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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2003 Posts: 1839 Location: Englewood, FL
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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:00 am Post subject: aux batteries again |
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I know there ia alot of talk about these lately, but I wanna hear from some people that have some charge/dischage times on there current setups and how they are fitting the bill for you.
The temporary garden tractor battery just is not fittng the bill anymore I've got a float charger installed but I do more camping without a land line that with, and even hooked up to shore pwer at the last campout, the battery still dumped when a few lights and the DVD player was running for awhile (the westy became a kids playhouse for the night).
I'm considering an actual "deep cyle" style battery I saw at the marine store, allthough its small (need it to fit in the stock location)
Not sure on the gel cells just yet, and I am also temped to get to brand new identical batteries and use my current house battery for the "72 vert we just got that is in need of a battery.
Like I said just want to hear about your long term experiences _________________ Markus |
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sc-surfer Samba Member
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 865 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Get a deep cycle batt! I curently use an Optima Yellow Top, but have used others. I have had good luck with the costco deep cycle. These batts are designed for the type of load you drawing.
As far as time, I don't know. I've never drained mine all the way down. _________________ '89 Syncro Westy
Catalog of Vans at SDM 2010
Westfalia, Syncro & Tristar Reproduction decals here.
* * * Coming Soon: Washable seat covers for westy bench seat...keep the pets off the upholstery! * * * |
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85jacamper Samba Member
Joined: August 14, 2005 Posts: 65 Location: sf bay area
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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with sc-surfer. I have been using a Wallymart deep cycle 27DC-6 with no problem at all.
Dennis |
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detter Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:27 pm Post subject: Optima Rules |
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There is good news and bad news about spending a lot of money for an Optima Yellow Top. They work as advertised but don't ever let the voltage drop below 10.5 volts which is considered totally discharged. I ruined a brand new Yellow Top by letting it run until the radio shut off. It was never the same after that and I think that was around 9 volts. Rule # 2 is never fast charge one and limit your float charge to 13,8 volts. Use at most a 10 Gauge wire direct from the alternator and if using a solar charger or AC/DC line charger check to make sure it floats at 13.8 volts as recomended by the mfr.; a brief overcharge is alright. I bought another Yellow Top with my next Westy and I am looking at buying one or two narrow gel cells to stick in that hidden compartment beside the water tank behind the circuit breaker. WalMart sells Energizer U1-31Ah 12 volt wheelchair batteries. These are meant to deep discharge, they are gel cells like the Yellow Top and are only 5.25 inches wide. Two placed end to end are only 15.5 inches long so the two should fit there nicely. Plus I will have an extra 62 Ah worth of batteries. I still have to check on charging compatibility with the Yellow Top. |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2003 Posts: 1839 Location: Englewood, FL
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:32 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the Relpies, I looked a littel yesterday, I went to the marine store to look again at a deep cycle they have but it it tiny, and 100 bucks. I had a yellow top in my had at the auto parts store, but I could not bring myself to purchase, and now I am kinda glad after reading your post detter. Back to the drawing board! _________________ Markus |
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Tomasz Samba Member
Joined: September 08, 2005 Posts: 1094 Location: in a van down by the river
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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Optima Yellow Top is not a trully deep cycle battery to begin with. May as well just get a regular battery at Walmart for under $50 that will perfectly fit under drivers seat. |
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captainpartytime Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2005 Posts: 715 Location: Mission Viejo, CA
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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I use the exact same Optima Yellow Top for our solar boat. http://www.californiasolarcenter.org/solareclips/2005.08/20050809-9.html We have won first place every year because of battery management. We built an automated constant current load that we use to test and cycle all our batteries. Optima Yellow Tops are the best deep cycle battery on the market. Trust me, we have researched every battery available and this one gives you more amp hours than any other battery of this size BY FAR!!! This battery has outperformed every battery we have ever tested. We also draw these batteries down below 10.5 V during racing without losing any performance. We have used the same set of batteries for two years and both times have taken them down well below 10.5V without damage to the cells or electrolyte. As long as you charge them back up within a reasonable amount of time you should be fine. I have not found a battery that can even come close to handling the abuse of the Yellow Tops...For what it's worth |
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northwesty Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2006 Posts: 45 Location: Vancouver
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:43 pm Post subject: Re: Optima Rules |
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detter wrote: |
I am looking at buying one or two narrow gel cells to stick in that hidden compartment beside the water tank behind the circuit breaker. |
How exactly do you gain access to that "hidden compartment"? I was going to run some wires through there but didn't wanna drill into something |
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msinabottle Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2005 Posts: 3492 Location: Denver Area, Colorado
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:37 pm Post subject: Look for the Finger Hole |
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There's one in Winston, you stick your finger through the bottom panel of the compartment above and lift up. You have to maneuver the pull-out panel through the opening above it. I was inspecting Winston's water tank today and had a look down there on general principles.
Best! |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2003 Posts: 1839 Location: Englewood, FL
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 5:36 am Post subject: |
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I broke down and bought an Optima yellow last week. Allthough I could not bring myself to cut off the terminals right before last weeks campout and I new we were at a site with power so I stuck with the garden tractor battery. This weekend we will be without land line so grew some balls and took out the hacksaw last night. Its pretty hard to cut into sometting tyou just paid close to 2 bills for after taxes/core (and they won't accept my garden tractor battery as a core-fu**ers!).
I drilled out the rivets for the cover took it off and finnessed the edge that the hinge was mounted to. cut off the top terminals and then smoothed them flush with the plastic casing of the batt. and then covered them. It slid right in in its side. I then used Marinco terminals with are little covered boxes with spade connectors in them. It still makes it too tall to put the cover back on though, but the teminals are covered so I just flopped the carpet down and I shouldn't have problem.
I plugged it in last night to get the fridge cool so the house charger I installed is running/charging as we speak. I guess we will see how it works this weekend.
This is just a random rant: I know that they needed to make it simple and strong so they simply welded in the swivel bases for the seat in westies, but its a real bummer that they make that area under the seat so hard to get at. That is a sweet spot to possibly mount an inverter, amps, whatever! It would even be cool to have a sliding tray or something for storage. heck with that plate removed you could put a yellow top in its side and not cut the posts and even use those teminals for hookups. I almost cut into the tray to make it fit, but I did not want to lose any integrity of that plate, at least until a drop a couple of pounds _________________ Markus |
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vwjedi Samba Member
Joined: November 29, 2005 Posts: 1463 Location: G-ville, FL - hopefully on a trail.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 5:58 am Post subject: |
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Hey Markus, hope the new battery works out well for ya. I have a stock size battery as my aux. since it was the only one that fit. I ran my stereo with amps all out and lights for about 6 hours at the Bug Jam host hotel parking lot party B4 she finally gave up the ghost! I will be interested to see how much better the yellow top performs this weekend at the campout. BTW try breaking your leg, I lost 22 lbs over the last 3 months.
See ya at Ginnie. _________________ 1987 Wolfsburg T25 still riding out. A bunch of other VW's passed on... |
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Dogpilot Samba Member
Joined: October 03, 2005 Posts: 4205 Location: Flagstaff, AZ
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 6:19 am Post subject: |
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I really have had good luck with the yellow top. I did have to dremel off the upper terminals, and reconnect everything with some stainless straps. I covered up the mess with good old JB Weld.
I have run it down to flatness when I left the fridge in the 12V setting after a trip and just parked the van. I naturally remembered the next day. It took a bit to charge it, and my little Yaseu charger floater would not come to terms with the draw. So I hooked up the Home Depot jump starter remote battery goodie to let it charge for a bit. It came up in about 20 minutes to a point where the floater could take over.
I have not had any issues with it since. I do think I may install a light on the dash to tell me I am in the 12V mode on the fridge. Speaking of fridges, I broke the latch camping last weekend. In the process of fixing the latch, I noticed that nearly every screw under the door seal had pulled through the plastic. This probably was what made the fridge door hard to seal. I just had to re-drill new holes offset from the origionals and it good as new.
Nice spot to camp this last weekend:
_________________ Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G |
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buspor63 Samba Member
Joined: February 17, 2005 Posts: 1179 Location: Knoxville,TN Where America stops for gas
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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Whats the "line up" on Optima batteries? I have a red top that I dont use much these days, would that make a good aux. battery? I do use it to jump start the K-Mart lawn mower. _________________ Imagine that, theres not an "h" in either Westfalia or Syncro? |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2003 Posts: 1839 Location: Englewood, FL
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 5:54 am Post subject: |
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Well the yellow top seems to work out well for me. camped with no power for 2 1/2 days, had the radio on for over 24 hours at least, had the TV going for a couple of hours tyring to find weather reports as we had a little rain one morning, had the floresent house light and also one other floresent light going at the rear of the camper for many hours as well. The battery never dropped off the "full" LED in the panel.
I wanted to plug the invertor in and try running the blender when we were making the Mudslides but I never got around to doing it, plus its not easy to access the battery terminals, so we left it on another bus, We did have a blender go down! Luckily we had a backup _________________ Markus |
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r39o Samba Polizei
Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 9800 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:39 am Post subject: |
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I almost bought a 3.6A 12V solar array over the weekend at the swapmeet. But, did not want to pay the price asked. I am strongly considering adding solar power to augment the my aux battery.
I *REALLY* like my inexpensive Group 27 marine battery in the a plastic box under the rear seat the best. You can get all you need to do it at WalMart and still only have about half the cost of the Optima invested.
Plus keeping the aux battery on the right rear combats Westy lean a bit....hee, hee....
If you really cared to, you could have 3 (maybe more) batteries on board pretty easy. _________________ "Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!
1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....
Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently) |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2003 Posts: 1839 Location: Englewood, FL
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
I *REALLY* like my inexpensive Group 27 marine battery in the a plastic box under the rear seat the best. You can get all you need to do it at WalMart and still only have about half the cost of the Optima invested.
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When/if you start camping you probably won't like that battery anymore as it deprives you of something very important-space! I'm sure that even the good old stock size battery (like what mighty art and others have used) is probably more than enough to do the trick, and if I would have had a spare battery here I would have just used that, but my Project '60 beetle has a large displacement, high compression motor in it, and the battery for it was too huge to fit so I could not rob peter to pay paul this time out! So I figured if I HAD to buy a battery, I may as well buy one that will hopefully be more than enough for my needs and not deprive me of storage! _________________ Markus |
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r39o Samba Polizei
Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 9800 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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With a baby seat on the rear most of the time and the fact the kids are near impossible to get to sleep the lost space is not missed because we never do overnight camping. We are not really a camping family. We use the van for stuff and day trips. I have to clean the van out frequently because the kids just leave things and we are constantly taking things. Never access the cabinets much. I have no rear heater, too so that balances. Then again, we rarely go in under the seat because of the child seat. Long story short, the space is not missed. _________________ "Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!
1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....
Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently) |
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flyingCoyote Samba Member
Joined: January 14, 2006 Posts: 514 Location: Burp Hollow, OR
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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I picked up a 120ah deep cycle Energizer for $70-some at Pep Boys. Couldn't help it, it was right next to a $169 Optima that had half the capacity. It's a 27, and just fits under my z-bed with a snug battery box...but my bed is from a '67 and I think a stock Vanagon Westy bed is 4" lower.
Didn't really give it a workout - a few hours each day of loud stereo, interior lights, ipod charger, phone charger, etc. - the solar panels topped it back off in a few hours every day.
_________________ 1985 Vanagon GL / homebrew camper (daily driver)
1974 Super Beetle (Wife's daily driver) |
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thedeatons Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2002 Posts: 215
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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I am in the middle of a Subaru conversion, and plan on two Yellow Top Optimas in the engine compartment. The fresh air ducting compartments on each side house each yellw top perfectly, with room to spare. I also plan to add an inverter (Xantrex 2000W Inverter/Charger) and a charge controller to keep the batteries in top shape. The engine will still operate off of the battery in the original "under the passenger seat" position. Total of three batteries onboard, with plenty of power to run A/Cs and heaters all night.... !! |
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Captain Pike Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2003 Posts: 3327 Location: Talos IV, Piedmont Arizona
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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Deep cell RV/M _ relay controlled from alt charge_ #6 wire to the starter hot _________________ If You Build It______It Will Run
1959 Panel bus, 1966 Single cab. 73' 181. 73 Westy. 91' H6 Vanagon 3.3L.
.....................All Current....................... |
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