Suspected Converter Problem
Hey guys, back again. Hoping to gain some insight into an ongoing problem we've had this summer. RV is a 2004 Fleetwood Terry Quantum AX6 365FLTS. The rv came with a factory installed WFCO 8855 ...
Forum Discussion
BFL13 wrote:
I found this a great help wrt fusing. See the diagrams for how each wire gets its own size fuse etc when using buss bars.
http://www.bcae1.com/fuses.htm
You can think of your "junction" collection points as being buss bars for this purpose. Also note the idea of the single fat wire out one side carries the total amps of the branch wires. That also applies to the neg wires. The shunt will need that--collection of thin wires at one end, and a fat wire (two in your case) out the other end to the battery.
The solar controller's pos wire to battery should have a fuse on it already being a kit? Anyway, same thing-- fuse for its own ampacity as a "branch".
Your idea to make a drawing of your set- up's wiring is a good one. You can then see better what is going on for "branches" and all that
Good link. Truth be told, I guess I already knew that from my residential wiring experience with the NEC, but I guess I wasn't making the connection that it should also apply to low-voltage DC wiring. Said another way, it may be a code requirement when you're wiring a house, but it's just good practice on any wiring project.
That link still seems to support that I could do it either way. Running two #8's off the same breaker would be acceptable, so long as the breaker is sized for a single #8. This would be analagous to wire segments B & C in his example. If either wire shorted, the breaker would open the circuit before becoming overloaded.
As for the solar system, the kit I bought was a Renogy 200W kit. It did not come with any sort of circuit protection for either the battery cables or the cables from PV to controller. Odd, I know. What makes it even more odd is that there is a clear reference in the owner's manual (that I skipped over) to install circuit protection on both of those cable runs.
Their recommendation is the full capability for the controller on the battery cables - 30A in my case. For PV-controller, the example they use is for a 200W array, and they suggest an 18A fuse/breaker. I'm calling it 20.
