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The vanlife => Van Conversion => Topic started by: dmchris on May 17, 2016, 07:05:08 PM

Title: Splitting battery cable
Post by: dmchris on May 17, 2016, 07:05:08 PM
So i have batteries with 16mm^2 cables, a couple of lights, fridge and an inverter (with 10mm^2 cables)  want to run from them and some solar panels with a charge controller to charge the batteries.

Now looking for different ideas and options for connecting the battery positive to all of the above. -The fuse boxes locally available do not have one input, you already need one input per fuse. So at some point i need to split the 16mm^2 cable into a bunch of smaller (im going with 2,5) ones and connect em to the fuse box.

Also the solar panels need to be connected, or rather, the charge controller needs to be connected.

My solar charger does not have a proper consumer output (only limited power for "AES" fridges) so cant do it like in the book and connect consumers from there.

So really what im asking is - whats your idea on achieving this if you dont have a nice fusebox with a single massive input. (Also this likely would not work for me as inverter is kinda overpowered also and needs thick cables, so it will likely need a separate strand with fuse)



Title: Re: Splitting battery cable
Post by: Paul:) on May 18, 2016, 09:38:30 AM
Hi, Could you run one main input from your batteries in to the top of your fuse box then daisy chain small loops of cable from fuse input to fuse input effectively joining them all together on one side of the fuse box creating one large input if you like. Use the largest cable you can fit in to the terminals, would that be an option? With regard to the solar charge controller input, just run the charge controller direct to the battery with a suitable separate inline fuse and maybe an isolator switch? You are also correct about the inverter, it will indeed require its own dedicated cable of a suitable size with its own inline fuse. With all of the above needing to be connected direct to the battery you will need battery terminals that will allow all of these inputs to be attached securely without getting in the way of each other.