howson , here's where all those AWG questions come into play.
So I have a 2017 Imagine 2800BH. It's the first year they had a solar package, which for my particular unit has the Furrion 10A plug on the side of the camper, wired directly to the battery (No fuses, no circuit breakers) using a 10AWG wire. (Near as I can tell, bit hard to figure that part out). I will refer to this wire as the "Solar Wire" from now on.
I have a Renogy Rover 20A MPPT left over from my previous camper, and a 100w Mono solar suitcase. The Rover wire terminal only accepts up to 8AWG wire.
I'm going to mount the MPPT on the backside of the Universal Docking Station, and I also want to install a BlueSea Fuse Panel on the same place to provide some power for some of the mod's I've got going on. (USB Chargers in the bedroom, power for the Levelmate PRO, power for a TPMS repeater)
I'm going boondocking 4 or 5 weekends over the next two months, and I need to get this done in a hurry, and I have little to no freetime.
I've come up with 3 plans of attack.
All three have a common question:
Do I put a fuse on the Solar Panel Side of the MPPT? The Furrion is rated at 10A.
So Plan "Reuse OEM" is just that.
Cut the Solar wire in the middle, and insert the MPPT there. Pretty simple actually. Doesn't get me the full 8AWG wire the unit is capable of, but it's very simple to pull off.
The 20A circuit breaker is based on Renogy docs (They recommend matching the breaker to the battery bank to the size of the MPPT)
Plan "Use the OEM Disconnect, Option A" is:
Cut the Solar Wire, connect to the MPPT. Either chase and remove the now unused leg coming from the battery, or disconnect it and tape it up.
Utilize the larger 8 AWG wire used for the disconnect, and connect that to the Battery side of the MPPT. This option has me connect to the Unswitched side of the Battery Disconnect, so unless the Breaker is flipped, the MPPT always has power.
The 20A circuit breaker is based on Renogy docs (They recommend matching the breaker to the battery bank to the size of the MPPT)
Plan "Use the OEM Disconnect, Option B" is:
Cut the Solar Wire, connect to the MPPT. Either chase and remove the now unused leg coming from the battery, or disconnect it and tape it up.
Utilize the larger 8 AWG wire used for the disconnect, and connect that to the Battery side of the MPPT. This option has me connect to the Switched side of the Battery Disconnect, so the "Master Disconnect" is truly that, it will kill the MPPT as well.
The 20A circuit breaker is based on Renogy docs (They recommend matching the breaker to the battery bank to the size of the MPPT)
I'm personally leaning towards "Use the OEM Disconnect, Option A"
No real downsides, utilizes the bigger gauge wire. It's a little more work, but nothing more than an extra hour.
Help me not do anything stupid.
Mike
So I have a 2017 Imagine 2800BH. It's the first year they had a solar package, which for my particular unit has the Furrion 10A plug on the side of the camper, wired directly to the battery (No fuses, no circuit breakers) using a 10AWG wire. (Near as I can tell, bit hard to figure that part out). I will refer to this wire as the "Solar Wire" from now on.
I have a Renogy Rover 20A MPPT left over from my previous camper, and a 100w Mono solar suitcase. The Rover wire terminal only accepts up to 8AWG wire.
I'm going to mount the MPPT on the backside of the Universal Docking Station, and I also want to install a BlueSea Fuse Panel on the same place to provide some power for some of the mod's I've got going on. (USB Chargers in the bedroom, power for the Levelmate PRO, power for a TPMS repeater)
I'm going boondocking 4 or 5 weekends over the next two months, and I need to get this done in a hurry, and I have little to no freetime.
I've come up with 3 plans of attack.
All three have a common question:
Do I put a fuse on the Solar Panel Side of the MPPT? The Furrion is rated at 10A.
So Plan "Reuse OEM" is just that.
Cut the Solar wire in the middle, and insert the MPPT there. Pretty simple actually. Doesn't get me the full 8AWG wire the unit is capable of, but it's very simple to pull off.
The 20A circuit breaker is based on Renogy docs (They recommend matching the breaker to the battery bank to the size of the MPPT)
Plan "Use the OEM Disconnect, Option A" is:
Cut the Solar Wire, connect to the MPPT. Either chase and remove the now unused leg coming from the battery, or disconnect it and tape it up.
Utilize the larger 8 AWG wire used for the disconnect, and connect that to the Battery side of the MPPT. This option has me connect to the Unswitched side of the Battery Disconnect, so unless the Breaker is flipped, the MPPT always has power.
The 20A circuit breaker is based on Renogy docs (They recommend matching the breaker to the battery bank to the size of the MPPT)
Plan "Use the OEM Disconnect, Option B" is:
Cut the Solar Wire, connect to the MPPT. Either chase and remove the now unused leg coming from the battery, or disconnect it and tape it up.
Utilize the larger 8 AWG wire used for the disconnect, and connect that to the Battery side of the MPPT. This option has me connect to the Switched side of the Battery Disconnect, so the "Master Disconnect" is truly that, it will kill the MPPT as well.
The 20A circuit breaker is based on Renogy docs (They recommend matching the breaker to the battery bank to the size of the MPPT)
I'm personally leaning towards "Use the OEM Disconnect, Option A"
No real downsides, utilizes the bigger gauge wire. It's a little more work, but nothing more than an extra hour.
Help me not do anything stupid.
Mike
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