Inverter installed!

[Double D]

One more question. I had an electrician help with installing the 2/0 gauge wire from batteries to inverter. About a 4 ft run. I asked about the short connector wire between the two six volt batteries which from ETI is a smaller gauge. He said it was not necessary to have 2/0 between the two batteries. Seems to me that is part of the loop and could provide resistance. What do the experts think?

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Double D

One more question. I had an electrician help with installing the 2/0 gauge wire from batteries to inverter. About a 4 ft run. I asked about the short connector wire between the two six volt batteries which from ETI is a smaller gauge. He said it was not necessary to have 2/0 between the two batteries. Seems to me that is part of the loop and could provide resistance. What do the experts think?

You are correct. It should be upsized as it is part of the circuit.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

You are correct. It should be upsized as it is part of the circuit.

If the draw from a set of batteries in series was say 10A, would that be 10A from each equally, or would it be 5A from each? If the latter, a smaller cable could then be used as a jumper. C'mon folks, make me smarter.

When I added my 1500W inverter I never upgraded my jumper and have not had a problem. It certainly would not be much trouble to do.

[CarlNH]

It is 10 Amps through both batteries in series. The jumper is very short so actually can be a smaller gauge without undue voltage drop. There are calculators online that will show the voltage drop per foot for different gauge wires at varying levels of current.

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

If the draw from a set of batteries in series was say 10A, would that be 10A from each equally, or would it be 5A from each? If the latter, a smaller cable could then be used as a jumper. C'mon folks, make me smarter.

When I added my 1500W inverter I never upgraded my jumper and have not had a problem. It certainly would not be much trouble to do.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by CarlNH

It is 10 Amps through both batteries in series. The jumper is very short so actually can be a smaller gauge without undue voltage drop. There are calculators online that will show the voltage drop per foot for different gauge wires at varying levels of current.

Thanks, Carl. I kinda though so knowing that voltage in a series circuit is additive, and the amperage stays the same in series. Just wasn't sure between cells.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Bird walk:

Say, Tom, just glancing at your diagram I notice a discrepancy between it and my trailer’s wiring, specifically, you list a 50A breaker between the solar and everything, whereas I know for certain that ETI wired mine with a 30A breaker. I know this because I recently had to replace it (one loose connection led to breaker failure). Just my own curiosity but I’m wondering why you would have a 50A fuse but I have a 30. Ours is a 2017 19 with two factory installed solar panels totaling 320W (theoretical) of solar input.

I should have the "my trailer wiring" more emphasized. After much discussion on this forum, I upgraded my wiring.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...ues-13003.html

The reason I posted the modified wiring diagram is because I felt that if you were installing new - that would be what I would recommend. Also, the 50 amp breaker is there because I installed a MPPT solar controller and four solar panels that could have tripped a 30 amp.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

...the 50 amp breaker is there because I installed a MPPT solar controller and four solar panels that could have tripped a 30 amp.

Aha. Interesting. How big are your panels? I’m also curious how the MPPT controller changes things, as I changed out our factory-installed PWM controller for an MPPT controller. Without understanding the mathematical calculations I’m concerned whether our 30A breaker is sufficient for our two 160W panels?

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Aha. Interesting. How big are your panels? I’m also curious how the MPPT controller changes things, as I changed out our factory-installed PWM controller for an MPPT controller. Without understanding the mathematical calculations I’m concerned whether our 30A breaker is sufficient for our two 160W panels?

The breaker is there to protect the wiring from the battery to the solar controller in case there was a short. On my installation, the wiring is 6 gauge and is rated for 70 amps so a 50 amp breaker is good. https://www.bluesea.com/support/arti...r_a_DC_Circuit Also, my solar controller is rated for 30 amps so a 30 amp breaker could have tripped under full charge. Tripping the solar controller output under full charge would have made it very unhappy.

Your two 160w panels should be able to put out about 25 amps. Since you changed to a MPPT controller, I assume that it was one rated for at least 30 amps. On your trailer, I believe that the wiring from the solar controller to the battery connection is 10 gauge which is rated for 30 amps - that explains the 30 amp breaker. You might want to upgrade that wiring to at least 8 gauge and use a 40 amp breaker if you want to add more panels (ie, portable).

Also, if you check, you will probably find that the wiring connection at the battery is made using a 40 amp inline fuse - not the 60 amp that I have. You might want to read this thread. http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...ues-13003.html


My trailer has 4 50w panels but I also use portables so I sized the wiring to handle the max output of my solar controller.


By the way, I tend to over engineer everything so don't take it that the Escape wiring is bad - just not up to "my" standards.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Double D

One more question. I had an electrician help with installing the 2/0 gauge wire from batteries to inverter. About a 4 ft run. I asked about the short connector wire between the two six volt batteries which from ETI is a smaller gauge. He said it was not necessary to have 2/0 between the two batteries. Seems to me that is part of the loop and could provide resistance. What do the experts think?

Since the reason you are upgrading the battery wiring to 2/0 is the addition of an inverter, I would definitely change out the jumper to 2/0 as well. Otherwise, the voltage drop across that jumper will limit the power your inverter can put out or cause it to trip due to low voltage under load.

On Escape installs of an inverter, the battery jumper is a 2/0 wire.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

Also, the 50 amp breaker is there because I installed a MPPT solar controller and four solar panels that could have tripped a 30 amp.

Tom: Did you change from the 40 amp after the middle picture in this post was taken?

www.escapeforum.org/forums/f38/latest-thoughts-on-battery-monitor-and-charge-controller-10534-2.html#post212754

[Double D]

Update: Had to move the trailer for a week while we took out a large oak that was splitting. Finished the inverter install today and brewed my first pot of coffee on inverter power. Microwave still doesn't like to run long on full power so will worry about that later. Thanks everyone for your input and assistance. Leaving FL in a few weeks for my happy place, Yellowstone. Hope to stay until the first major snow.

[Oldtimer]

Take plenty of honey to feed Pooh bear