Adding a second battery..how to...with photos FAQ

[MikeyM73]

Awesome. Thank you!

Mikey
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'73 Pop-top Westy, found sitting in a field for 10+ years, cleaned up, rebuilt furniture, reloved. Original 1.7 block/fully polished crank, 93mm 1.8L balanced AA pistons & cylinders, new 1.8L balanced rods, HAM 42/36 heads, Scat C25 cam & lubalobe lifters, Dual HPMX40s, R2C filters w/ Outerwears pre-filters, functioning thermostat & flaps, Pertronix Flamethrower III, 4-1 exhaust w/ Cherry Bomb 2" turbo muffler & OEM heater boxes, averages about 19-22ish on the highway.

[BUSBOSS]

[MikeyM73]

Cool, thanks. So - aux battery - one negative cable run up to the aux fuse box along with the positive and another ground cable to the body in the engine bay.

Got it,

Thanks.
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'73 Pop-top Westy, found sitting in a field for 10+ years, cleaned up, rebuilt furniture, reloved. Original 1.7 block/fully polished crank, 93mm 1.8L balanced AA pistons & cylinders, new 1.8L balanced rods, HAM 42/36 heads, Scat C25 cam & lubalobe lifters, Dual HPMX40s, R2C filters w/ Outerwears pre-filters, functioning thermostat & flaps, Pertronix Flamethrower III, 4-1 exhaust w/ Cherry Bomb 2" turbo muffler & OEM heater boxes, averages about 19-22ish on the highway.

[BUSBOSS]

[MikeyM73]

Thanks BB... did you run a separate 4 ga ground wire, as well?
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'73 Pop-top Westy, found sitting in a field for 10+ years, cleaned up, rebuilt furniture, reloved. Original 1.7 block/fully polished crank, 93mm 1.8L balanced AA pistons & cylinders, new 1.8L balanced rods, HAM 42/36 heads, Scat C25 cam & lubalobe lifters, Dual HPMX40s, R2C filters w/ Outerwears pre-filters, functioning thermostat & flaps, Pertronix Flamethrower III, 4-1 exhaust w/ Cherry Bomb 2" turbo muffler & OEM heater boxes, averages about 19-22ish on the highway.

[BUSBOSS]

Hi Mike. I have a Blu Sea set up and used 4 Guage for that run. I have the 12 slot fuse box (6 switched and 6 constant). I have not had any problems.Good luck!
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All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
1976 Westfalia
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (sold - but not forgotten)

[MikeyM73]

Hey all,

Reviving this old thread for a min... what great info. Quick question - what would be a suitable gauge wire to run from the 2nd battery up to an aux fuse box? The one I'm thinking of using has 6 circuits, much like the Blue Sea unit. I would run USB chargers, a few LED lights, maybe driving and an extra reverse light for better visibility. I read this article https://knowhow.napaonline.com/know-how-notes-automotive-wiring-guide/ and was thinking that a 2 gauge wire would be too big and 10 gauge too small. Is that accurate? I suppose it depends on the total current draw and distance but the bus only has a 55 amp alternator and I can't see more than maybe 20-30 amps coming from all the extra junk I'd like to install.

Thanks,
Mikey
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'73 Pop-top Westy, found sitting in a field for 10+ years, cleaned up, rebuilt furniture, reloved. Original 1.7 block/fully polished crank, 93mm 1.8L balanced AA pistons & cylinders, new 1.8L balanced rods, HAM 42/36 heads, Scat C25 cam & lubalobe lifters, Dual HPMX40s, R2C filters w/ Outerwears pre-filters, functioning thermostat & flaps, Pertronix Flamethrower III, 4-1 exhaust w/ Cherry Bomb 2" turbo muffler & OEM heater boxes, averages about 19-22ish on the highway.

[OG Velvet]

[Daverham]

Has anyone used the Bus Depot "Leisure Battery Kit"?

http://www.busdepot.com/j15328

I know they have just the relay, but the kit has the battery terminals and all that. Great. Specifically I'm mostly wondering how long that positive battery cable is. Is it long enough to go from the starter battery all the way over to the left side of the engine bay? Or from the alternator to the left side of the bay? Or does anyone just have a measurement? I couldn't find that info on Bus Depot. I would assume that they made it "long enough" but I don't assume that they intend to put the house battery in the same place I do. For all I know, it's "supposed" to go inside, under the back seat or something. But I'd like to put mine on the left side, opposite the starter battery.

Thoughts?

If that cable isn't long enough, I'll just get the relay (below) and source cables and fuses from my FLAPS.

http://www.busdepot.com/1738

[russwiththebus]

Very clean, I like that!

[mark d]

ok, for whatever it's worth this is how mine came out. everything is under the jump seat because i have a refrigeration unit in the spare battery tray.
running: fridge, interior lights, fan, stereo, and water pump. battery gauge is kinda cheesy but it was free and i needed it to cover a hole made by po

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1972ish westfalia

"what good are tractors without violins ?" jose figueres

[mark d]

looks good. i am in the middle of doing this myself. hope mine comes out as well
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1972ish westfalia

"what good are tractors without violins ?" jose figueres

[russwiththebus]

Thank you, after a lot of reading I understand it all a bit better now. Installed my aux battery on the driver's side of the engine compartment and from there I ran two 10 gauge wires up to the front - one under the dash and one in the cabinet. From there I installed two new fuse blocks I picked up from Auto Zone and tapped into those to power all my accesories: radio, LED lights, some USB ports, and a couple of 12V power sockets.

I also moved over the power to my Westy overhead light and dome light so that they don't run on the starter battery anymore.

For the radio, I used the GoWesty toggle switch so that it can be powered off the key (like normal) or switched to run from the aux battery with no key in.

[Terminatez]

I'm not sure about the bus depot relay, but reading a few posts in here, I think you may want to be using something better?
Might as well future proof it in case you want to run something high amperage in the future
Contact Gary (Aeromech) he set an aux battery up before and could help you out... He used something else though.

I did find this in Google:

http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/dual_bat.htm

Found this for your relay
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=297050
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1972 Westfalia P30 hardtop Campmobile [On-going Restoration]

[russwiththebus]

Just curious if the photos in this thread could be restored? Or perhaps link to a newer thread with photos?

I just purchased a deep cycle battery and the Bus Depot relay kit, some visuals would really help. I don't have anything high-amperage to run, no fridge or anything like that. I just want to run some LEDs, radio, and charge some devices over a weekend of camping without worrying about my starter battery draining.

[WhirledTraveller]

[Abscate]

[WhirledTraveller]

I trust you know that a 5w solar panel is good really only for maintaining a battery that is sitting for a long time, and will not significantly charge a battery. It is safe however to leave it connected all the time.

I ground my left-side battery directly to one of the bolts that connects the engine to the transmission with a large ring terminal under the bolt.

You can ground the inverter to any good solid ground. Directly to the battery is a good choice, but anywhere on the chassis also works provided you make good electrical contact.

Your inverter does not need an additional fuse for the AC outlets. It should have a 12 volt DC fuse located very close to the battery itself.
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1977 Westy, Automatic. Big Valve heads, CS Cam.

[airforceSF]

So I got the NOCO solar charger 5W and battery regulator off of amazon. Great solar panel! My problem is I got the bestek inverter 400w. So where is a good place to ground my battery on the left side and should I ground the inverter with the battery or separately? I will have my inverter sit in the spare tire slot above the battery. Also the inverter has a built in fuse for all outlets. Do I need to install another fuse panel? And can the Solar panel be connected to the battery while using the inverter????? Need some guidance.... Thank you!

[WhirledTraveller]