First timer- rewiring, terminal blocks to connect 2+14 AWG

terminal block is find, and a good way to change from one gauge to another

but in the one line you say 10ga, and another line you say 14ga

any 14ga is very likely 120v, something you do NOT want to be connecting to the 10ga that goes to the batteries

#2 is probably overkill for 35 amps. Are you even getting 14.4 volts out of the converter? Usually that is the issue with WFCO but some of the older ones seemed to work better.

Otherwise I would just max out the existing connectors and stick with the fuses and distribution that you have.

If you are not getting 14.4 volts I recommend replacing the converter with IOTA or Progressive Dynamics.

Thank you for the fast replies.
The wiring from the battery under the chassis is 10 AWG, but appears to connect to a 14 AWG at the wire tail going into the power supply. I could be wrong about that.
With the 10 AWG on a 12 foot run I'd lose a bit over 4 percent (13.8v down from 14.4v, if the WFCO gives me 14.4v. Otherwise I'd be getting 13v from the 13.6v absorption charge). I'm assuming the converter is giving 25 amps to give me a little wiggle room. I think I'm going to go with 4 AWG instead, if the company lets me change my order.
Also I don't know if the 8735 is malfunctioning at all, I'd just heard it was a common issue in the 8900 series and hadn't heard much about 8700s. I'll have about a week to figure it out, once we've moved the rest of our things out of the old apartment. I haven't got a way of measuring the voltage just yet, though I will be installing a Trimetric TM-2030 at some point soon and will get a voltmeter/ammeter too.
If I do end up replacing the 8735 I'm considering the PD4135, since it's a direct replacement and with my inexperience I thought it best to keep it simple. I haven't been able to find out if this model can manually initiate boost mode (has integral Charge Wizard but doesn't seem compatible with pendant- maybe a button on the panel?). My battery bank is only 170aH (2 Interstate srm-24) and the limited tongue weight of my tow vehicle will probably cap me at 2 batteries total (will upgrade to T-105s next time around, just didn't want to toss the new battery that came with the camper).
Thanks again,
-Ian

PS- I'd been having trouble posting or previewing posts the last few days and just realized it's because you can't use the percent sign!

can't use the ohms symbol, either ... as I tried to do in another electrical thread! :)

gkainz wrote:
can't use the ohms symbol, either ... as I tried to do in another electrical thread! :)

There are ways to post things like 220? ± 10%, but it isn't always as easy as it ought to be.

Edit: or even 220Ω ± 10%... ;)

Not sure what terminal blocks you're referring to, there are lots. Split bolts work great for splicing large wires - you just need to make sure they're well insulated afterwards.

#2 wire is fine although you may have trouble getting it into the terminals. Then you need to clip some strands or use a step down connection.

If you replace the entire charging loop with #4 and have two batteries you may as well get PD4655 or PD9260. Only reason to stay with 35 amp would be for using a small 1000 watt generator.

I checked out the wiring a bit more last night and can confirm the wire coming out of converter is 10 AWG, not 14 AWG. So I would be replacing the 10 gauge with 4 AWG and connecting it to the 10 AWG tail coming out of the converter.
As for consolidating that mess of wire somewhat, I got around to making a little diagram of what I mean.
[img][/img]

Eh, first try at pics so hopefully I used the stickied app link right.

This is what I mean for the terminal block (plus the negative wire which I figured I may as well just connect to a bus as depicted).

Now apart from the wires coming out from the converter there are 5 smaller bundled connections of wire, also spliced together with plastic end caps. I don't plan to mess with them but I'll likely consider moving them to a similar terminal block to keep things tidy.

Unfortunately it may be a bit too late to increase converter amperage conveniently. I already ordered a 30 amp surge protector and the pace of the move/dropping temperatures won't allow me much time with the workload I've got on the table already. I do see beefing up the 10 AWG battery/converter connection as necessary though. Still haven't worked out the battery side of the wiring. I need to find room on the tongue to mount the second battery and build a housing for that (was thinking an angle iron frame, plywood and plasti-dip). It may be hard to find room without relocating the dual propane tanks. I also need to set up a shunt for the Trimetric (had been planning on mounting it in my battery box). I'll be removing the Zamp solar pre-wiring and running the meter wires up through the floor where the solar wires were.
The solar I use is a 100 watt Renogy suitcase, and in the interest of simplicity I'd been planning on just hooking it directly to the battery terminals with the clips that came with the kit for now (likely upgrade to MC4 eventually). Since I'd like the meter to measure solar, I guess I'll need a terminal bus on the negative wire just after the shunt and connect to that instead?
Sorry for the long/disjointed post.

EDIT: Yeah I'm not sure that pic worked. This is the link: http://i.imgur.com/w8RHQt1.png