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Old 02-19-2017, 07:46 PM   #31
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Thanks, Eric...think I'm gonna give that a shot as my first fuse before the controller.

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Old 02-20-2017, 05:38 AM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roccon99 View Post
Also, just curious to hear opinions on wiring from the controller directly to the house battery vs the existing fuse block.

To the fuse block would save me fishing the cable through the floor, could use the existing fuse, wouldn't have to worry about the solar cable being exposed to any elements under the van. But, the wire would need to travel about 4-5 feet to the rear of the van to connect to the fuse block, and then the power would need to flow back another 4-5 feet to the battery...so I'd be adding about 10 feet of length to my run.

In summary - would the voltage loss be small enough that it would make sense to just wire to fuse block given the reasons listed above?
What size wire are you using from controller to battery (or fuse panel)? How long will it be from controller straight to the battery, what is the size wire from the battery to fuse panel and distance.

Here is wire size calculator that show voltage loss datahttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1v_...2DV0GDVznGwhf0 Let me know if you need anmy help using it.

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Old 02-20-2017, 05:59 AM   #33
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If the house batteries are closer to your solar controller than the fuse block there's no reason that you can't wire directly to them with proper fusing....saves 10' of wire and aggravation.

The Blue sea ACR is the same unit I'm running; works fine. Wire the starting battery positive and house battery positive to it, and ground one of the 1/4" quick disconnect terminals and you're done. This unit is also available in an "add a battery" kit which also includes a manual switch to bypass the ACR (manual combine and disconnect), that's what I bought but never installed the switch.

That Blue sea is bi-directional, so your solar can charge your starting battery as well as your house batteries.
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Old 02-20-2017, 08:00 AM   #34
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I have one too and really like it so far.
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Old 02-20-2017, 08:45 AM   #35
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Great, glad to hear you both like that unit. Went ahead and ordered one.

As for wiring solar straight to the battery - I forgot that I need to run the temp sensor anyways, so I'm definitely going to just go straight to the house battery.

Regarding the ACR - as the original surepower diagrams show, I have three connections currently. One to the chassis battery, one to the house battery, and one to the alternator. What needs to be done with the connection to the alternator?

Also, when grounding, did you run the wire all the way back to the negative terminal on your chassis battery? BlueSea says a chassis ground may be insufficient. Looks like I'll need to grab some 16 AWG auto wire and a 10A fuse as well.
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Old 02-20-2017, 08:48 AM   #36
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One last thing - did you disconnect any of the other terminals before installing. My house battery is attached to the frame - just trying to decide if I should wait to install the ACR at the same time I drop the battery to hook up the solar.
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