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Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:11 am

I was wondering what would be required to add a second batter to my bus to power my stereo, lights, and other things I may ad when the bus is not running... Is this difficult, expensive, not worth the time? I have no immediate plans to do this but I was thinking it would be cool to have if I ever went camping or something and wanted to watch a portable tv or listen to some cd's w/o killing the battery...

Mon Jan 03, 2005 4:11 am

Hi Chris
I put a second battery in my 72 Westy last year. It wasn't cheap ! First you have to get a battery isolator . I used a sure power one # 702R , a second battery, a second fuse box , I used one for a boat and put it on the bolkhead behind my drivers seat. Get a lot of wire and go to town . You need 10 guage from the fuse pannel to the isolator and to the starter. You don't have to pull the alt. My total when done was some where around $250.00 nor better. There are cheaper ways of doing it ,but I thought this to be the best and safe way of doing it.
Karl

Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:47 am

http://www.busdepot.com/busdepot/details.jsp?partnumber=1738

Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:41 am

How well does this work. Im looking at getting this for when I go camping. I would like to be able to run lights, radio, other electronics. It seems pretty cheap for what it does.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:52 am

Having an isolator is nice but they are made more for bigger RV's that might be trying to power big power suckers like tvs, microwaves, ect.
The relay is fine for small aplications like your bus. I did some research on this, I have an aircooled Vanagon, and they have a place for an extra battery. I had the cash for going the isolator route, but after I reasearched, I came to the conclusion that is was overkill. I bought the kit from bus depot, just got the battery, and the ups man brought my the rest of my project this morning. Mulcheese the bus-depot $49.00 kit for the early 80's Westy is way overpriced for what you get, look around for the best price.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:58 am

Without starting a war the likes of the oil vs synthetic and the 009, I'd suggest you make that leisure battery a deep cycle or pair of golf cart batteries if you have the space.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:08 am

I agree don't need to start no Fights this is a matter of personal preferance. Most people say the Optima batteries are the best (Sears about 150-190.00). for extra batteries. I got a new diehard for my starting battery, and am going to use the old battery to get everything up and going. Them I may buy an Optima, I'm still not sure.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:12 am

Hi Art.

Some people use regular starting batteries for their LB, and that's fine as long as you watch the discharge. From what I read, starting batteries are simply not designed to discharge more than about 10% so failure is imminent if you drain them down much more than that. Deep cycle are built with heavy plates and can go down by 80% or so regularly and recover. However, they don't seem to like fast charges like that you get from an alternator. I plan to just plug mine in after I install an on-bord charger of about 2A or less.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:22 am

i live with a electronic engineer, and he reckons we should be able to make up a more efficient split charge system using large diodes (!), i will let you know how we get on. :roll:

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:30 am

Oh no, not a double E! :shock:

Now that's out of the way, keep us posted. I'd be interested in hearing about it. Mine has an isolator and I lose a little juice on the way through it to the batteries. The relay makes sense, but that sudden drain on starting and the big amperage charge into the LB worries me a little.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:30 am

I'm playing this one by ear, I have a habit of over planning. Like taking a bunch of crap camping and only using about half of it, "it sounded like it would be useful at the store". I don't know how much time I'm going to be camping without a AC plug handy, so I was going to go the charger route to. This is the one I had in mind:
http://www.batterychargers.com/details.cfm?prodid=SE%2D1%2D12S&catid=16
I was also thinking about wiring my radio/CD,and lights to a 12volt converter to run them off AC when I'm at an electrified campsite.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:33 am

Why not just bring a spare battery, fully charged, and swap it with the battery in the engine bay? When camp time is done, switch em' back...I know, this is the "duct tape" way of doing it, but it would be cheap as hell, all you'd need is a spare battery...for those wishing to cut all costs!
I guess I'm just scared of wiring. I've done it, and can do it, it's just not fun. Plus I'm cheap.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:40 am

Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for the link.

Hambone, I got my batteries for $15 a piece and the wiring needed to be heavier anyway so replacing from the alternator to the isolator (and eventually to the batteries) was no big deal and made a big improvement.

I think we're on the same page. I hope to install an inverter and a relay to detect shore power so I can run AC in the woods and charge the battery when plugged in without having to do anything manually.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:02 pm

yes, sounds like we have the same idea. I'm going to try someting a little different, nothing earth shaking, I'll post if it works in a few weeks.
Here are a few links for you all to ponder.
http://type2.com/library/electrip/axwir.htm
http://www.globalserve.net/~jrivers/aux-batt.htm
maybe in a few months I'll get the solar panels I want. :)

Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:39 pm

yeah, upon further reflection, my solution is idiotic and lazy. Hit me in the head with something, wouldja? :D

Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:42 pm

Adrian's done a nice job of writing this up: http://www.btinternet.com/~adrian_beaumont/camper/intro.htm

After reading one of the above links, the small charging wire stays on my deep cycle. Live and learn.

Thanks

PS; Skorpio has all kinds of wiring stuff: http://www.keithandsylvia.me.uk/

Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:44 pm

Don't worry, I'm lazy too.

Wrestling with my Chevy truck's electrical woes makes me appreciate our old vans all the more. I like it when you can trace a wire from one end to the other :x

Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:43 pm

hambone wrote: Why not just bring a spare battery, fully charged, and swap it with the battery in the engine bay? When camp time is done, switch em' back...I know, this is the "duct tape" way of doing it, but it would be cheap as hell, all you'd need is a spare battery...for those wishing to cut all costs!
I guess I'm just scared of wiring. I've done it, and can do it, it's just not fun. Plus I'm cheap.

This is simliar to my aux battery system, right now she's just comprised of battery and invertor, but soon i'm adding a volt regulary and wind powered generator, this system is totally sperate from main system and I like it that way.

Right now I just charge my spare battery overnight once a week and does fine for boombox, xmas lights.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:59 pm

Finally, a subject I have something worthwhile to add to.

I am a sailor and am up against this starting vs. lights issue constantly. Keep in mind that I almost never run my little tiny 27 h.p. diesel. I am sure that the $175 battery is a wonderful product, but IMHO, it is completely unnecessary. I run all of my ancillary electronics, i.e., radar, GPS, VHF radio, stereo, and running lights off a deep-cycle battery that cost me $59 at West Marine (www.westmarine.com). It is all you will ever need once you have purchased the little Bosch system recommended. Further, I am legally required to keep an anchor light on all night long, so it is not as if I am not using my electronics.

As with all things, opinions here are different and frequently quite strong. But what I can tell you with no reservation is that I frequently run days at a time on my deep cycle battery running all my electronics without ever starting the engine. Do not be swayed by doomsday predictions. If you are just going to run a stereo, perhaps a portable TV, maybe your inside light from time to time, do yourself a favor and save yourself some bucks. You will be pleasantly surprised at how long a deep cycle will last. This is precisely what they were built for and there is just no need to go spending in excess of $150 on one.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:24 pm

good info. Penthink. Marine Battery sounds like the way to go.