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Old 01-02-2017, 10:36 AM   #41
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LOL. Fair enough. This is where I am as of today I re-arranged a bit so it will be closer to the panel layout:



Inverter is not shown...yet, but it will attach where the 2/0 cables from the house go. I have all the cable, terminal lugs, switches, 12V distribution etc on order. Spent last night figuring out all the terminal lug sizes. Found a great site for those items as well as marine grade wiring. I think the wire is unbranded Ancor.

http://www.bestboatwire.com/

I got 8 gauge cable, all my terminal lugs, heat shrink, and 200 feet of 16 ga wire for the price of the ancor lugs alone on Amazon.

So 8 Guage throughout and why not? It was relatively inexpensive. I went with Blue Sea class A breakers as they are also rated to be switched and have a pretty good AIC rating as well. Terminal fuses on the battery sizes which are the second best next to Class T fuses. Trying to arrange for minimal contact points and lugs Using the switch terminals as single point bus.

As you can see, Shore Power is still a mystery. I know I need a plug, some three wire marine type cable with insulated ground. I am just not exactly sure how to bring it in safely yet.

My guess on shore power is 30 AMP plug -> Breaker (GFCI??) -> Transfer Switch? -> GFCI receptacles -> Loads. I am unsure how to ground etc. 120V is nothing to mess with and I don't want to electrify the van!!

I am dang glad I laid this out though. I would have forgotten a million things and had all the wrong lugs and have been missing multiple items.

Still need to order the shunt and the Bogart sensor cables for now so I can pass them through the van floor to the house.

The tricky part is going to be making the panel face with all the switching and meter etc with a cover so that my 4 year old twin boys can't mess with it.

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Old 01-02-2017, 11:31 AM   #42
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For shore power I used one of these inside the van (my van needs to be somewhat stealth to park it in my driveway...HOA rules...)...so nothing poking through the side of the van anywhere.

It was a leftover from a work project.

https://www.amazon.com/Marinco-5278-.../dp/B00E4QAF74

It's presently just connected to my Progressive Dynamics charger/converter....haven't implemented the transfer switch. So when I'm plugged to shore power I need to turn on the inverter for 110VAC in the van.
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Old 01-02-2017, 11:45 AM   #43
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My only current need for an inverter is to charge a laptop, so thus about 300Watt. So I can easily do that with a manual switch I think. Shore power would just give me a couple plugs and run the Charger/Converter.

What do you have as far as a breaker inside for the 120V? Or do you just rely on the shore power breaker? This is where I am foggy. I am sure I would use a GFCI outlet at the very least. But again I am foggy on breakers, grounding, etc. 120V would be a convenience and an easy way to grab energy when on the road. I'm sure we will hit improved campgrounds along our travels to get laundry done, grab a shower, etc.
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Old 01-02-2017, 02:30 PM   #44
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I don't have any GFCI breakers in the van other than the GFCI receptacle on the inverter....

A 300W inverter can easily be powered off of a cigarette lighter 12V socket....I have one in my other vehicle for charging laptops.

Shore power and charger are handy when the van is parked (like in the driveway) and the sun is not shining......Full sun with 300+ watts of panel maybe gets 14-15A....charger provides up to 60A.
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Old 01-02-2017, 04:41 PM   #45
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...A 300W inverter can easily be powered off of a cigarette lighter 12V socket....I have one in my other vehicle for charging laptops...
300W off a 12V socket would mean it's providing 25A. Assuming a more generous 14V would still require more than 21A. Both far beyond what a typical 12V socket can provide. Most small inverters (in the 300W range) require a direct connection to the battery to provide full power (e.g. a BESTEK 300W inverter on Amazon states "Please use battery clips when using it on device over 150W").


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Old 01-02-2017, 05:01 PM   #46
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Hi Flux, I can vouch for BestBoatWire.com. I've purchased cable and connectors/lugs from them over the years. Their wire looks identical to the Ancor wire I've used. And says made in U.S.A right on it. Good stuff and a little less expensive. Just a heads up that their stock of connectors/lugs can fluctuate at times. Off boating season they seem to be low on availability of a lot of items. Also, and I apologize if it's all ready been covered, Marine wire is a tad bit larger than automotive wire for the same AWG and is silver tinned(strands coated), so a little less voltage loss per foot.

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Old 01-02-2017, 07:19 PM   #47
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All good info. I think I ordered from their sister site before, onlinedealz or something.

I can make up the difference with Amazon Prime if they are short on some things, I went on an electrical shopping spree but really tried to keep it to what I need.
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Old 01-02-2017, 07:44 PM   #48
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I guess the question becomes how many amps does a 50% discharged AGM 4D battery pull?? That is where the voltage drop get's more critical.
The cold weather really prevented me from taking the battery to 50% SOC, but here is a chart of my startup and alternator starting to charge house battery at 65% SOC (Horizontal Axis is in 10 sec increments) , Start and idle in driveway, I believe the same alternator you have.



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Old 01-02-2017, 08:21 PM   #49
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Greg, that is awesome!! And definitely answers a big big question!

So I take it the Batt Amps are what is flowing to the battery from the alternator. And the 100 seconds was when your ACR clicked over.

This definitely is in line with what the guy from Lifeline said, that it would suck up a big spike for a minute and then calm down. In this case 20 seconds.

When the outdoor lighting industry switched over to LED's from HID, there were big issues with fuses popping all the time from the inrush from the Caps in the LED drivers. We had to go to a slow blow and up the Amps a bit to compensate. Nothing like a pissed of contractor calling you about fuses when he should have been off the job and paid.

I take it this is all data collected from the Pentametric??

Really awesome and a big thanks for giving us some hard data on the battery "inrush" current. Also big thanks for helping me along with my system. I have a ton of parts on the way but I am confident in my decisions at least.
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Old 01-02-2017, 08:42 PM   #50
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300W off a 12V socket would mean it's providing 25A. Assuming a more generous 14V would still require more than 21A. Both far beyond what a typical 12V socket can provide. Most small inverters (in the 300W range) require a direct connection to the battery to provide full power (e.g. a BESTEK 300W inverter on Amazon states "Please use battery clips when using it on device over 150W").


Herb
Good point Herb! My little 300W tripplite has a cig lighter connector but I've only really used it to charge laptops.......I'll have to look a the fine print on that thing.....

Mine is an older version of this one:

https://www.tripplite.com/375w-power...outlets~PV375/

600W instantaneous! Sounds like some specs-manship going on here.....like a 6hp Sears compressor that plugs into 110VAC...
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