Electrical Challenges

My latest puzzle is figuring out what is wrong with my second battery. I bought a proper Go Westy auxillary battery kit a few months ago because I was never quite happy with my original setup. Basically I wanted a proper isolator and I wanted to have the radio and interior lights moved over to the second battery. The Go Westy kit would make all of that easy so I picked one up. Thanks to my painting project I didn't get around to installing it until a week or two ago. As usual the instructions were well written and easy to follow but I somehow managed to screw things up. My first problem was that my main battery was draining with the engine off. In fact it discharged so much that in a single day it dropped to just under 4 volts. As you can probably guess that killed my original battery and I had to pick up a replacement. Now I haven't had a chance to really figure out what is going on so I've just been disconnecting the ground whenever I'm not driving so I don't damage the new battery. I really would like to get to the bottom of this issue but winter and the rest of my life are getting in the way. I'll get to it eventually.

Just to warn you guys, things may slow down over the next few months. A combination of sub-freezing temps, salty Maryland roads, and my first child due in a couple of months should result in the Vanagon finding itself on the back burner for a while. My only real regret at this point with it is not finishing the paint job before the cold weather hit. Even if I had the time I can't get that last coat on there. Maybe there will be an unseasonably warm weekend at some point and I can get things wrapped up. Until then it is just going to have to wait - its so close to being nice.