Need a small breaker panel to finish Inverter Replacement

You must be looking at the same situation I had when replacing a Xantrex MSW with a 2000 watt Xantrex PSW. Seems the MSW was made specifically for rv and had 2- 15 amp breakers built in. They don't make the PSW this way. I had enough room so I mounted a Square D box with two 15 amp breakers next to the new inverter.

The idea is to protect 14 ga. wiring down the line.

You could install two inline fuse holders with a supply of 15 amp fuses nearby. They would take up a lot less space and still protect the wiring down the line.

GordonThree wrote:
Eh, do it right and don't overload the circuit in the first place. Use a glass fuse holder if you need fast response and compact size.

MEH..

No one is going to INTENTIONALLY "overload" a circuit.

BUT ACCIDENTAL overloads like shorted cord that can get plugged in, or say the Romex gets damaged causing a short CAN HAPPEN.

The breakers AFTER the inverter are there for a REASON and were PART of the original inverter that the OP HAD to replace due to the original inverter going DOA.

While yes, one "could" use those push button thermal breakers or even glass fuses, one must ask themselves if it is truly a PROFESSIONAL way to go about it..

The true answer is NO.

No real electrician who is worth their salt is going to do what you suggested, that is a DIY hack job..

Even myself a long time Electronics Tech would never want to sign my name to those hack solutions..

I HAVE had to REPLACE those push button thermal breakers for a living, they DO have a rather LIMITED life and if they are loaded anywhere near the ratings they WILL eventually get a hair trigger..

Home breakers in a small breaker enclosure ARE the correct way to go..

Glad the OP decided to go that way, much neater, professional and if a breaker ever gives any trouble you can find them anywhere to get replacements.

JFYI. The MS2812 is in and working great. Just used a two circuit sub panel as suggested and wired it up to jumper the 30amp to both legs then hooked up the two twenty amp circuits to the breakers.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Now am moving on to fishing a couple of cat 5 cables from the front to the rear of the coach.. that looks like lots of cramped spaces and probably plenty of blood letting to come!

Old Duck wrote:
Just curious which Maganasine you are installiing. I'm working on installing a MSH3012. Good luck with your install.

An MS2812

I see you only have 120 volts to the breaker. Most panels you'll find in stores are set up 240 volts.

If you want a 30 amp main and can't find a panel, just use a "Main Lug" panel (they're smaller) and don't feed the lugs. Feed the panel using a 30 amp breaker using one of the panels breaker slots and mark it as "main". Jump the lugs together so both bars have 120 volts.

Eh, do it right and don't overload the circuit in the first place. Use a glass fuse holder if you need fast response and compact size.

GordonThree wrote:
If space is really tight, mount two of these in a covered junction box:



20 amp push to reset breaker
Clicky

"Thermal" breaker.. :R

Not all that great, very limited trip life and presents some resistance.. Each time it breaks the circuit it gets weaker.. I would take a screw in Edison fuse any day over those cheap thermal breakers.

Do it right the FIRST time with a standard 2 position panel and NEVER ever have to do things over again.

If space is really tight, mount two of these in a covered junction box:



20 amp push to reset breaker
Clicky

There certainly are panel mount 120V breakers. If you get a couple that are small enough, you could mount them to a blank coverplate in an outlet box (a handy box or similar). Depending on the breakers, it might not technically be up to code to do so, but it would not be especially unsafe. Probably the round pushbutton kind would be the easiest to mount (as making round holes in a coverplate is easier than making rectangular ones, at least with the tools I have).

If overloads are not a common problem, a couple of panel mount AGC fuseholders would also suffice.

If this were my project, I would just get a single or double position circuit breaker box such as has been already shown.

bigbillsd wrote:

westend wrote:


An alternative is to buy surface mount breakers and wire up the distribution from those. You can make it all look good by mounting the breakers on a piece of aluminum plate. Here's a good place to shop for circuit protection: Waytek Wire. Mounting three surface mount breakers will use about 1/8 -> 1/4 the space of a steel box. If you'll pay the price, the Cooper-Bussmann manual breakers are the way to go, they even sell a sealed Marine type (not necessary, IMO).

Do they make surface mount breakers for 120 AC current? Everything I looked at was automotive, mostly @12 volt.

ANY 120V or higher connection MUST be contained in some sort of enclosed box. IF you do find a "surface mount" type of 120V breaker you WILL need to put it into some sort of enclosure UNLESS it is specifically designed and rated for use outside of enclosure..

Not saying there is no such critter but there IS logical reasons why you are not seeing this type of breaker.

You might find a surface mount breaker in use in INDUSTRIAL controls but they too WILL need to be mounted in an enclosure. Most any industrial items like you seek WILL be far more expensive than simply buying a general purpose 2 position breaker panel I linked in my post above.

12V stuff IS NOT treated the same as 120/240 as far as electrical codes goes and those types of electrical connections are NOT required to be contained in an electrical enclosure..