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Circuit breaker or fuse?

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
So. Iโ€™ll be installing a 3000W inverter and with that, what is better? A 300A circuit breaker or an ANL fuse? I like the circuit breaker so I donโ€™t have to keep spare fuses and a circuit breaker will be easier to just reset.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!
16 REPLIES 16

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
Itโ€™s an off brand from Amazon, but the reviews were good. 3000W with a wireless display with on/off control $315, And it can be hardwired which Iโ€™m going to semi do. Iโ€™m going to run the inverter to a 50A outlet in the electrical compartment and install a relay that will turn off the charger when the inverter is on and plugged in. Iโ€™ll just plug the RV cord into the outlet. When I need the generator, turn off the inverter and turn on the generator.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

TechWriter
Explorer
Explorer
dodge guy wrote:
TechWriter wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
So. Iโ€™ll be installing a 3000W inverter and with that, what is better? A 300A circuit breaker or an ANL fuse? I like the circuit breaker so I donโ€™t have to keep spare fuses and a circuit breaker will be easier to just reset.

Are you talking about the fusing between the battery bank and the inverter?

If so, then I suggest a 300A Class T fuse followed by a battery disconnect switch.

Like in this schematic.


Yes that is the plan. I will have a shut off switch as well. And I plan on a fuse.


What inverter are you using?
2004 - 2010 Part Timer (35โ€™ 2004 National RV Sea Breeze 8341 - Workhorse)
2010 - 2021 Full Timer (41โ€™ 2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095 DP - Cummins)
2021 - ??? Part Timer (31โ€™ 2001 National RV Sea View 8311 - Ford)
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs

Veebyes
Explorer II
Explorer II
I wish all RVs had a circuit breaker panel for their 12V circuits like boats of any size larger than a simple trailer boat.

When chasing down a problem once you have blown your last spare fuse, that is it. You are stuck. With the circuit breaker you keep going till you find what is causing the problem.

There is nothing stopping us from converting to DC breakers however they are not cheap

Defender Marine
Boat: 32' 1996 Albin 32+2, single Cummins 315hp
40+ night per year overnighter

2007 Alpenlite 34RLR
2006 Chevy 3500 LT, CC,LB 6.6L Diesel

Ham Radio: VP9KL, IRLP node 7995

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
TechWriter wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
So. Iโ€™ll be installing a 3000W inverter and with that, what is better? A 300A circuit breaker or an ANL fuse? I like the circuit breaker so I donโ€™t have to keep spare fuses and a circuit breaker will be easier to just reset.

Are you talking about the fusing between the battery bank and the inverter?

If so, then I suggest a 300A Class T fuse followed by a battery disconnect switch.

Like in this schematic.


Yes that is the plan. I will have a shut off switch as well. And I plan on a fuse.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

TechWriter
Explorer
Explorer
dodge guy wrote:
So. Iโ€™ll be installing a 3000W inverter and with that, what is better? A 300A circuit breaker or an ANL fuse? I like the circuit breaker so I donโ€™t have to keep spare fuses and a circuit breaker will be easier to just reset.

Are you talking about the fusing between the battery bank and the inverter?

If so, then I suggest a 300A Class T fuse followed by a battery disconnect switch.

Like in this schematic.
2004 - 2010 Part Timer (35โ€™ 2004 National RV Sea Breeze 8341 - Workhorse)
2010 - 2021 Full Timer (41โ€™ 2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095 DP - Cummins)
2021 - ??? Part Timer (31โ€™ 2001 National RV Sea View 8311 - Ford)
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
StirCrazy wrote:
breakers are the better choice, but like nentions cost a bit more. I use them on my wires two and from my solar panels and on the charge side as I can use them as a disconect also.

Steve


I put a Blue Sea Disconnect switch between my solar panels and the solar controller. It is good up to 300 amps and 48v DC, so I can put 2 panels in series, and multiples of that pair in parallel. I also have fuses between the panels and controller, as well as between the controller and battery.
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

StirCrazy
Navigator
Navigator
breakers are the better choice, but like nentions cost a bit more. I use them on my wires two and from my solar panels and on the charge side as I can use them as a disconect also.

Steve
2014 F350 6.7 Platinum
2016 Cougar 330RBK
1991 Slumberqueen WS100

ajriding
Explorer II
Explorer II
Houses used to use fuses, but now circuit breakers, obviously, you can just reset them when they trip instead of buying a new fuse each time. Breakers also work as an on/off switch.

I have one of these in a 100amp and it works just fine, $15 or so, though I havent tested it or made it trip.
ebay link to 300 amp breaker ebay 300 amp breaker
I actually have 4 total of different amp ratings for my solar and battery and vehicle connections.

There are also breakers that will reset themselves after they trip after they cool down, so are kind-of an automatic resetting breaker, kind-of.
Of course you will probably never trip a fuse anyway, so not a big deal to have two spare fuses on hand either.

* I dont get why you would want to buy an expensive shut-off switch, then put in a fuse when a breaker is bother a switch and a "fuse" in application.

larry_cad
Explorer II
Explorer II
dodge guy wrote:
KD4UPL wrote:
I would want a way to disconnect power to the inverter quickly in an emergency. A breaker allows for that. I'm not sure why you think you wouldn't need a spare fuse. I would think a spare would be a good idea. Sometimes inverter go a little crazy and power cycling them will reboot the processor and make it work again. It's a lot easier to power cycle with a breaker as well.


I just seen that. I missed typed. I like the circuit breaker because I donโ€™t need fuses. But the fuses seem to be cheaper. And for as often as it sounds like they fail ( almost never) I would only need to keep a couple of extras.


Now that is good logic!
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dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
KD4UPL wrote:
I would want a way to disconnect power to the inverter quickly in an emergency. A breaker allows for that. I'm not sure why you think you wouldn't need a spare fuse. I would think a spare would be a good idea. Sometimes inverter go a little crazy and power cycling them will reboot the processor and make it work again. It's a lot easier to power cycle with a breaker as well.


I just seen that. I missed typed. I like the circuit breaker because I donโ€™t need fuses. But the fuses seem to be cheaper. And for as often as it sounds like they fail ( almost never) I would only need to keep a couple of extras.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
Ok. Iโ€™m OK with fuses, Iโ€™ll just have to carry a couple of spares just in case.
I will have A high amp shut off switch. And will be using 4/0 welding cable for power.
I will get the fuse instead.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

BurbMan
Explorer II
Explorer II
Size the fuse or breaker to protect the wire connecting the battery to the inverter. For example, I am using #4 wire to connect my 600W inverter, so a 60a breaker is installed. The larger the wire, the bigger the fuser/breaker capacity you can have.

Skibane
Explorer II
Explorer II
time2roll wrote:
Fuse. Quality DC breakers in the 300+ amp range seem to be expensive.


Yep, there are a lot of cheap Chinese breakers out there on the market that I wouldn't trust.

A decent-quality one isn't cheap.

time2roll
Nomad
Nomad
Fuse. Quality DC breakers in the 300+ amp range seem to be expensive. Never opened the fuse on mine.