Inverter AGM questions
I have been thinking about installing a inverter in my truck, either a 2000-3000 watt. I would use it to run small power tools, air compressor, an electric blanket when on the ferry system as you can'...
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A one-inch lip is plenty. I had to install three inch lips for my L16's in Quicksilver then use ratchet type big rig strap hold downs. 8-D's are nowhere as high center of gravity so flying up into the air is not in the scenario. Harbor Freight sells junior versions of ratchet cargo hold down straps. Put no pressure on the jar (battery case). The straps are a movement limiting restraint not a compression device. If the batteries are side by side, one strap can cross both batteries. And one is all you need.
Sizing wire gauge is all about amperes versus total length. 8 feet total positive and negative will pass a thousand amperes with minimum voltage drop and a thousand amperes is enough to lift your entire rig straight off the ground with a large enough winch.
I qualify my wire gauge by the expected load. For example my Trace 4024 never sees more than a hundred amperes but I calculated it for 200 amperes.
Such high loads are of questionable utility. What, how, why, when, and where would an inverter see a 200 ampere draw? Microwave, coffeemaker and thousand watt hair drier on all at the same time? Substitute toaster for hair drier? Even with public power I find myself almost never in such a position. Unless you are fond of all electric cooking I just cannot imagine impressing a constant 2,000 watt load on an inverter. Even the roof air only imparts a 170 ampere load on the inverter.
4/0 cable is not easy to work with. Three aught cable is less stiff and formal.
And most importantly, 4/0 cast lugs cannot be used with 4/0 AWG cable. It is impossible to stuff 4/0 AWG cable into ANY "4/0" lug, cast or stamped.
When I wired the battery room I had to use incredibly expensive MCM lugs for the MCM cables. These are eight to twelve dollar EACH terminations, and I will be damned if they are as good as the cast copper lugs. So 4/0 cast lugs are as big as they get for 3/0 cable.
I have never been disappointed with throttling down the cable size to the inverter (charger). It serves as a good reminder that even with TONS of batteries, there are limits. What goes out must come back in, or the batteries suffer (expensively).
I would configure a temporary "bending tool" to help fold large gauge cable into a tight 90 degree radius. A vice works*. Use a block of wood and a hammer to tamp the shallow curve into a tighter radius elbow. And yes, even the Genuinedealz "flexible" cable needs massaging in tight areas. Limit radial pull to less than 8 ounces at the battery terminals.
*This is where you will see the value of the type of insulation on DLO cable versus insulation used on regular cables. DLO insulation is tough stuff.
Any venting from BOTH batteries can be easily handled with a three eights diameter hose. The venting would be hydrogen which would knock oxygen atoms aside when escaping. Using a vent as large as a clothes drier uses is silly. Hydrogen is a fierce atom. It wants out and UP with vigor. And to think of a Lifeline venting is like thinking an asteroid might comes through the living room drapes. The world "possibility" is fraught with unreality because it is minus qualifiers.
What would vent the Lifeline, would first blow every circuit in your rig. In a chassis, such voltage would first fry an ignition system and charging system to a crisp.
Many caveats are intended for UNATTENDED systems. I keep this in mind.
Also here is an off-the-wall unrelated tip - for the hydraulic crimper.
There is nothing wrong with first crimping the lug with too loose, too large a die then repeating with the next smaller die. I like one and one half inch long swatches of heat shrink tubing encasing the lug and wire.
Sizing wire gauge is all about amperes versus total length. 8 feet total positive and negative will pass a thousand amperes with minimum voltage drop and a thousand amperes is enough to lift your entire rig straight off the ground with a large enough winch.
I qualify my wire gauge by the expected load. For example my Trace 4024 never sees more than a hundred amperes but I calculated it for 200 amperes.
Such high loads are of questionable utility. What, how, why, when, and where would an inverter see a 200 ampere draw? Microwave, coffeemaker and thousand watt hair drier on all at the same time? Substitute toaster for hair drier? Even with public power I find myself almost never in such a position. Unless you are fond of all electric cooking I just cannot imagine impressing a constant 2,000 watt load on an inverter. Even the roof air only imparts a 170 ampere load on the inverter.
4/0 cable is not easy to work with. Three aught cable is less stiff and formal.
And most importantly, 4/0 cast lugs cannot be used with 4/0 AWG cable. It is impossible to stuff 4/0 AWG cable into ANY "4/0" lug, cast or stamped.
When I wired the battery room I had to use incredibly expensive MCM lugs for the MCM cables. These are eight to twelve dollar EACH terminations, and I will be damned if they are as good as the cast copper lugs. So 4/0 cast lugs are as big as they get for 3/0 cable.
I have never been disappointed with throttling down the cable size to the inverter (charger). It serves as a good reminder that even with TONS of batteries, there are limits. What goes out must come back in, or the batteries suffer (expensively).
I would configure a temporary "bending tool" to help fold large gauge cable into a tight 90 degree radius. A vice works*. Use a block of wood and a hammer to tamp the shallow curve into a tighter radius elbow. And yes, even the Genuinedealz "flexible" cable needs massaging in tight areas. Limit radial pull to less than 8 ounces at the battery terminals.
*This is where you will see the value of the type of insulation on DLO cable versus insulation used on regular cables. DLO insulation is tough stuff.
Any venting from BOTH batteries can be easily handled with a three eights diameter hose. The venting would be hydrogen which would knock oxygen atoms aside when escaping. Using a vent as large as a clothes drier uses is silly. Hydrogen is a fierce atom. It wants out and UP with vigor. And to think of a Lifeline venting is like thinking an asteroid might comes through the living room drapes. The world "possibility" is fraught with unreality because it is minus qualifiers.
What would vent the Lifeline, would first blow every circuit in your rig. In a chassis, such voltage would first fry an ignition system and charging system to a crisp.
Many caveats are intended for UNATTENDED systems. I keep this in mind.
Also here is an off-the-wall unrelated tip - for the hydraulic crimper.
There is nothing wrong with first crimping the lug with too loose, too large a die then repeating with the next smaller die. I like one and one half inch long swatches of heat shrink tubing encasing the lug and wire.
