Charger Upgrade Question
Hey everyone. I am looking to add big battery capacity to my RV and the question of a charger upgrade has me a bit "perplexed". If you installed something like a Progressive Dynamics 9200, did you b...
Forum Discussion
This website might help you... 4 ga wire for a 30 amp circuit sounds excessive.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Consider watts first to determine amps in planning wire gauge size.
A 100 amp DC charger is 100 amp * 14.4 volts = 1440 watts. Lets round that up to 1500 for some fudge factor. 1500 watts / 120 volts = 12.5 ... round that up to 15 again for fudge factor and there you have it... so 14 gauge wire should be sufficient for the charger, and a 15 amp circuit breaker in your distribution box.
Another example: If your battery bank is going to power a 2000 watt inverter (4000 watt surge), the math would look like this: 4000w / 12v = 333 amps. Looking at the chart in the website above, that is 4/0 cabling. You'll also want a 300-400 amp class-t or better fuse on that cabling.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Consider watts first to determine amps in planning wire gauge size.
A 100 amp DC charger is 100 amp * 14.4 volts = 1440 watts. Lets round that up to 1500 for some fudge factor. 1500 watts / 120 volts = 12.5 ... round that up to 15 again for fudge factor and there you have it... so 14 gauge wire should be sufficient for the charger, and a 15 amp circuit breaker in your distribution box.
Another example: If your battery bank is going to power a 2000 watt inverter (4000 watt surge), the math would look like this: 4000w / 12v = 333 amps. Looking at the chart in the website above, that is 4/0 cabling. You'll also want a 300-400 amp class-t or better fuse on that cabling.
