had to put off the electrical while i finished up the rest of the build, but now i'm getting back into it.
Here's my basic wiring diagram, just want to see if i have the right idea.
these are my questions..
1) Is there any reason not to run the charge controller through an accessory circuit in the blue sea fuse block? its a victron 50 amp mppt, so run it with a 50 amp fuse?
No problem. I've got a 30a Victron that feeds into the fuse block via 30a fuse. Just make sure your fuse block is rated to handle however many amps.
Doesn't really matter what the max rating of the charge controller is - fuses protect the wire. My charge controller is rated 30a max. But I've only got 300w of solar connected to it. 300w ÷ 11v = 27a. So I used #10 wire, rated 30a and a 30a fuse to protect the 30a wire.
But I didn't do that because the charge controller is rated 30a. I did it because #12 (rated at 20a) wasn't big enough to handle the max expected load of 27a, and the next size wire was #10.
Size the wire to handle the load, size the fuse to protect the wire.
2) fuse locations, you want the fuses either coming from or very close to the battery right?
Since the fuse protects the wire, you normally want the fuse as close to the source as possible, to protect the full length of the wire. The fuse won't protect the wire from a short between the source and the fuse.
then switches after that. After writing that diagram im now realizing that fuse between the charge controller and fuse block is probably unnecessary? since it'll be fused through the accessory circuit?
Technically...there is a power source at both ends of the wire, so you should have a fuse at each end to protect the wire from either power source. But in the real world...
Just depends. I don't have enough wire between my solar panel and charge controller to really worry about it. Besides, to put a fuse at the solar end, I would have had to cut the wire coming out of the solar panel...and I didn't want to. So my setup has no fuse at the solar panel.
If I was running 50' of wire it might have been a different story.
3) I've seen other wiring diagrams where people will wire the fuse block through the charge controller rather than straight from the battery, any reason for that? is my thinking wrong? with my charge controller I dont have "load" hook ups, only for the panels and battery.
The load terminals (if the controller has them) are usually protected by a low-voltage-disconnect (LVD) that will keep the battery from being fully drained. The load terminals are also usually limited to like 10a, so it's not a good way to feed a fuse block.
Fuse block connected to the battery is the best way.
4) grounding, Is it necessary to ground to the van chassis? I remember hearing somewhere that there was another way to run the ground, through the charge controller or something?
If you are charging the aux battery from the alternator, then that battery will be grounded to the chassis. So the fuse block connected to that battery will also. As will the OUTPUT side of the charge controller.
DO NOT ground the input side of the controller (wires from solar panel) to the chassis. Let that be separate.
5) any input on sizing fuses? Im thinking 50 amp for the charge controller, 100 amp for the battery between both the inverter and the fuse block.
Whatever the amp rating of the wire is - that's what size fuse you use.