Electrical Questions

the + and - wire from the solar panel are both carrying the solar panel current. and the + and - wires to the battery are both carrying the battery charge current, so I don't understand your statement about minimal current at the 'ground' (negative side)
Quite correct. If the solar panel is producing 10 amps then there will be 10 amps in both the + and - wires. What I was trying to imply is that the (-) amps does not have to go thru the GoPower regulator. I have all (-) wires in the battery compartment going to a single heavy brass stud. The total (-) current passing thru the GoPower regulator is only the power used to run its own internal electronics. It is still regulating the 10 amps on the (+) side as before.

And to be concise, the (-) wire coming out of my diode switch box also goes directly to the brass stud as do the ground wires from the inverter and batteries, plus a wire going to the frame of the trailer. In other words, if it should be at ground then it is connected to the single stud. The GoPower negative connection(s) are no longer at true 'ground', but rather, float a bit above ground. (Which makes the display voltage incorrect by the amount of float, btw.)
 
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Another learning experience for me (always enjoy that) with the highlight being that this seems particular to your PWM controller installation and is unlikely applicable as a 'trick' to boost output for we with later MPPT controllers.
Anyone with an older trailer, upgrading to Lithium, and having a bit of common sense, will spring for a MPPT controller and ignore this nonsense. You get more power with much less mumbo-jumbo.
 
I try to remember to turn off all 12V appliances and fixtures when solar charging at 14.4 so as not to burn out any electronics that are sensitive to over-voltage (are you listening Maxxfan?)
As an aside, I took the rather expensive and perhaps overkill approach of installing a pair of Victron Orion Tr-12|12-30Amp buck-boost regulators in parallel between my main power bus and my DC whole-trailer distribution panel, set at 12.8VDC fixed output, to eliminate all concerns about sensitive equipment control boards at any LiFePO4 charging voltage.

Maybe not so much common sense in that, but it seems to be working. ;)
 
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As an aside, I took the rather expensive and perhaps overkill approach of installing a pair of Victron Orion Tr-12|12-30Amp buck-boost regulators in parallel between my main power bus and my DC whole-trailer distribution panel, set at 12.8VDC fixed output, to eliminate all concerns about sensitive equipment control boards at any charging voltage.

Maybe not so much common sense in that, but it seems to be working. ;)
A man after my own heart. However, Victron makes the good stuff, at a good price. I am looking at AliExpress (direct from China) buck-boost regulators, trying to decide - a couple of smaller units for some dedicated electronics, or a couple of larger units for the main power? Working on the bottom line as usual - How cheap can I go!

There's a pattern here... :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 

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