Hi all, Really quick and easy how to for this one... This assumes you already have a Leisure Battery, (LB), and resulting fuse box attached to it. This allows you to run things in the van on the leisure battery and not drain your main battery. Issue - So, you use the existing original interior lights quite a lot when you camp and are worried about the drain on your main battery. You think it would be good to get them onto your LB setup but don't want to ruin your headliner and run new wires to them. Easy, first you need to check the wiring on your van on vintagebus.com, (most are the same but as we all know there are always some oddities). Here's mine. I have a microbus so have a rear light marked 'Int Lite R', (the actual bulb is the circle with an x in if you aren't good at reading electrical diagrams). You can see it is joined to the 'Int Lite F' - Yes you've guessed it, the front light in the cab by a red 0.5 wire. The front light is then joined to the original fuse box in the cab by a similar 0.5 red wire, (the red wire going up the page). Follow this wire up and you will be met with this... This shows that the wire goes into a rectangle marked S8 - 8A...Cracking the code tells us that the wire goes into Fuse number 8 which is rated at 8amps, simple... Now you've done the investigative work the rest is plain sailing. Disconnect the main battery. Go to your fuse box and unscrew it from the metal. And you will be met by this wonder of electrickery, but don't be afraid... Remember what you've just learned, the wire you want is 0.5 red going into fuse 8. There's the blighter, the wonky one middle left. Now, all you've got to do is pull it off the fuse box spade and connect it in your preferred method to a wire running back to your LB fuse box... Carefully screw the cab fuse box back on, reconnect the main battery, check our work and give yourself a pat on the back. It will take you less time than it's taken you to read this thread.
And if you want to go one step further you can get replacement LED bullet bulbs, (millions on eBay, they just need to be the same length as existing), lower wattage for the same light and they don't get hot like the old ones do.
Sorry matey, but I think a trip to an auto electrician for your bus would be in order, judging by the state of your terminals in the pictures. Its a wonder anything is working!! Tony
I'm aware they all need a freshen up but then so do we all when we hit 36! Everything works and works just fine so if it ain't broke...
Most T2 fuseboxes look like that. However, the red wire connected to the top of fuse 9 on the front of the fusebox shouldn't really be attached there. Take it off, crimp a proper spade connector on the end and connect to the same terminal on the rear of the fusebox. I suspect it powers your radio, or the indicators...
It's actually now already spaded up and in the place I took the lights from.I took the photo before I did it The PO put in an electric washer jet with a button on the dash. Must confess I never really noticed it before I did this, took the opportunity to do it at the same time.
nice the back of your fusebox looks fine to me nice tight connectors with no broken crimps and no added wires apart from the one you have sorted I have seen lots worse and if it works i would leave alone or you end up with more issues
