Increasing Capacity and Capability

[sternwake]

Aims inverters a decade ago had horrid reviews...Now they've doubled the prices and review OK.
IDK whats going on.

I had a 400 watt Wagan PSW inverter, I really liked, but it did not live very long or see much use in its abbreviated lifespan. When I first opened it there was corrosion everywhere, as if it were on a poorly ventilated boat just above the bilge. When new it had no issues powering 430 watts continuous, then later it had issues and I got it to work OK until about 300 watts, then the next time I used it the smoke escaped.

Magnum.... Lots of recent reports of failures and non existent customer support.

I don't know anymore.

Renogy's 1 year warranty is not exactly confidence inspiring, but 280$ is acceptable, but not if it fries on a 1600 watt load.
It's one thing if its powering a steady load well below its max rating, but I've tripped 15 amp circuits pushing long boards through my 13.3 amp tablesaw a little too fast, impatient, though not recently. .

I like to run my mini shopvac to collect the sawdust too. I usually run it on my PWM router speed controller on 9.5 out of 10. Am afraid to run this controller on MSW inverter though.

[sternwake]

As anticipated, this project has stalled, now that the 4 year old Deka GC-2s are wired up with the older wiring.

Their performance would be disappointing if they were new, and not free.

They drop to 10.24v starting my cold engine, turning it slower than the Northstar, but granted they were not designed solely for such task.

Their voltage retaining ability under load, for the Ah removed, in usual overnight cycling, is not impressive. They are either not as healthy as hoped, or just not very good at this, but likely some combination of both.

The Northstar-31 AGM has basically been isolated from all loads and charging sources.
It takes over a week for its full charge resting voltage to drop to 13.06v.

Since I rarely use more than 55Ah overnight, the 75 Lbs of Northstar TPPL AGM outperforms the 140 LBs of Deka. It holds higher voltage, spins my engine quicker.

The next thing I will do is route wiring from second transpo540HD to Nippondenso alternator, but that is likely a ways off as I've got my hands full with other things, and my ability to accomplish things in a timely manner these days seems impossible.

[sternwake]

Still have not touched the ND alternator or routed the wiring from the second transpo 540hd VR through firewall to it.

Ideal, vs what i can get away with, keep me going back and forth.

Ideally 2awg from ND output to my Solar/Charge 1/2/both off switch's battery one stud. This needs about 9 feet of 2awg.

I have 7.5 feet of 2awg I got from teh boat I'd like to retask, but I hate butt splicing cables, even with quality splices and crimping tools.

Could get away with just running a much shorter path of 2awg directly to underhood battery with 150 amp circuit breaker.
I could move the 32 year old 6 sae gauge OEM alternator circuit to ND alternator from Chrysler alternator, pretty easily, but I don't have much confidence in this circuit and only employ it now, because it is already there and is in parallel with a thicker circuit.

I could get away with never even hooking up the ND alternator until the Chrysler alternator fails.

I can plug into the grid, and not even cycle my batteries.

Can't even remember when My alternator was last maxed out for more than a few seconds, at low rpm.

A 2KW+ PSW inverter is likely hundreds of dollars better spent elsewhere, and the desire to run a tablesaw in the middle of nowhere, generator free, could very easily never be realized.

Upgrading, in so many ways, is harder than starting from scratch, especially when the upgrades are not really needed.

[sternwake]

I've made 'some' progress on this front.

I decided to run 2 AWG from ND alternator directly to engine bay battery, rather than to 1/2/both off switch which is physically, much further away.

The desire to run the alternator output + cable to my Charge/solar 1/2/both/off sWitch, does not really lead to any greater function, but does require more 2awg than I have.

Positioning the 2 AWG , helped me decide which direction to run the wires from the second Transpo540hd voltage regulator to ND alternator, which is basically physically parallel to the VR wiring from the CHRYbosch alternator, as that whole bundle is designed to allow engine flex without stressing wire bundles.

The other option for routing, should never have been considered. I thought it might be cleaner and shorter, but would not have been.

I used tinned marine 12awg for the new VR harness.

Ground to V.regulator casing from alternator casing (-),
Always hot+ from + output stud,
and the Field Output wire.

I did not have 3 different colors of tinned marine 12 awg, just red and green, so one red wire got 4 black stripes added every 6 inches. Sharpie in the middle and 4 short lengths of heatshrink, shrunk then covered with clear adhesive lined heat shrink.
It all got encased in some higher quality split loom than I have used previously, on both sides of the cord grip that goes through firewall.

I also placed a K type thermocouple into the loom to get some temp data on the ND alternator casing. I need to test the original chrybosch thermocouple for function. I had to chisel the epoxy off the casing and it might or might not still work.

If I do actually get a huge inverter and run a tablesaw with the engine running, with both alternators maxed out, it would be nice to know how hot, how quickly the fvckers get, rather than just smelling burnt varnish from cooked stators.

These Transpo540hd VR's are designed to be mounted on firewall inside engine compartment. I have them next to my glove box insert, behind the dash. I've devised a better way to secure both, and allow their Added fans and added heatsinks to scavenge and purge air with less restriction.

I'm taking the opportunity to clean/ organize, bundle all the wiring in this glove box area, as there is also wiring to the passenger door lock.,window, as well as the stock wiring to HVAC blower motor and resistor, and the 20 amp PWM motor speed controller I used instead. Also about 10 K type thermocouples, the FM antenna. The stock fuse block is also right there, along with the turn signal and hazard blinkers.

So this area was quite crowded with just one Transpo, much less 2.

I am also considering adding some fan connectors in order to temporarily and occassionaly hook up my 3 decimal place voltmeters to the field wires, just to be able to see how much voltage each regulator is sending to each alternators rotor. Clamping my clampmeter over the field wire to see amperage is good too, but 3 amps at 6 volts is far different than 3 amps at 12 volts. Previous tests make me believe when full battery voltage is sent to the rotor( fully fielding it0, it will be about 8 amps current, but perhaps higher.

I believe the alternator itself, how its stator and rotor are wound, determines max field amperage when fed full battery voltage.

Anyway if I add these connectors for 3 decimal voltmeters, i can still easily hook my clampmeter over either field wire and establish that hypothesis, as fact or not, when maxing out the alternator(s) at that specific engine rpm.

I did collect some field current data once, but had power+ and V sense wires one and the same and the voltmeter needs at least ~4.8 volts, iirc, before it alights, and I had to turn on all my DC loads before it even lit up as my battery was fully charged and not really placing a load on the alternator.

2 gauge onto the ND output stud, will require some modification of the protective collar and or the 2 gauge ring terminal.

This protective Collar decided to play hide and seek. I thought I knew exactly where I put it, but apparently I decided to find some much better, safer spot for it, where I could never ever find it again.
It wasted an afternoon day of searching and cursing and getting further sidetracked.

Later that night, whilst trying to fall asleep, I figured one such logical safer place I might have put it was with the extra Pulley I have for the Chrybosch alternator, and I knew exactly where that was, in a blue box that my ignition coil came in, and I was actually able to locate said box, and sure enough.....

I did lose one tiny metric nut which holds the field wire(s) to its stud, and somehow, in my spare parts bin, found some which would work, finding the right thread pitch on about option number 15 nut.


When I made a new battery tray for the group 31 Northstar AGM, I made it a bit wide as there was room, and I wanted to add a heatshield, at a later date.

I never added this heatshield, and my battery cross over bar is not really to my satisfaction, so I will be making a much burlier bar which will also serve to mount my 150 amp Blue Seas circuit breaker and secure the removable heatshield, which will basically section off that section of engine bay, and keep both circuit breaker, and battery cooler.

The Chrybosch Alternator still has the 6 gauge SAE cable to the original wiring harness, and I was using this circuit in parallel with another circuit to the Ignition 1/2/B/O switch's common stud. I also tapped this feed for my headlight relays. It has an original inline connector, easy enough to separate, and I have to, for it can potentially parallel both alternators when have the GC-2s being the starter battery and the northstar the house.

The Additional circuit I added, long ago, leading to the Ignition 1/2/both off switch from Chrybosch output + stud, is doubled 6 gauge, from ancient jumper cables. The three SAE 6 gauge paths were adequate for max chrybosch output, but 2 will have a lot more voltage drop also considering they are about 11 feet long.

When I first added a hall effect ammeter, I had to unplug the original 6 gague circuit and I had the 140 amp cheapo 'Absolute' brand circuit breaker trip, after several minutes feeding y group 27 Northstar 90+ amps for several minutes, then about 30 seconds of 110 amps tripped the cheapo circuit breaker. I believe if I run much better cable and ring terminals, which can better extract heat from this cheap circuit breaker, it will not blow.

One danger, if I had my A circuit( always 12v+), of the transpo 540 voltage regulator hooked directly to the battery+, instead of the Alternator + output stud, the circuit breaker tripping, would fry the Diodes in the alternator. But since the A terminal feeds power to the VR, the Cb tripping removed power to the VR at the same time and saved my diodes when the breaker tripped. This A circuit Ideally is hooked to the battery +, for a steadier output voltage, as the voltage drop on alternator to battery + at 100 amps output, can cause a lot of voltage drop, and a rubber band effect where I have to crank teh VR higher to get 14.7v at 100 amps output but then, if I don't back it off when only 50 amps are needed for holding 14.7, well the voltage shoots to 15.1v or so and on comes my check engine light, and I need to reset my engine computer.

So attenuating this 'rubber band effect' is accomplished with a fatter lower resistance circuit between + output stud and battery +, and the ground path as well of course.

Each Transpo is grounded to its own alternator casing, the Chrybosch has 10awg, the ND 12 awg. Field current is likely 8 amps max and the distance only about 5 feet. Each alternator is grounded to engine, and the Chrybosch actually has its own ground to the Shunt, which is overkill.

Looking forward to having both alternators functioning, and not having to worry about turning a switch to parallel or separate the banks.

I am hoping the ND alternators newer location will allow it to run cooler and work better at hot idle, in drive, foot on the brake.

I still want to have a pulley machined for the ND, with the separation between belts matching the other pulleys, and then get a pair of matched V belts. My single existing V belt is OLD, My chrybocsh, previous to December last year, was 6mm out of alignment with crank and AC compressor, but now all are with in 0.5mm, except that secong groove on ND pulley is 2.5 mm out of line with ecrank and chrybosch alternator.

But perhaps it makes no real difference as V belts seem to be quite tolerant of misalignment.

[rvpopeye]

So....you fixed it ! Skuh kuh kuh kuh

It's fun reading your detailed descriptions of ,,,well whatever the project of the day is...!

[Scott7022]

Even if not doing the same build. The detailed methodology allows others to follow a logical pattern based design. Good read.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sternwake]

WIAT syndrome, the ultimate denier of project completion.

While I am there.

I seem extra prone to cursing fits lately. Short fuse, extra frustration, think several steps ahead and my brain scatters and runs for the hills. Probably related to the fact Its been the longest I've gone without surfing since I started surfing, and the longest without getting laid, since I lost my virginity.

I have a Anderson powerpole in the Glovebox area, for feeding the passenger window acrylic fan shroud housing two 120mmx38mm 190 cfm Delta fans.

The + goes to a 10awg distribution point behind the dash, which is ugly, and has it roots back in 2004 or so when I first ran a dedicated circuit from dash to house battery bank.

The ground for this fan shroud powerpole, has been the case of the original Transpo540HD, as it is grounded directly to alternator (-). I've stacked other grounds here too, I think they are from the either ammeter or voltmeters, anyway low wattage stuff.

The ring terminal to Alternator, was soldered over the transpo540HD casing mounting hole, and I added a single black powerpole as a connector to be able to remove/replace the Transpo without cutting copper.

I did not realize I had knocked this powerpole apart, and the fans still worked, but when I cranked them up higher, one at a time, the faster fan slowed when I turned up the second. each fan is rated 3 amps, but is about 2 amps once at max speed.

WTF! cursing fits and sidetracking.
The fans were getting ground somehow, through the voltmeter/ammeter ground, which is 22awg or something and never intended to handle that amount of current.

Anyway, in the time since I ran power to the fan shroud, I bypassed my HVAC resistor pack for fan speed control with a 40 amp PWM motor speed controller, and I ran a new sheathed tinned marine 8 awg 2 wire feed from house fuse block to this area, with a split off to some powerpoles where the original ciggy receptacle used to reside.

I decided to tap these 8 awg wires about 6 inches from the powerpole, and insert the 18 awg leads to the fan shroud with an inline fuse. Higher voltage reaches the fans and should be way more reliable than the other circuit I fed the fans from and now properly fused.

i want all fan circuits to be completely separate from each other, so a nuisance fuse blowing can't risk Fiona's ability to stay cool.

Anyway, to do this properly, required hours of cursing, losing tools, walking in circles, and reassuring Fiona I was not angry with her.

So many wires coming from each and every direction, needing to be organized and routed cleanly was too much, and I had a meltdown, and just had to stop put all the tools away.
I am out of supplies and need to be able to drive.

but While I am there, and have the engine cover off, and the glove box apart .............
circles of frustration.

[sternwake]

When I installed 8 new lifeline gpl-4cts on the '77 Hatteras, and removed the 4 , 2017 Deka GC-2's, there was a bunch of 2/0 cabling from the series/parallel connections, many of which were too short to be reused, and were hammer crimped anyway.

I'd made all new 2/0 interconnects for the 8 Lifelines, and all the old 2/0 interconnects were destined for the trash bin, so I took them.

They would have been too short to bridge the lifeline terminals anyway as they were made for different gc-2s, whose terminals were closer to the corners of the batteries.

They are hammer crimped. Grrrrr.

Now hammer crimps can be OK, but OK means the hammer's specific weight was swung, just swiftly enough to compress fully, but no so much that it actually shears the copper stranding within.

The nearly 8 foot section of 2 awg from cheesy 60 amp delco alternator, that I also replaced with 2/0 when i added the 320 amp Leece Neville alternator, was also hammer crimped.

I have 2 AWG flared starter lugs, but with 5/16 holes.
The ND alternator output stud is 6mm.
Ideally, the ring terminal barely fits over the stud.

The hatteras' tinned marine Ancor 2awg hammer crimped cable, has one end with a 1/4 inch hole. I was willing to re use it, but when I cut off the old adhesive lined heatshrink, I saw whomever made it, long ago, had a big hammer, and was apparently angry when they swung it.
I clamped the cable to the workbench, tweaked the ring terminal with some vice grips, and could hear and feel the strands of copper within parting, and with more torque was nearly able to separate the hammer crimped ring terminal entirely from the stranding.

I could have, I should have taken pictures, in some pointless attempt to prove how inadequate a hammer crimp can be performed, but I just busted out the shears and tossed it in the bin, and said 5/16" hole it is , and used my FTZ leverage crimpers to attach the new flared starter lug.

I ran this 2 awg on ND output stud, from one side of the firewall to the other where the battery is. There was about 2 feet left over, but time was short, supplies low, and I just used the other hammer crimped ring terminal with a 3/8" opening on my 150 amp circuit breaker's disappointing 1/4 inch stud.

The base of this stud, is not a nice wide flat area onto which one can simply place a too large ring terminal, so I made a wide flat copper footing to help spread the load, both physical and electrical.

I took a short section of 2/0 cable with hammer crimped ring terminals and drilled it out to fit the 3/8" stud of the Northstar g31 battery, and temporarily completed the ND alternator to NS g31 circuit.

I went to attach the computer fan connectors to the 2k ohm 10 turn potentiometers on my dashboard shroud, and realized, not to my surprise, that I labelled them incorrectly. chrybosh 540 and ND 540 were switched, and while I could have simply switched their input wires, one of the wire bundles were about 0.5 inches too short to reach, without more cursing and tweaking and modifications.

screw it, incorrect labels do not matter, have to reopen dash cowl anyway, just get it going and button everything up to go resupply.

So I attach the connectors, start the engine, and twist my voltage dials.

Only one responds to input.

WTF!!!

I have one dial next to each voltmeter, and saw I had them backwards, so I switched them, and the only one which actually changed voltage, was the newly installed potentiometer on top. It controlled either voltage regulator/ alternator, equally well showing the wiring to and from alternators and VRs was fine. I thought.

Being 5:12pm, and 25 seconds, Fiona knows it is ball playing time, and while I am trying to sort out WTF is going on, a tennis ball is rolled precisely in between my feet.
I look over and there is the smiling sheepdog, tail a wagging.
I comply.

How th F did I screw up the original potentiometer, I think while throwing the ball repeatedly......but when Fiona has had enough, I decided to tweak the wires leading into the old pot, and the engine note changes, and 16.75v!

So I remove old pot from dash cowl, remove amazing goop and old connector, find a new one solder it on, amazing goop it, reattach everything, start the engine, and then the the ND alternator brings the NS battery to any voltage I want at the spin of a dial, but the Chrybosch's alternator potentiometer only works when I turn the dial higher than the NS battery, then both voltmeters rise in unison.

Shut down engine, turn ignition switch to start on battery two, instead of battery 1, restart engine, then each potentiometer controls each battery separately.
Yee freaking diddly dang hawwwwww, with emphasis on the diddly dang.,

My doubled 6 awg circuit to shitty 140 amp absolute circuit breaker,is wired not directly to battery 2 ( deka gc-2) or battery 2 stud on 6007m switch, but to its common stud, so Crybosh alternator was feeding whatever battery is used to start the engine.

So, I need to move that circuit as I will not need to switch the one alternator to feed either battery bank, as each bank now has its own dedicated alternator and at most I will combine both alternators into both battery banks the rare times when I need both, like when powering a tablesaw through a 2+kw inverter I do not yet own.

Moving that circuit from circuit breaker directly to battery 2, bypasses the hall effect ammeter's ring sensor.

The second I unscrew my 3rd Blueseas 6007m 1/2/both off switch from the wall to which it is mounted, which I need to do to relocate this sensor, it will explode.

I've been delaying this switch explosion and subsequent rebuild, until I have all the materials to rewire it, and the other 2 ( rebuilt/improved) 6007m switches, properly. I've not ordered the parts, as I have not really decided what is acceptable, only what is ideal.

I also have some leftover lengths of 2/0 from the hatteras, with the evil hammer crimps, which might or might not be acceptable, and which might be too short if I cut off unacceptable hammer crimps, and determining if the hammer crimp is acceptable means cutting off the old adhesive lined heatshrink, which seems to be of far better quality than the adhesive lined heatshrink I have been using, as it is a nightmare to actually remove..

I had wanted to relocate this main 1/2/both/off switch, so I could reach it easily from driver's seat, but now with each alternator dedicated to its own battery bank, there is no purpose in attempting this. It would be extremely rare that i would need both alternators feeding only one battery bank or the other and would wish to change it from drivers seat.
The times I would want/need to turn this switch, would be when parked idling or just parked.

Functionally 'good enough', Ideal, and temporarily acceptable, are all at war with each other.


My dashboard 2 decimal voltmeters, one above the other, well, it would be better if the top voltmeter represented the Northstar in engine compartment andits dedicated Nippondenso alternator, which is in the middle of the V of the V8( higher), and the lower voltmeter represents the below body Dekas and the lower mounted chrybosch alternator, but of course they are opposite, and if I did not have some blue tape with deka and NS writing on them, there is little chance I would remember which is which.

Above the top voltmeter, is my hall effect ammeter, currently wired to read current into the Deka batteries.
I have another hall effect ammeter, but no good place to mount it.
these hall effect ammeters are programmed with the sensors they came with, So I cant just switch their wires.

If I want top voltmeter and top Ammeter to represent the ND/NS combo, and lower Vmeter/ammeter combo showing Deka/chrybosch combo a whole lot of requiring is required

The voltmeters, I should really have both their grounds and their voltage sense wires right to the battery terminals, instead of just the Vsense to the battery +, but with the battery monitor and shunt, nothing should go directly to battery - that does not come directly from battery side of the shunt, or some current can bypass shunt adn throw off battery monitor ammeter and thus the amp hours it counts, making it inaccurate, and worse, misleading.

As it is now, Start engine on one battery only and the shared ground lowers the voltage shown for the other battery, which is not starting the engine, but only ~ half as much.


These free Deka gc-2 batteries, and this second alternator, are a freaking curse!

Especially as the added battery capacity and charging capability were never freaking required.

Pics will be added when I think they would show the work to be acceptable, instead of just temporarily functional.

I'm so sick of looking at it, It could be a while before I bust out any tools regarding this whole fucking thing, but it would be better to do while it is all fresh in my mind, but perhaps I can just reread this post, and remember at a later date.

Getting inside the cabinet where the switches reside, is hard on my knees, and lower back.
I could and perhaps should just put a new cable inbetween absolute 140 amp circuit breaker and deka's, and tape up the ring terminal from 6007m's common stud, and screw the dashboard ammeter's functionality, for now.

My stock oil pressure gauge is nore or less useless, I could fit two Ammeter displays there, shame they are too bright and need to be dimmed for nighttime driving and when I have them behind smoked acrylic are too hard to read in bright daylight.

where's my sledgehammer?

I hate games.

People often tell me that they think if I ever bothered to learn how to play chess, I would be a formidable opponent.

I'd likely just launch the pieces into low earth orbit, those which did not get turned to dust under a sledgehammer first.

Does anyone/ everyone else, get sick of their own brain?

[sternwake]

Thinking about the desire to see amps into/out of batteries on my dashboard with the hall effect ammeters.

They only have a 3/4" aperture, and need to be slid over the cable and its termination, and face the right direction, but can be used on either + or - cables.

Right now dash amp reads only amps into or out of GC-2 bank, and needs a rezeroing.

If I move the Chrybosch Alternator circuit from1/2/B/O common stud directly to GC-2, which is easiest to achieve full function, then alternator amps are not counted by dash amp.

knowing amps into the battery at absorption voltage is critical to knowing when the battery is full and when to reduce voltage to prevent overcharge.

Moving CB alt+ feed from common stud to battery 2 stud means switch explosion and rebuilding it. if I open this can of worms I want a bunch of new lugs for new Switch interconnect cables, and if there I should likely employ the new 12 gang atc/ato fuse block, and if doing that should employ the new Bussbar, and all of a sudden my whole electrical wall is disassembled and I can't drive anywhere until all is said and done.

The new fuse block is not really impressive...its 100 amp total circuit rating and 30 amps per circuit, seems to be quite optimistic. I bet it would get searingly hot at those current levels. I intend to beef it up with some extra copper.

The Main battery monitor has a 500 amp shunt on the (-).
The battery side of the shunt has one 2 awg black cable to each battery.
The amps counted into both batteries when charging, does not represent the amps going into just one battery, unless the other battery is so full it can't accept any/many anyway, which is an OK strategy at best.

But having the battery monitor for so long now makes it less useful than it once was. Amp hours from full is a nice figure to have though, if it can be trusted, which it cannot, not always anyway.

With either battery bank being the 'house' bank, I don't want to remove the ability to properly count amps into one or the other, but it is going to count amps into or out of both, and this will make the battery monitor highly inaccurate, at times.

Seeing the total amps into either battery bank from driver's seat, while driving, then becomes more important, from a voltage choice standpoint, with the desire to be fastest possible complete charging with no overcharge.

which leads me back to the issue of the hall effect ammeter sensor and the 3/4" aperture and not wanting to cut the cables and then have to reterminate them, just for the ammeter's sensor, which no doubt I would place backwards and then need to cut off that termination and do it over.

Farkin hell.

Might be time to table this portion of the project for a while.

But I want my dual voltage dials to work properly without the GC-2s being the 'start' bank.

Which means moving that CB alt feed directly to GC-2 bank
Which means.... while I am there...
Arrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[sternwake]

https://www.northstarbattery.com/product/nsb-agm31

The Northstar AGM -31 on its new battery tray.

Work in progress.

The Handle of the Northstar makes the tie down on that side of the battery, difficult to really secure the top edge of the 75 lb battery as firmly as one would hope, especially since the bottom of said battery is resting on lengthwise strips of  HDPE cutting board, which is super slippery. 

   

I have some lengths of aluminum angle left over from a different project.

   

I tapped the aluminum for 6/32 machine screws, and when i broke that tap, went to 1/4-20.  JB weld and screws, washers/Locknuts and cable clamps, possible, but extreme overkill.  Will shorten the 1/4-20's.  BOlt heads on underside recessed but still need some flapsander flattening. 

Underside of aluminum angle will have some Dielectric soft tool box liner adhered extending over edge. 

 Top will likely get sprayed with several layers of black Plastidip. 

 Obviously bridging + and - on a battery rated for 5000 short circuit amps, with a thick piece of aluminum, one needs to be careful and make some attempts to idiot proof it.
   

There will be room to install a heatshield protecting the battery from line of sight radiant heating.

The 2/0 AWG from circuit breaker to 3/8 threaded stud,  will be customized to allow CB to be attached to aluminum cross strap. 

Might make a fat old buss  to attach to Battery side of circuit breaker in order to attach 2 awg battery post clamp, and run the 2/0 to threaded stud run through the HE sensor, and thus be able to read total current into or out of NS AGM-31

Or I could put the sensor on the ground.  I like the post clamp terminals on existing 2awg.  Would enjoy not having to cut them off and recrimping new.  If I removed the 2awg blalck cable from its harness, all the way back to shunt, the other end, a ring terminal, 12 feet away, routed securely inside splitloom with a zillion zip ties and padded cable clamps,  could fit through the HE sensor.

Would only be 6 hours of labor, and while I am there.......
make it 6 days.