Everyone needs their very own second battery thread, right?

[McVanagon]

Thanks to all for the posts, wiring diagrams, product reviews, and photos. I finally started my second battery project this weekend. I will probably still have a few questions about additional wiring, but here are some pics of what I have completed so far…

Before shot: Notice the 1988 penny.

Peel and stick insulation started, Ground Bolt, Dry fitting of everything.

This is how I routed the 8ga wire from the main box to the aux box. The carpet was loose on the inside angled corner of both boxes. I made two holes in the sheet metal, and tweeked the holes to allow the wire to enter at an angle. Once the wire hit the floor, I was able to route it under the corner trim. I had to cut out a little corner of the matting to keep it hidden.

Now you see it.....

Now you don’t....

This is where Yandina will live. It will be out of sight with the jumpseat installed, but accessible. Does anyone else wish the Yandina's leads didn't exit the face of the unit? I cut a piece out of the jumpseat support bar to allow the leads to feed into the aux box.

Finished.
Those two large posts are satellite posts for each battery. I only wanted to have one lead on each each battery. Any battery connection will feed from those. Now I have access to main batt 12v in the aux box, too.
I still need to do the other box, and hook up accessories.

Yandia switch to manually combine and separate, if needed. (thanks Dogpilot for the idea)

**Edit**
Minus the 40amp fuse between the main battery and the Yandina, this is how the Yandina is wired.

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'69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop

[Lanval]

Jayzus!! Thanks for the amazing write up plus pix - Me n' Nathan@el are both setting up to run dual batteries, and this is sexy as hell.

On a down note, you're work makes me feel somewhat inadequate.

Unparalleled work!!

Best,

Lanval

[tencentlife]

Very nice, neat job!

I wish I could have found one of those nice gold-plated inline fuse holders for mine. I used an 80A fusible link instead, but I will replace that with one of those when I can find one locally. Local Radio Crack carries them, but he said they get stolen as soon as he puts them on the shelf by the local subwoofer freaks. One of these days I'll pop into a stereo install place and pick one up.

Yeah, I wish the Yandina's leads exited out the side of the unit, not the top face. Only complaint I have with it. Otherwise, it's a really slick and well-thought-out item.

We have almost the same amp. You're running yours off the main battery, no?

[McVanagon]

[tencentlife]

Exactly. As long as you either tap the output line from the fuse panel to the cig lighter (B11, not B12) , or insert a male plug directly into the fuse socket, sans fuse, you'll be applying power at a point where the wire size is adequate for the current the cig lighter can draw. Removing the #3 fuse will prevent backfeeding power into the main vehicle wiring, which would essentially join your two batteries together by a parallel circuit despite the isolator. Then reverting to stock is as simple as removing your feeder and reinserting the fuse.

We got into this in some detail here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=244500&highlight=lighter+fuse

[McVanagon]

Just spent an hour or so working on the main box....

BEFORE: What's up with the pennies??? This one was an '89
I was also suprised to see this '87 had all the original glass, with the exception of the passenger door roll-up. Found some of the original glass under here, too.

This looks like a good canidate for some insulation...

All done for today.

I'm using another one of those posts to hook all the main battery leads to. There will be one (already routed) to the aux box, one to the other amp, and one for the horn....

I still have to run everything to the dashboard and install the goodies from from the old van (horn, stereo, 12v plug).
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'69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop

[[email protected]]

you don't know how good you have it with no swivel bases welded in! I wish they would have came up with a removeable mount in the westies!

Lookin' good man!
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Markus

[tencentlife]

Been there:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=238428&highlight=swivel+seat+base

[McVanagon]

Just worked a little more on the car. A little frustrating that I had had everyting installed, but nothing hooked up. Put fuses in all the holders, and started it up... within a minute, the Yandina clicked on, and started charging the second battery.... I have no idea how long it will take to charge it.
I thought I was going to pull the interior panels off, to get these cables to the back, but it ended up being easier....
I pulled the carpet back and cut about a 1/2 inch of the matting away in order to run speaker wires, CD changer cable, and an extra 12g wire for future whatevers....

I grabbed a piece of 1" pvc, cut in in half to get those few wires up to where I cut the hole into the aux box. Still looking for a better color grey rattle can...

I tapped into the dashboard, and ta-daa... Aux battery running all cabin lights, cigar lighter, and radio.
See--- light.......radio......missing #3 fuse!
If the Yandina, or something else goes wrong, I can pull the fuse on the aux block, and replace the one in the main fusebox to return to normal... (or if I blow the main aux box fuse)

What a mess..........

Tomorow, I'm gonna try to get those rear speakers hooked up..

Question. What's that three wire group that runs under the matting beneath the driver's feet? I reconnected them after slicing them in half, I am just curious what they were....... Factory rear speakers?
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'69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop

[tclark]

[McVanagon]

[tencentlife]

[woggs1]

[McVanagon]

[tencentlife]

There ya go.

[woggs1]

[techbot]

I've been following this post quite religiously and was wondering if someone has a good photo of how they grounded their aux battery?

I'm mid yandina install and am still trying to figure out how to tidily get all this stuff worked out.. thanks!
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1991 Westfalia Multivan

[McVanagon]

[McVanagon]

Just added an interupt for the amp remote wire. Wished I could have found a black one.. Oh well, it was only $2.00, and you can't really see it with the seat installed...

moog not included.
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'69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop

[Jamos]

Great pictures and info in this thread...
thank you very much to everyone who's contributed.

I have an '86 Westy weekender with the stock battery relay setup under the driver's seat.
I'm in the process of moving my amp/stereo power over to my aux battery.
Also I'd like to do the #3 fuse thing for the interior lighting and cigar socket.

-Can anyone confirm that the #3 fuse also powers the flourescent light in my '86 weekender?

-What kind of connector did you use to feed the cigar socket + voltage in that picture? It looks like a butt-splice, but one side is much fatter than the other. Any other ideas for other good connectors to tap in like that? I'd like something more permanent than a crimp on connector if possible.

-Anyone know a good source for a small, say 6-bank, fuse box?

-I just tested the voltage at my batts because I was concerned the alternator may be on it's way out...but it seems alright. I measured exactly 12.44v at both batteries and both cigar lighters with the engine off, and 13.88 with the engine running. This seems normal and decent, yes?

cheers.
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'86 Wolfy Westy Weekender
2020 Audi Q5