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Post by jcmontana on Jul 26, 2018 15:27:46 GMT
HI, name is Jim, I live in Montana and just purchased a 2014 E250 Ford van that has the start to a solar system. I am just getting ready to wire and insulate the van and I know ZERO about solar and know very little about 12v elec. systems. System seems to work great,,but other then the smiley face on the mt50 I have know idea whats going on. Seems as though the man I bought the van from spared Know expense with the components.
Am retired general contractor and have wired a few homes but not in years, so have general concept of wiring but am not an electrician by any means.
I would like to explain the solar system I have and hopefully you folks can answer a few questions for me.
Have 3 100 w eclipse panels on the roof. wired into a commander 40a mppt charger w/mt-50. with a Blue sea systems ML-ACR charging relay #7622. into a Lifeline GPL-8DL 255 AH gel battery. 2 very large copper fuse's. and a Blue Sea fuse block.
So far all that is wired into the setup is an ARD refrigerator(works great), a fantastic fan and a usb port for charging cell phone.
I will be adding a 12v 7.5 amp flojet water pump---about 32' away counting +&- run length. adding several 12v LED light fixtures. a 12v interior adjustable fan.(The one I am looking at runs from 9-18 w)
and an exterior moveable LED bar light for light at campsites,(just long enough cord to go out the passenger window and hang from the solar panel rack).
I will have a lot of questions but will start with a couple at a time.
1: he has the fuse block connected directly to the battery with what looks like 14ga wire. Is this correct? (about 2' leads).
2: I read you need a DC filter in line somewhere, do I? and if so where and how and what? 3: I think the flojet needs 10g wire, does this connect to the fuse block or direct to battery with inline fuse? 4: I have been flabbergasted trying to figure out wire sizes for the parts I am adding to the van, should I just run 12g for all I am doing(other then flojet) and not worry about wire size, would be a huge mental relief for me.
Thanks, and any info is much appreciated.
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Post by tattoo on Jul 26, 2018 15:44:40 GMT
Well there you go Admin I'll let you jump in and answer this one..... But I will say the bigger the wire the better especially the further the wire goes... I believe the DC filter is for a stereo....
It sounds like a nice system to me but your going to need more batteries and panels when you start adding stuff to draw off the system.........
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Post by me on Jul 26, 2018 16:43:16 GMT
jcmontana, first I would direct you to rv.net, their tech forum for all these non solar questions www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/39.cfmyes, the fuse block connects directly to the battery the flojet generally has a 7.5A in line fuse, you could use a 7.5A fuse in the fuse block and run 14g or bigger wire to it. good rule of thumb for wire size for general purpose, 10g up to 30A, 12g up to 20A and 14g up to 15A
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Post by jcmontana on Jul 26, 2018 18:10:07 GMT
ok, thanks for the tip about posting non solar questions,sorry folks. thanks for the other info.
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Post by Jim on Jul 26, 2018 20:05:32 GMT
ok, thanks for the tip about posting non solar questions,sorry folks. thanks for the other info. jim, post anything ya like, there are more resources and helpful folks elsewhere!
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grumpy
Solar Newcomer
Posts: 40
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Post by grumpy on Jul 26, 2018 23:20:34 GMT
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Post by jcmontana on Jul 27, 2018 16:39:20 GMT
Thanks for the great tips folks, the elec. charts are great.
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v10
Solar Advocate
Posts: 81
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Post by v10 on Jul 28, 2018 2:05:01 GMT
I am also new to solar but I have wired quite a few vans.
My philosophy is to overkill on the wire size and fuse everything with the recommended fuses.
Wire is cheaper than an electrical fire.
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Post by jcmontana on Jul 30, 2018 16:10:20 GMT
v10,,how do you figure out the recommended fuse sizes,,
Say for two LED light fixtures controlled by a single dimmer switch when the dimmer switch will be a total of 32 feet away counting + & -.
Or for my 7.5 amp flojet, is that a 7.5 amp fuse ?
Electrical is a huge week point for me.
thanks
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Post by Guest on Jul 30, 2018 17:16:07 GMT
what are fuses for?
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Post by Admin on Jul 31, 2018 0:25:09 GMT
HI, name is Jim, I live in Montana and just purchased a 2014 E250 Ford van that has the start to a solar system. I am just getting ready to wire and insulate the van and I know ZERO about solar and know very little about 12v elec. systems. System seems to work great,,but other then the smiley face on the mt50 I have know idea whats going on. Seems as though the man I bought the van from spared Know expense with the components.
Am retired general contractor and have wired a few homes but not in years, so have general concept of wiring but am not an electrician by any means. I would like to explain the solar system I have and hopefully you folks can answer a few questions for me. Have 3 100 w eclipse panels on the roof. wired into a commander 40a mppt charger w/mt-50. with a Blue sea systems ML-ACR charging relay #7622. into a Lifeline GPL-8DL 255 AH gel battery. 2 very large copper fuse's. and a Blue Sea fuse block.
So far all that is wired into the setup is an ARD refrigerator(works great), a fantastic fan and a usb port for charging cell phone. I will be adding a 12v 7.5 amp flojet water pump---about 32' away counting +&- run length. adding several 12v LED light fixtures. a 12v interior adjustable fan.(The one I am looking at runs from 9-18 w)
and an exterior moveable LED bar light for light at campsites,(just long enough cord to go out the passenger window and hang from the solar panel rack). I will have a lot of questions but will start with a couple at a time. 1: he has the fuse block connected directly to the battery with what looks like 14ga wire. Is this correct? (about 2' leads).
2: I read you need a DC filter in line somewhere, do I? and if so where and how and what? 3: I think the flojet needs 10g wire, does this connect to the fuse block or direct to battery with inline fuse? 4: I have been flabbergasted trying to figure out wire sizes for the parts I am adding to the van, should I just run 12g for all I am doing(other then flojet) and not worry about wire size, would be a huge mental relief for me. Thanks, and any info is much appreciated.
1: he has the fuse block connected directly to the battery with what looks like 14ga wire. Is this correct? (about 2' leads). Assuming the fuse is for connection between the controller and battery, yes. 2: I read you need a DC filter in line somewhere, do I? and if so where and how and what? I do not believe you need a DC Filter. Everything you will need component wise has been provided for solar. 3: I think the flojet needs 10g wire, does this connect to the fuse block or direct to battery with inline fuse? If this is a DC product, then it will be connected to the battery directly. 4: I have been flabbergasted trying to figure out wire sizes for the parts I am adding to the van, should I just run 12g for all I am doing(other then flojet) and not worry about wire size, would be a huge mental relief for me. The best advice we can give is for solar wiring components. 12AWG seems appropriate, but we would recommend you talk to an installer.
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Post by jcmontana on Jul 31, 2018 12:33:53 GMT
admin, guess I didnt explain it very well...there are two very large copper fuses that the battery, commander and charging relay connect to.
There is also a blue sea systems fuse block that is connected directly to the battery( + & -) with what looks like 14ga wire, this blue sea fuse block takes standard little 12v auto type plug in fuses, this is what the ARD fridge is plugged into(cigarette type 12v fitting) and a phone charging usb port and a fantastic fan.
This fuse block was confusing to me because I thought I needed to plug my 7.5 amp flowjet into this blue sea fuse block, but didnt make sense to me since the fuse block was fed by 14ga?(looks like) wire and the flojet was going to need 10ga wire.
but since you and others have stated the flojet connects directly to the battery with its own in line fuse that issue is a moot point..
So I assume all lower voltage items like LED lights w/dimmer switch, small 15 watt personal fans, other usb ports etc. are what will plug into the blue sea fuse block?
thanks
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Post by Guest on Jul 31, 2018 17:53:57 GMT
jcmontana, there are various ways to wire stuff. Fuses protect the wire and some extent say the flowjet.
As I recall the flowjet comes with an inline glass fuse that is generally placed near the pump. This can certainly be on it own circuit and you could use a 7.5a fuse at the fuse box.
14g from the battery to fuse box does not seem large enough to me, 14g is rated for 15A I believe ALL the current runs through this wire and then is distributed via the fuse box. With everything ON, fridge, water pump, lights etc, seems would exceed that small 14g wire.
Since you have a fuse block, connect it to the battery with 10g or larger with a 30A fuse or circuit breaker @ the battery + to protect this short section of 10g, then use the fuse box to fuse each circuit. let's say you have a circuit for just two 1A lights for a total of 2A and you used 10g wire. Your fuse needs to be bigger than 2A and 30A or less to protect the 10g wire if there is a short. If you wire this circuit with 14g then the max fuse is 15A and the min is larger than 2A
Same with the flowjet, fuse at the fuse box with recommended 7.5A fuse and use 10g or 12 or 14. Bigger is better!
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Post by jcmontana on Jul 31, 2018 21:10:38 GMT
guest, I had to pull all the solar parts out of the inside of the van last night as I am insulating that side of the van now. I am going to wire the fuse block with 10ga, thats what I was thinking also. I think your advice about fusing the 10ga wire coming off the battery to the fuse block is a great idea, so this would be an inline 30a fuse in the middle of the 10ga wire? correct. OR is their some kind of a fuse device that can connect to the + post, before the 10ga wire?
thanks
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v10
Solar Advocate
Posts: 81
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Post by v10 on Jul 31, 2018 23:57:13 GMT
I try not to over complicate the wire gauges. Everything gets 12 or bigger.
A 100ft roll of 12g is not as expensive as buying 50 ft rolls of 3 different gauges.
12 gauge is good for anything light duty you'd be installing. Good for anything from small game to deer too.
As stated above, use a short 10g wire with a 30 amp circuit breaker from the positive terminal to your fuse block.
From my fuse block all wire is 12.
The device that you are powering will have the amperage printed on it (somewhere). That should be the size fuse that you pop into the slot to run that particular circuit.
You probably wont need any thing larger than 12 until you get to inverters, air compressors and other things that draw huge power.
Even most of the electronic locking diffs are good with 12.
Which brings me off topic. it's a good idea to make sure your Limited Slip diff is working otherwise it will embarrass the heck out of you someday. Depending on the van, some are open diff some are ls. (stamped on tag on diff cover)Open diff or worn plates in a ls basically means 1 wheel drive. No good for a camper van.
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