Largest Capacity Auxiliary Battery in stock location

[fasteddy64]

Is there a simple alternative from Sam's or Wal Mart for us casual campers?

[fasteddy64]

Is there a simple alternative from Sam's or Wal Mart for us casual campers?

[westyventures]

[MarkWard]

WestyVentures. I like your setup. Who did you purchase the batteries from? What sort of warranty? Are they rated for a particular number of discharges? Thank you for any more information. I found some on the internet, but I bet the freight could add up.
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[PDXWesty]

Looks like this is the battery that was used. Using three would allow you to keep the relay in the stock position.

http://www.batteriesasap.com/48.html

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[westyventures]

[westyventures]

[MarkWard]

I could not resist. I purchased 4 from batteriesasp. I had some money in my PayPal account from cleaning out my garage. The freight to florida for 4 batteries was about $40. I am trying to get ready for a camping trip and have been putting off an auxilary battery setup. Currently I have a trolling motor battery under the back seat that is not tied into anything. I have a 3 way lighter attachment for a fan and reading light. I think this setup will be perfect. Thank you for the inspiration. mark
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[mightyart]

[1621]

[iiigoiii]

there's only one concern i'd have about a setup like this....

i thought that simply connecting multiple rechargeables in parallel isn't a good idea? as one begins to go bad, won't the others be continually trying to 'charge' it? it seems like any change in the voltage or wear or efficiency of one of the batteries could begin to degrade the others....

then again, all car batteries are a series of cells in parallel anyway. anyone know if this could be a concern?

[tencentlife]

[MarkWard]

The batteries showed up the other day. I finally got around to pulling the driver's seat and seeing how they would fit. I had to drill out the rivets for the cover and remove it. Maybe the 82 Diesel is tighter? Or maybe in production the battery case is slightly larger. I also had to remove the lower sheet metal screw for the table support bracket. I will through bolt it from the inside of the box. Even with the lid off, the battery barely slides in. My intention was to fab a bus bar as pictured, but I am concerned I may not be able to drop all 4 in as an assembly. I could trim the lid lip, but would rather not at this early juncture. This would require installing the bus bar after the batteries are installed individually. It could be a pain in the A** to start the bolts on the middle two batteries. I have been thinking about going to heavy gauge wire loops instead. I am going to tackle it more this weekend. I will take some pictures.
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[westyventures]

[MarkWard]

I can see why you have a strap for removal. Because of the battery hold down, the batteries can not drop straight in. They need to go in on a slight angle. I was only working with one of the four. I agree, you won't get much more in there. Removing the cover was fine. I don't expect to have to remove them very often, but want to be sure I can drop them in. Once I have the bus bar made, I'll have a better idea. I have the exact same batteries. Thank you. I'll report back.
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[pnwkayaker]

Reviving this thread...

Have you finished your battery installation ? Any updates/final report ? Did you use a Yandina separator or similar ?

I liked very much how you described the fitting problems and such, it's very useful. I'm planning to add an aux bettery in a couple of weeks, and would like to use a similar setup (this is the only setup I know of that can fit 88 Ah in the stock location with no mods to the batteries)
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87 Syncro Westy EJ25 ("Tardis")

Seattle Meetup at Marymoor (link)
A collection of Simple Useful Mods (SUM) (link)

[MarkWard]

I ran into a snag. I knew there would be a problem with the bus bar in its design, but could not figure out exactly where. Decided to mill the aluminum and see what I ended up with. The terminals stand taller than the batteries. My hope was to machine the aluminum so the steps would rest on top of the battery case when attached to the terminals. I ended up machining too much meat away. So the terminals would attach fine, but there is a gap above the battery cases I'd rather not have. So now I have a model to work from.

While all this is going on, I am also trying to install a new type sequential transmission in my race car. The next race is November 15, so the battery project got moved to the back burner. If I don't get the car ready for the race, we may go camping over thanksgiving weekend, in which case the battery project will move back to the front of the line.

My original intention is to use the OE auxilary battery relay. Or upgrade to a heavier relay if it is problematic. These batteries are not rated for cranking amps, so I do not intend to add a device similar to the Yadina at this time. My Vanagon was originally a NA diesel. So the main battery is mounted in the engine compartment. It would be a lot of extra cable to setup the cabin battery for cranking.

One last note. The short peice of aluminum angle I purchased from HD was 3 feet long and cost almost $10. It was ok, until I made the parts wrong. I will report my progress as I get started again. I can also post a picture of my missmade bus bars to save others wasting any aluminum. Cheers.
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[KYLE automotive spec]

Could you post a picture of the battery setup in the engine compartment. I have been tossing around the idea of using the space behind the right taillight for the starting battery. I would love to see how VW did it from the factory.

Thanks in advance,
KYLE

[MarkWard]

Kyle, here is one of the pictures I uploaded here. With the TDI it is quite cramped, but you can see the battery bottom right of picture.

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[tencentlife]