up a wiring diagram, I think I covered everything, and everything either runs through a fuse box/panel or has an inline fuse. This is not how the wires route exactly through the vehicle, it was the only way I could cleanly show how things are wired up. Enjoy

Image below is the old wiring set up (left here for reference purposes only), I have an updated diagram at the top of the thread and below explaining what my issues was

These are photos of the winch setup that I have, there is a switch on the dash that I flip and then I can use the winch front or rear depending on the situation

I will be adding another small fuse panel to the rear and will update when I get that done.

Show me what you are running?

Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:09 am

And your worried about fuel lines??? there are bare positive wires exposed at the circuit breaker and solenoid, frankly whole thing is a mess! try applying some liquid tape to protect those wires. On any of the positive wires with crimp connectors you should of used the Marine grade connectors with the adhesive inside for a little extra security, those plain crimps can become loose or fall off over a period of time, especially if you plan any off-road driving. On your relay they make a plug which connects directly to the relay and you only have to splice in and heat shrink the wiring.
"Clean it up before it burns up!"

Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:31 am

"Bassyaks"
I appreciate your concern, comments and would live to see what you have for accessories and auxiliary power in your vehicle.

I am sure that there are many other examples on what not to do including what I have had to fix on this vehicle that the previous owner had done that almost burned this vehicle up several times.

The point of this thread is to see everyone's setups to give people an idea on what can be done with their vehicle. Thanks

Tue Jul 28, 2015 10:49 am

Ok, I'll risk the ridicule and post my diagram of my aux wiring. Auxiliary battery (210Ahr) in tray replacing tire tray, solar charge controller behind driver's seat on kitchen wall, rest of the gubbins under the driver's seat. Note that I do not have power feed to the 12V heating element in the fridge.

Alistair

Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:06 pm

"ragnarhairybreeks "

Thanks for posting, how do you like that Blue Seas ACR? I have been looking at those for awhile

Wed Jul 29, 2015 4:14 pm

Smurfpike,

I like the blue seas acr a lot. It's the older model, pn#7600. It has been superseded but it think the functions remain the same. The new one has a different form factor and the big terminals are covered, which is a good thing.

I've had mine for, jeez must be over 12 years now. Has worked without fault in my old van and now in the syncro. I like the adjustable cut in and over voltage feature, and the out put for a remote light to indicate when batteries combined. Also has provision for remote control, manual over ride to force combine or force separate the batteries.

Alistair

Wed Jul 29, 2015 7:19 pm

Thanks very much for taking the time and RISK of posting for the benefit of others! This is coming up on my build and I'm overwhelmed with the options. This will help. Can't say thanks enough.

Thu Jul 30, 2015 6:21 am

rmcd

I had the same problem just over a year ago and spent several hours searching threads on this subject, hopefully this thread will continue to grow and help others in the future. If you have any questions please ask and I will do my best to help.

Thu Jul 30, 2015 7:34 am

smurfpike wrote: "Bassyaks"
I appreciate your concern, comments and would like to see what you have for accessories and auxiliary power in your vehicle.

Yes, lets see some pictures of your van, wiring and all the other issues you post about on a regular basis :lol:

Looking good from here Smurf :wink:

Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:28 pm

Thanks smurfpike - always interesting to see how others do things. I will post mine when I can make it presentable.

One note on your design, it looks like you have a PWM LED dimmer wired direct to the Aux battery with no on-off switch. I used a similar dimmer in my Hightop build but found that the current draw was significant even when in the "off" position so I had to put in a switch between it and the battery. I think it is characteristic of many PWM power controllers that when the output is off the circuit itself is still drawing power. If anyone knows of one for which this is not the case I would like to know.

Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:39 pm

Hmm I will have to look into that and do some testing, I did run the wires from the aux battery through a Buss breaker switch that I push a button and it shuts all my Aux stuff off from anything draining the battery and running when I am storing it. From the switch it runs through the aux fuse box then through the dimmer then to the LED's. I liked the idea of the dimmer but I find myself not using it that much, so it might get removed eventually.

Fri Aug 07, 2015 10:48 pm

Hi all, first post. :D

Lots of great info on this forum, maybe too much - search returns gobs of information.. anyways, I'm looking to add an aux battery in my new-to-me 1985 Westfalia and have some questions - hopefully I can use this thread to get answers from the gurus. Here's what I'm thinking, with questions below:

Questions:
1. ACR wire/fuse size for starting battery - is 2g overkill? Blue seas says if alternator is 90amp, wire should be 25mm (4g) and the fuse should be 125-130, but I figure 2g/100amp is safer, right?
2. what size fuse to use for house battery?
3. what size fuse to use for the fuse panel?
4. if I put the ACR and house battery under the rear seat and fuse panel under sink, can I disconnect the relay under the driver's side seat?

Thanks, and please let me know if I should start my own thread.

John

Fri Aug 07, 2015 10:55 pm

And how about total costs associated with your setups, please? not trying to get too much into yer bidniz, but pics, diagrams and money spent...

ballparks?

thanks!

-cc-

Sat Aug 08, 2015 6:47 pm

Here's what I put together on a earlier post..
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6936059&highlight=#6936059
Good idea for a thread...
Looking for a pic of my wiring diagram...😟

I Installed a small fuse bank to bring power from the House battery up to the dash, put it behind the radio, lift out the ashtray to get to it, Velcro fastened, powers the a RetroSound radio and amp and repower the stock 12v lighter socket, the amp is mounted behind the glovebox...can't find the pics😟t

Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:27 am

I just finished my aux power set-up. I don't have a wiring diagram, but here are a couple of pics. The little red fuse folder feeds a fuse block behind the dash that I have my radio/interior lights/etc hooked up to. I also have a 100W suitcase solar panel that plugs into one of my camper hook-up boxes.

Fri Aug 14, 2015 11:31 am

oldhuldy67

What are you using to label your wires? Shrink tube? I like it!

ng

I like the setup. Do you still have room under the rear seat or lose all of it? Is that an onboard compressor above the rear hear box?

Time for part of my update

I was trying to figure out why the ProSport 8 was getting so hot and Aux. Batt. number 1. I realized that this problem didn't exist before I added Aux. 2 so I called ProSport and they explained that I would need a 3 lead charger to charge all 3 batteries.

So I upgraded to the ProSport 20 and they gave me a deal for already having a ProSport and upgrading to what I needed, great customer service! They did explain that the ProSport runs hot because the application it is designed for, they recommended for shore power charging in a vehicle the ProNautic 1230P but it was more money.
http://promariner.com/?s=ProNautic+1230P+&submit=

With this I have upgraded my wiring diagram and tried to make it easier to read. I removed the dimmer for the LED since we never use it and I didn't locate it in the easiest place for accessibility. I also realized that my Portable solar panel ran directly to the fuse box and not through the controller (on the vehicle it was hooked up correctly).

I will upload more pictures when I complete the updated wiring and components.

Wed Sep 02, 2015 12:28 pm

smurfpike wrote: ng

I like the setup. Do you still have room under the rear seat or lose all of it? Is that an onboard compressor above the rear hear box?

Still a decent amount of room, I built it making sure I could still put my dutch oven in that space. I also have two nesting water basins that fit outside the dutch oven and my other pots are inside it.

That is my onboard air compressor, it's the ARB package from gowesty plumbed to the outlet box. Used it recently to air all tires up from 12 psi to 40 psi, really fast. Very happy with it.

Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:50 pm

Mine is a small system compared to most:

1) Odyssey PC925 (27Ah) Power Patrol SLA0190 (50Ah) under the driver's seat.

2) ARB 50 portable fridge. The 12V connector was cut off and ring terminals crimped on.

3) LED strip lights in the front cabinet, over the sink, over the rear seat, and in place of the OEM Westy fixture.

4) Renogy 100W folding/suitcase solar panel. PWM charge controller was removed from the panel and mounted behind driver's seat:

The two panels were wired together, the 50 amp Anderson connector was changed to a 40 amp version, and the GoWesty city water hookup was converted to a solar hookup:

5) Blue Seas fuse panel mounted in kitchen cabinet. LEDs, Westy equipment, and ARB are wired to it:

Diagram of all of the above: http://oldbluesblog.com/files/ElectricalDiagram_Solar.pdf .

While the Odyssey is a small one, amp-hour wise, it's been working quite well with the ARB*. The only problem thus far was checking the voltage the morning after a recent stop at Joshua Tree to find the battery down to 11.x volts. Discovered later that the Dometic fan ran all night and, ultimately, seized up and blew the 10 amp Blue Seas fuse. Thereafter, the ARB pulled 0.3 amps when running and the battery never dropped below 12V overnight; solar panel very easily kept the battery charged when parked.

*Edit: Odyssey kicked the bucket; replaced it with a Power Patrol in 2016.

Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:29 pm

Love your setup kamzcab...have you had any issues running that ARB 50 on your setup with Solar? Wishing you had a bigger battery?

Wondering where you found the parts to convert the GW city water to Andersen hook-up? I am looking at doing the same thing with SAE 2 connectors.