How's this electrical setup? (1 Viewer)

[DBK]

@DBK i forgot to ask, i see you have a little solar controller tucked away at the back there, whats your peak gain from your setup?

It's difficult to know. I have 190W of panels and on a sunny day I've seen 8A of charging current, but this is a net figure. What I mean is it is what's left after any load has been subtracted as I'm reading the figure from what's going into the batteries not what is coming from the charger - using a NASA BM-1 monitor. But the load isn't very much, less than an amp probably going to the engine battery through the BatteryMaster and a bit by the control panel perhaps. So around 10A from the panels in the real world on a sunny day.

 

[pappajohn]

I reckon Techno's rubbish bin is neater than your first attempt.
I tried to find one of Techno's pictures to show you how it's done but couldn't find one.
Looks better now.

 

[daveandsan]

@pappajohn this is the best I could find, but there are far better examples out there.

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[Elias]

@DBK good stuff. sounds like plenty to keep the batteries topped up. We have a 250W panel so i cant see any problems.

 

[pappajohn]

View attachment 197141 @pappajohn this is the best I could find, but there are far better examples out there.

Yes, I found that but it's nothing to some of his masterpieces of electrical containment.

 

[DBK]

Good point with the terminals, i didn't even think about that but it certainly makes sense. The problem i have now is the negative from the solar controller is not long enough to reach the other terminal. If i get chance before we go i will get a bit more of that cable & swap them around.

I wouldn't worry about where the solar connects, it can trickle in anywhere. You could just undo both negative terminals and swap them round. The thick cable will then be a bit long but it should be easy to shorten it. Reconnect the solar lead to the same terminal it is on now.

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[Elias]

Sorted.. terminals swapped, new negative on solar controller, 2 breathers drilled through the floor to the outside. Won't bother with the extra fuse between the battery's for now.

 

[Gizmouk]

Was that aimed at me?

If so, could you please explain how a 16mm cable, at the lengths involved with this guys setup, isn't enough?

Because I make that a drop in voltage of less than 1% from a cable that can handle more amps than it will ever possibly get? (with the right fuse)

If it wasn't aimed at me, my apologies

Understand "fault current", then work from there.
Volt drop comes into a separate equation later on in the design.

 

[Gizmouk]

Ok ive improved this setup & changed a few things:

Firstly got rid of that crappy 32A breaker
16mm cable in places
bus bar for the neutrals
cable supports
100amp mega fuse
kill switch on main feed to fuse board & solar input
shorted a fair few cables

Do yourself a big (and cheap)favour, and cover those battery terminals.
There's around 1200-1400A of fault current in each of them. Anything conductive drops across one or more battery, and you'll know all about it pretty quickly.

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[Elias]

I haven't shared the latest photo which has a full depth shelf around 30mm above the battery's that covers the terminals ect.

 

[keefy13]

Lots of extremely good advice there Elisa Oh and don't forget the support strap on the back of the radio before it falls out.