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vwwestyman Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004 Posts: 5680 Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 6:50 pm Post subject: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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My '73 has a BA6 heater and a weak starting battery. I'm going to go get a new battery for it tomorrow.
But I've been thinking about getting a second battery for it, too. Set up to charge like a Westy. And hooking the BA6 up to that. That way I can run the heater without worrying about affecting the starting battery that day. Perhaps increase the run time somehow, too!
But here is what I'm not sure I am wrapping my mind around:
I presume the alternator I've got is the 55 amp version. So while driving down the road on a cold winter evening, I'd have the heater on, headlights, and all that. I bet there are times I'm pushing the limits of the alternator.
Would having this second battery, with the heater running on that, give me any sort of advantage in this situation? Or is the main advantage going to simply be being able to run the heater, potentially for an extended time, without draining the starting battery?
Thanks! _________________ Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
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busdaddy Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2004 Posts: 51057 Location: Surrey B.C. Canada, but thinking of Ukraine
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:16 pm Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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No doubt a second battery will take the load off things during heavy use if some of the loads are fed solely by it and it's isolated. As long as you make up for it with some driving soon after with no big loads on it'll work great. _________________ Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.
Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
Слава Україні! |
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vwwestyman Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004 Posts: 5680 Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:03 pm Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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Cool. I guess I was thinking about the alternator "refilling" both batteries and whether that was different than the alternator having to "refill" just the starting battery.
I guess the fact that it's separate would still mean I could juice that battery up if needed with a charger or, like you said, some more driving. _________________ Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
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richparker Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2011 Posts: 6936 Location: Durango, CO
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:21 am Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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I have a second battery that is charged off the alternator, works great! _________________ __________
’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build |
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busdaddy Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2004 Posts: 51057 Location: Surrey B.C. Canada, but thinking of Ukraine
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 7:46 am Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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vwwestyman wrote: |
Cool. I guess I was thinking about the alternator "refilling" both batteries and whether that was different than the alternator having to "refill" just the starting battery.
I guess the fact that it's separate would still mean I could juice that battery up if needed with a charger or, like you said, some more driving. |
The only time the alternator would be working up a sweat is in a situation where the aux battery was run down to nothing, the main battery was low and you packed up camp on a cold rainy night and had all the headlights, wipers and heaters going full blast. _________________ Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.
Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
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airkooledchris Samba Member
Joined: January 25, 2005 Posts: 2700
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 1:52 pm Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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You can charge up a second battery without stressing your alternator:
https://www.bluesea.com/support/articles/Upgrading..._%5BACR%5D
When your starting battery is full, the current is automatically sent to the secondary battery. If you ever needed a little more help starting, you can also combine the batteries. |
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lintbrush Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2013 Posts: 269 Location: Campbell, California
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:57 pm Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=567016
I have dual batteries for piece of mind. I have all my electrical additions running of the deep cycle aux. I’ve never had to flip the switch to help my starter battery (knock on wood), but happy to know it’s there . _________________ 1970 Westfalia Campmobile - SF Bay Area
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Alan Brase Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2004 Posts: 4532 Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:24 am Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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I've lived with BA6 and DA6 heaters thru several North Iowa winters over the years and yes, they put out some pretty good heat and right now!
But the last thing in the world I want to listen to is that beast when the motor is not driving.
I used to do some service work on Fuchs ML350 and Liebehrr machines used for handling scrap metal. Some had Perkins engines but one had a Deutz air cooled so it used a genuine Espar DL-1 for cabin heat. Wow. they have come along ways since the 1970's.
Just get a Chinese DL1 copy. Or maybe in a bigger size.
BTW, The number in all these is the heater INPUT in Kcals. I doubt you'd ever need 6 kcals in a camper bus.
The BA-6 is great when you start your bus in a snowbank and have to clear the windshield and drive a mad commute to work. _________________ Al Brase
Projects: 67 sunroof bug, 67 Porsche 912 Targa, 70 Westy
Dec 1955 Single Cab pickup WANT 15" BUS RIMS dated 8/55, thru 12/55
To New owners: 1969 doublecab, 1971 Dormobile
Vanagons:
80 P27 Westy JUL 1979, 3rd oldest known US
83 1.6TD Vanagon, 87 Wolfie Westy daily driver, swap meet home |
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wagohn Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2014 Posts: 740 Location: United States
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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Perhaps not ideal for you but we run our diesel heater from a leisure battery that relies 100% on solar. Our cranking charging system seems lethargic and we wanted a completely independent battery from the cranking battery, so as to not get stranded.
In the winter sun, worse case we can top off the leisure battery with a home charger - though I don't think that will be necessary as the Renogy solar panel seems pretty good at finding watts. _________________ 1976 VW Transporter, 2.0 FI Engine |
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vwwestyman Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004 Posts: 5680 Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:28 am Post subject: Re: Thinking About a Second Battery for my BA6. Helpful? |
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I did go ahead and buy a leisure battery for the '73 Bus. Just need time to get it installed and set up!
I think at first I'll just have it set up similar to how Westfalia did, with a simple relay to open when the engine starts. And plan on some supplemental charging from time to time. That still will be better than having to go out and hook up a charger just to start the bus, and worrying that the starting battery is being slowly run down by the heater running along with everything else in the winter time.
Maybe at some point in the future I'll get a fancier switchover mechanism that waits until the starting battery is charged or something but for now this seems like a good option. _________________ Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing |
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