Wiring Solar closer to 12v fuse panel vs. directly to batts?

Thanks for the replies team!!

I installed the kit over the weekend.







Wire Route:

Solar Panel>
Sealed Junction box on roof>
Hole through junction box into bedroom cabinet>
Bedroom Cabinet into Family Room Cabinet>
Family Room Cabinet into water pump cabinet surround>
Renogy controller on water pump cabinet exterior>
Back into water pump cabinet large fuse>
Battery battery bay>
15 amp fuse>
Battery..

Total run, appx. 9-10 feet.

Avoided Problems:

-Roof is thinner at the angle joint between the bedroom and main room, try not to mount too close to the joint.
-Mount on the front of the RV, backing in (for us) usually means shade on the back end of the trailer.
-Acorns dropping from the trees, now worried about them hitting the panels, moved trailer.
-Didn't need more wire than the kit included, but one wrong cut and it would have been another trip.
-Decided to run straight down from panels through cabinet to batts, saving time, wire and frustration.

Unanticipated:

-No fuse in kit, head to store.
-Battery cable kit too big ga. for controller, head to store.
-Added spacers under controller to help heat dispersion, head to store.
-Hard to get to screws, needed flex drive shaft for drill, head to store.

Potential problems:

-Roof needs maintenance soon.
-Cheapo controller, is it working correctly? Bought voltage meter, don't know how to use it.. lol.
-Battery bay is tight, need to move it.
-Renogy controller is in a nook, watching to see if it warms up.

Yeah, the flex conduit makes a good housing for under-deck wiring. The stuff is very durable and fittings are available everywhere. I housed my brake and taillight wiring in flex, couldn't be happier. I have a split bank battery system and pulled 1/0 from one bank to the distribution panel. I used 1 1/2" ABS for that.

I brought my panel wire down from the roof in flexible conduit (blue flexible conduit available at HD and Lows). Drilled hole in roof next to vent line, installed waterproof box on roof, sealed to roof with Dicor. Ran conduit in wall cavity next to vent line to basement (I have a small 5er), in basement to next to converter which is next to battery.

FWIW I have run wire under trailer from front to back in same conduit; does nice invisible job.

Doug

I ran my wires down behind the fridge
Under the fridge and thru the bottom of the closets and cabinets

Everything run through the ceiling goes IN before the ceiling / roof is covered, anything that goes very far has to go thru the roof supports

One or two people have "fished" wire thru a/c ducting , but that might have been HDMI cable for the TV
Might be an option for you

Post some pictures of the relevant area inside and the roof.

I went through all the installs. None are quite exactly my situation, but they are all informative. Wow some of them are not my style, I really want the wiring to be invisible. I am hoping I might be able to fish the wires through the tv antenna cable route. I have yet to see an install that tried it. Off to look for a tv antenna mount diagram because the cable seems to be stapled or something.

Handy Bob gives some good basic info, but much of his info is dated.

PFitt wrote:
Go to Handy Bob's solar blog everything you need to now in one spot!!
https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

Not really.

You should mount the solar controller as close to the battery as possible. Wire from the panels to controller would probably need to be #10 minimum (assuming that its 20 feet from entrance to RV to batteries, and guessing 20 feet up pipe and to panels). For a 2 ft run from controller to battery #10 is OK.

Doug

Nice! I knew I was in the right spot.

I bought the Renogy 200w kit with the cheaper PMW controller. I saw a video where a guy went from Panel > Controller > to just behind the DC panel because his run to batts was too long. here https://youtu.be/oqfIjfF5eGQ?t=8m38s

I read the comments and there were a few too many that said it was a bad install for my taste. I think I came up with an alternative option which will allow me to put the controller close to the batts, but would include mounting it on the door of the battery compartment (would like your feedback on the idea of mounting it on the door).

Thanks again.