Westfalia Wiring

An alchemy of sparks, copper wire and earth

Moderators: User administrators, Moderators

Post Reply
tlg
Registered user
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Apr 2011, 22:21

Westfalia Wiring

Post by tlg »

Maybe better in the electrics section but thought i'd start here.

Trying to make sense of our california wiring system whilst removing cabinets for some sound proofing and a few things are confusing me.

1. the relay and a bunch of wiring is properly tucked under the captain seat fixing plate so is really difficult to get to. Is this normal or am i missing something?

2. we don't have a BBB, which i'd completely forgot to check when we bought it last year. however there seems to be a wiring loom  that runs under the bench which has two connectors and an earth strap. they all look unused though. one is a connector block whereas the other is a three pin type situation. Am i right to think that westfalia just use standard looms for all models and leave those not used unconnected?

3. whats the best way to go about moving all the ancillary electrics (lights etc) onto the leisure set-up?

User avatar
sweetaswesty
Registered user
Posts: 150
Joined: 24 Jun 2013, 12:47
80-90 Mem No: 12543
Location: Herts

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by sweetaswesty »

This how it is on our 1991 California and which is how it’s shown on the various wiring diagrams etc. The relay on our California is screwed to the side of the ‘under seat’ but actually behind the seat battery box on the drivers side where the leisure battery lives. The cabling that goes under the seat is really minimal and doesn’t usually require access which is good seeing as how the base for the seat is welded in place. Some wiring into the leisure battery box is routed along the side of the drivers seat box close to the base of the handbrake and hidden under the carpet trim and it then enters the battery box through a grommet in the side.
It sounds like you’ve got the wiring for the BBB intact, if so that means you can fit a Victron Blue Smart IP22 12/15 (3) charger as a direct and much better replacement. There are two original leads which are attached to the charger, one has a brown plastic two pin plug socket attached to it and this carries the 240v supply from the mains. The cable is actually three core but the earth is not connected and is cut off just before the brown plug socket. If you fit a Victron I think you need to use all three wires. The other lead ends in a white three point blade socket and it carries three wires - red/yellow, red/black, and brown. The brown is an earth, the red/black charges the starter battery and the red/yellow charges the leisure battery when it’s all connected up.
The simplest way to get the interior lights, radio, etc. working from the leisure battery is to take a live (and fused) lead from the leisure battery to the fuse box, remove the relevant fuse and connect use a spade connector to attach the lead in place of the fuse.
Happy to be corrected on any of this of course.
1991 Westfalia California Hightop1.9tdi

tlg
Registered user
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Apr 2011, 22:21

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by tlg »

Awesome - that all makes perfect sense. There is a cable from the positive to the dash at the moment (not checked where it goes) and the previous owner did suggest he'd already done this. 

So now i'm wondering, it does have a manual disconnect thing for the starter battery at the back (TD). https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-a ... 49628.html

if this is disconnected, would this mean interior lights wouldn't work, even if the interior lights had been wired to the leisure battery?

User avatar
sweetaswesty
Registered user
Posts: 150
Joined: 24 Jun 2013, 12:47
80-90 Mem No: 12543
Location: Herts

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by sweetaswesty »

If it were me I would be using a test light or meter to trace what goes where? It sounds like the interior lights, radio, cigarette lighter might already be connected to the leisure battery, but you could check by just using the starter battery disconnect. They should still work if they have a direct feed from the leisure battery. The fuse for them is a blue 15amp one in position 3.
1991 Westfalia California Hightop1.9tdi

tlg
Registered user
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Apr 2011, 22:21

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by tlg »

Thanks for the advice - so, it looks like the previous owner actually just took a line to a USB socket in the dash, so everything else is still of the starter battery i believe! 

 

User avatar
sweetaswesty
Registered user
Posts: 150
Joined: 24 Jun 2013, 12:47
80-90 Mem No: 12543
Location: Herts

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by sweetaswesty »

It’s easy to see why taking power from the leisure battery to int. lights, stereo etc. Is a good idea but we’ve done quite a bit of travelling with things just as they are and it’s never been a problem so far.
We’ve just bought a Waeco compressor fridge so I’m having to rethink our electrics a bit even if it just means carrying a portable solar set up but the most useful thing for us has actually been having the standard electrical hook up and the BBB charger to keep both batteries topped up.
Taking leisure battery power to a usb point on the dash isn’t such a bad idea. The wire that’s doing it might not be up to carrying the current for all the other stuff though if you were thinking of just moving it.
1991 Westfalia California Hightop1.9tdi

tlg
Registered user
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Apr 2011, 22:21

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by tlg »

Yeah - i'll need to do some calculations etc. i think before deciding what to keep/lose.

We've also just got a crx50 hence rethinking electrics.

Few quick thoughts whilst i'm mid-reading around the subject. whats the consensus on getting rid of the VW switching relay and using a VMS or DC to DC charger? We intend to get some solar and don't really stay in 'hook-up' campsites so most charging will be done while driving or at home. Plus we'll likely get 100-150Ah of LifePO4 batteries

the cost of getting decent branded (e.g victron) mains charger and dc to dc charger, plus solar controller, seems pretty hefty on the face of it...

User avatar
sweetaswesty
Registered user
Posts: 150
Joined: 24 Jun 2013, 12:47
80-90 Mem No: 12543
Location: Herts

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by sweetaswesty »

I don't know the answers to those questions, just have more questions!
For instance - if I replace the relay with a DC to DC charger will I need to beef up the wiring from the starter battery? Will the leisure battery charging circuit also need beefing up?
I'm planning to use the CRX50 with the standard set up we have plus probably a portable solar panel with a Victron MPPT controller and see how it works out. Lithium batteries are one expensive option I'll think about, but also relocating the leisure battery and getting a bigger one, or getting two of the beefiest underseat box batteries I can find and joining them together.
As you say it all adds up and for now I'm just going to see how it goes.
 
1991 Westfalia California Hightop1.9tdi

tlg
Registered user
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Apr 2011, 22:21

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by tlg »

So to add an update to our echo chamber of questions - i've just bought a renogy dc to dc charger with a bluetooth module. It has a built in solar controller as well and is £200ish at the moment which seems good value compared to victron dc to dc plus an mppt controller. Although matching blue boxes is appealing...

my plan is to use the renogy with most of the existing wiring, plus interior wiring run off a junction box, and then source a cost effective mains charger as well

Spailpin Fanach
Registered user
Posts: 49
Joined: 06 Sep 2020, 08:32
80-90 Mem No: 17276
Location: Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪
Contact:

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by Spailpin Fanach »

tlg wrote: 21 Feb 2022, 12:30 Yeah - i'll need to do some calculations etc. i think before deciding what to keep/lose.

We've also just got a crx50 hence rethinking electrics.

Few quick thoughts whilst i'm mid-reading around the subject. whats the consensus on getting rid of the VW switching relay and using a VMS or DC to DC charger? We intend to get some solar and don't really stay in 'hook-up' campsites so most charging will be done while driving or at home. Plus we'll likely get 100-150Ah of LifePO4 batteries

the cost of getting decent branded (e.g victron) mains charger and dc to dc charger, plus solar controller, seems pretty hefty on the face of it...
Check out Renogy 50A dc-dc mppt charger. I'm installing one in my 1989 Cali. Ticks all the boxes for me. 
 
1989 LHD VW T3/Type25 1.6TD JX Westfalia California poptop, 5-speed. 


There are two types of people in this world:
1. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data

User avatar
irishkeet
Trader
Posts: 2984
Joined: 30 Nov 2005, 13:26
80-90 Mem No: 2322
Location: Cotton | Suffolk

Re: Westfalia Wiring

Post by irishkeet »

tlg wrote: 19 Feb 2022, 18:33 Maybe better in the electrics section but thought i'd start here.

Trying to make sense of our california wiring system whilst removing cabinets for some sound proofing and a few things are confusing me.

1. the relay and a bunch of wiring is properly tucked under the captain seat fixing plate so is really difficult to get to. Is this normal or am i missing something?

2. we don't have a BBB, which i'd completely forgot to check when we bought it last year. however there seems to be a wiring loom  that runs under the bench which has two connectors and an earth strap. they all look unused though. one is a connector block whereas the other is a three pin type situation. Am i right to think that westfalia just use standard looms for all models and leave those not used unconnected?

3. whats the best way to go about moving all the ancillary electrics (lights etc) onto the leisure set-up?

Wiring under the bed with the two plus (one brown from memory) will be the BBB and the ebber. Many upgrade the old BBB with a bluetooth Victron charger, lots of how to info on The Westfalia Refuge facebook group. As for the the split charge many often upgrade this too with a voltage sensing relay like this - https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/voltage-sensing-relay-12v-charge.html
------------------------
1985 Doka 1.9 DG 4 Speed Box
---
1986 Fakefalia Syncro Subaru EJ25

Post Reply