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Very tidy DC wiring article, positive bus
#1
http://www.oceannavigator.com/January-Fe...tion-buss/

This article applies to medium to large capacity systems with multiple charge sources and a house battery separate from starting battery. Some day I would like to get my house power wiring as nicely done as this example. For multiple charging sources it can get to be a real mess. Mine is halfway there but this is professional. 
  The automatic isolator switches look useful. I wonder if they have terminals for manual override if one wants to use a manual switch? I like to build in bypass switches and manual override whenever possible    
 Besides tidyness another reason to have negative and positive busbars is to keep reduce cables and voltage drops to a minimum on a big series parallel house battery banks. It’s important on low voltage DC battery systems to keep the cables properly sized, as equal length on the positive and negative as possible, and be able to tap into the center batteries of the battery bank. Bus bars can simplify doing this. It is nice to have a bus bar cover because bus bars can be accidentally touched and shorted out. Some people remove rings and wrap wrenches before working on big batteries. Have fun lol
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#2
on my system i went with a solenoid for alternator charging and added a toggle switch to the activation wire so i can manually operate it
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#3
We just hope you don't forget to deactivate it and kill your starting battery
Brian

2000 Roadtrek 200 Versatile "The Beast" (it has been tamed hopefully)  I feed it and it doesn't bite me.   Angel
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#4
(01-21-2019, 11:46 AM)B and C Wrote: We just hope you don't forget to deactivate it and kill your starting battery

activation wire is hooked to accessory so when the key is turned off the solenoid deactivates,the problem is remembering to turn it on
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#5
Well, that brings up the question if you have it set to automatically work with the key, why do you turn the switch off during normal use? The way you have it described, you couldn't give yourself a jumpstart through it either. I am not trying to beat you up on this, just trying to figure out the thought process. (Scratch head)
Brian

2000 Roadtrek 200 Versatile "The Beast" (it has been tamed hopefully)  I feed it and it doesn't bite me.   Angel
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#6
because an alternator can produce a lot of heat and on a hot day sitting in traffic it can burn itself up trying to charge starter and house batteries plus running accessories like heater and headlights so i can turn it off then,also upon startup it will squeal the belt when charging two batteries and i have control of when charging happens or not,if i remember to turn it on

a starter battery not dead flat will have enough to activate the solenoid so i should be able to self jump,if not,break out the portable solar panel and kick back for a while
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to Blacktank for this post:
  • Wayne49 (01-21-2019)
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#7
OK, was just curious. Just an FYI, most accessory circuits are switched off during the cranking process. Hopefully you found one that stays hot.
Brian

2000 Roadtrek 200 Versatile "The Beast" (it has been tamed hopefully)  I feed it and it doesn't bite me.   Angel
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#8
If I used a solenoid. I would want a circuit that is not hot during engine cranking as i do not want house battery assisting engine battery.  The only time i would.is if engine battery failed. And id much rather switch both fat cables to same side of solenoid for self jumping the very rare instanced that that would arise.

the house battery assisting engine battery will also  wear out the contacts in solenoid faster. And certain electronics rigged directly to house battery will not enjoy the voltage transient surge once starter motor is disengaged. It might be no issue whatsoever or cumulatively damaging.

I view the solenoid as not only protecting engine battery from house loads. But protecting perhaps eletronically fragile house loads from the starter motor.transient spikes. So i recommend the trigger circuit not be live during engine cranking.

With fat cabling from alternator  to depleted house bank. The greedy depleted  house bank can max out the alternator.  And its drive belt and cause abhorrent  squealing. So an illuminated switch to cut the feed to depleted house bank can stop the damp cold belt from squealing.  Once warmed up, One can flick it back on.

Total automation of some systems  can cause way more problems and a solenoid rigged to always assist engine battery  to start engine can cause solenoid contacts to fuse together. Leading to no isolation which can then destroy the engine battery via cycling via house loads.

I'm all for manual override if possible or no automatic option at all, for my own rig.  Readers can.follow their own philosophy.
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#9
Thanks for the ideas. It’s far more difficult to figure out this conversion wiring than I ever imagined. But a good challenge. I also want good instrumentation for a change from guessing lol. And illuminated switches to see whats on at night. A lot of reading and another thread maybe.
I helped do some wiring on a friends old Greyhound bus conversion. I noticed that a house battery solenoid switch was warm to the touch. That’s wasted energy. It had 2.5 amps current on the big cables with the engine off and as much turned off as possible with the hastily done conversion wiring. I should have measured the small activation wires current on the solenoid . It took him about 3 months with a helper to rewire that bus. The Detroit starter seemed as big as a 5 gallon bucket. I imagine that could fuse the solenoid contacts or worse.
When I visited the greyhound conversion again I noticed 20 amps load on the control panel. That’s roughly 250-300 watts at 12 volts nominal. I noticed only some LED lights and a new 12 volt stereo were on. There is no kitchen, fridge, or furnace yet. It may have phantom loads and be too inefficient for boondocking. Stereos can be a problem load. But from what I can tell my friend prefers to always be plugged into the grid somewhere with the charger on. That’s not what I want to do. So it’s back to the drawing board to design mine better.
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#10
The pic IS a tidy installation. (Neat can't be beat . )
That guy sure liked using tie wraps !
Buss bars/posts are good in my book.
You can get by using less of the bits and pieces he did if you don't need the extras.

Figure out your needs/desires first .
Make a list (check it twice) , make a diagram of your pieces and parts , and we'll help ya put in the lines , circles and arrows.

Rule #1 Wire thickness ,,,, think thicker than you need (especially on solar)...overkill doesn't exist...

Sounds like your buddy in the bus may have been fighting old gremlins in that bus harness.
That's always been a problem on old vehicle wiring , ya never know what is good , bad , or Joe Handyman's add on wire creation , sometimes many Joe Handymans.
stay tuned 
popeye


 Weirdo Overlord : FMS Fleet Ops , Awards , Badges ,  aka Tamerlane the Impaler Mod.
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