Largest Capacity Auxiliary Battery in stock location

[jbeaulie]

[afmercure]

I'm about to do the now famous Westyventures 4 UB12220 pack, plus another 4, two under each seat, for a 176aH aux bank.

I posted the idea here http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4581988, but my thread doesn't seem very popuplar and I'd like some advice, so here are the details again.

I have a Multivan, no swivel, so I can fit two UB12220 under each seat, if I lay them on their side (will secured them to the body with wooden frames).

Here's are the wiring details:

My questions are:
1- Any problem with putting the batteries on their side (the specs I found say they're AGM, so that should be ok).
2- Do I need the two 80A class T fuses? It seems so, in case the wire between the two compartments gets damaged. But these fuses cost about 40$ each with holders, so if I'm missing something, please make me save some money:)
3- Any problem having different distances between batteries that make up the auxiliary bank?

Many thanks

[Rodknock]

Inspired by Karl, and my Odyssey PC1200 crap out, I put three of the Universal Batteries in because 4 was overkill for my needs. I found that you can get them in without drilling the battery compartment lid rivets and removing the lid if you center the battery in the opening and press them down. The side where the lid attaches will flex just enough to squeeze them down. I put double sided tape to hold them together, and a rubber mat underneath. No fancy bus bar, just 10ga wire. I like this set-up better than the Odyssey since I get about 50% more AH (66), and these batteries arrived with 12.67v, unlike the Odyssey that arrived brand new and had only 11.8v on it. I also upgraded my voltage regulator to the adjustable one to get at least 14.2v at the terminals. Thanks to all that did the ground work on these batteries....

[purplepeopleeater]

I'm thinking about moving my main battery to the rear (use a gel bat for the main) and putting 8 these up front...I might not need that much juice though, but I plan on adding a microwave and will have a furnace.

Where did you end up buying these batteries?

[Rodknock]

[Californio]

A bit OT, but one thing that made a huge difference for me was installing LED's.

Anyone have a link for adjustable voltage regulators?

I have three aux batteries, 90A alternator, voltage-sensitive marine charging relay. 14-14.5 volts @ 2500 rpm at the the aux batteries, but this goes down to 13.5 +- with lights, AC, etc. on and I want more, more, more! That is, the charge is marginal when there's a load on the system. Maybe an adjustable regulator would help. Or--not.

[ragnarhairybreeks]

re: adj volt reg. I found one locally at an auto electrics place. For a web source, try here at dave barton's (scroll down for adj. internal reg)

http://www.davebarton.com/AdjustableVoltage.html



alistair
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[crazyvwvanman]

This voltage drop under load is likely nothing to do with the alternator. You MUST also measure the voltage at the alternator to know if the alternator is falling short. If the voltage is 14+ at the alternator but 13+ at the battery, the wiring is absorbing some of the voltage. Find where in the wiring the drop occurs and fix the wiring so the drop is gone. It is due to the most basic of electrical concepts. If you increase the amps passing through a wire, the voltage must drop. Making the wire bigger reduces the drop. Make the wiring big enough and the drop will nearly disappear.

In Vanagons the area of the charging wiring most at fault for large voltage drops is the wire from the alternator to the starter. That is why this upgrade exists:

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_780_683/alternator_cable_upgrade.html

Mark

[purplepeopleeater]

I recall seeing a 4pack of these somewhere for 145 bucks...someone posted it can't find it now...KRAP!

Hmm....
http://www.batteryplex.com/universal.cfm/m/UB12220?gclid=CLWlgZCayaQCFQJVgwodGXe1FA

[Mr. Electric Wizard]

Does anybody know what happened to Karl's howto on the Westy Ventures site? It's not on there anymore as far as I can tell...
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[Californio]

Not to hijack this thread which is supposed to be about batteries, but:

I actually did email Dave Barton who seems to be the go-to guy on these regulators, but he said it sounded more like an alternator output/other issue than a regulator.

I installed the VC alt to starter upgrade as well as 8 AWG wires (both ground and +) with soldered terminals to all batteries. A separate 8 AWG ground wire bypasses the other grounds and terminates at the alternator case.

The alternator puts out maybe .03 volts more at idle than is shown at the aux battery terminal, with minimum load. However, as load increases (lights/AC/blower motors) the gap between voltage at the alternator and voltage measured at the aux batteries also increases.

With full load (everything on) at idle, voltage will be somewhere around 13.25 at the aux battery.

In practice, the batteries are typically at 12.7 after sitting 12 hours overnight.

[PDXWesty]

[westyventures]

[westyventures]

[PDXWesty]

[westyventures]

[purplepeopleeater]

So I want to make the jump on this, going to order my 4 UB1220's and other bits....Should I use the solonoid setup like gowesty sells or what?

[westyventures]

[Rodknock]

Here's an update on my install of 3 batteries UB12220. I installed the adjustable VR and now have 14.5v at the alternator at idle. At the starting battery I found 14.3v and at the GW solenoid isolator I have13.8v and at the UB12220 batteries I have 13.5v. The reason for the big V drop is because the red wire going into the second battery box comes from the dashboard area rather than directly from the starting battery post. I then did what others have done and ran a 10ga wire directly from the starting battery to the hot side of the solenoid. This was easier than I expected and required no hole drilling, I just ran the wire from the top of the starting battery, under the carpet, and under the vinyl strip at the walk-through area and through the existing hole in the 2nd battery box. I safely disconnected and terminated the old red wire in the 2nd battery box since it is not needed here anymore. If the UB12220 batteries ever die on a trip, I can easily disconnect them and connect the old red wire to power the stuff on the second battery circuit. Anyway I now have 14.2v at the UB12220 batteries. Ideally you want 14.5v at the UB12220's. I could adjust the VR to provide this, but I'm afraid of having more than 14.5v coming from the alternator (maybe one of you can ease my fear of doing this). I'll be making it a habit to fully charge the UB12220's with my AGM Battery Minder charger within a day or two of returning from a trip so they have a longer life.

[j8]