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Old October 24th 05, 08:24 PM
Colm
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Default Adding a second auxiliary battery to a Westfalia Camper

Hi
I need to add a 2nd auxillary battery to my 83 Watercooled westfalia
camper. I will be using it primarily to run my laptop and maybe a
light.

I understand that the battery will fit under the driver's seat. I
ordered an aux. battery kit from gowesty but I have a few questions.

If I have two batteries do I need an Isolator?

Here's someone saying I do.
"A dual-battery-relay is a simple switch,
disconnecting the two batteries, when the engine is turned off.
But the moment the relay reconnects the batteries, the
drained battery robs power from the starting battery.
This sudden transfer of current from one battery to another
can damage batteries, and shorten their life.

A solenoid will disconnect batteries form one another, but the second
the solenoid reconnects the batteries there is a sudden discharge from
the main battery to the aux. This shortens battery life and can leave
you with two dead batteries or worse - a fire."

I want to charge the auxiliary battery when the engine is runnig.
I don't want the auxiliary battery to rob current from the main battery
as described above.

Do I have to have both batteries connected to each other?
Why don't I just connect the auxiliary directly to wherever the main
battery gets its source from.?

I'm looking for the best, simplest and most inexpensive solution. Any
ideas?

How do I hook up some sort of voltage indicator so I can see what kind
of charge the aux is holding?

I have looked at the solution at vanagon.com but need more info.

Thank

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