Converter wireing

[Dklein90]

I'm rewiring my truck camper and adding a fuseblock to the system. I have a question about the wiring flow. I plan to have my 100 watt solar system feed my single battery. From there the power will feed the fuseblock and all the lights, fan, and fridge, etc... coming from that block. My fuse block has a built in buss bar so all the negatives will be run back to the fuse block then return to the negative terminal on the battery.

I want to be able to run all my acessories off of shore power so I need my converter in the system somewhere. I just don't know where to put it. Should I wire it into the system before the fuseblock or do all of the acessories need to be wired directly to the converter?

 

[maktruk]

I'm rewiring my truck camper and adding a fuseblock to the system. I have a question about the wiring flow. I plan to have my 100 watt solar system feed my single battery. From there the power will feed the fuseblock and all the lights, fan, and fridge, etc... coming from that block. My fuse block has a built in buss bar so all the negatives will be run back to the fuse block then return to the negative terminal on the battery.

I want to be able to run all my acessories off of shore power so I need my converter in the system somewhere. I just don't know where to put it. Should I wire it into the system before the fuseblock or do all of the acessories need to be wired directly to the converter?

The setup I built in my trailer doesn't have solar. But I basically ran shore power to a breaker, to an outlet under the dinette. In this outlet I plug my Progressive Dynamics PD9245C. From the converter I run two hots: 1 8g straight to a 50 amp circuit breaker on my battery box up front, and another 8g to a blue sea fuse block. All my 12v accessories run off the fuse block.

I would suppose you would run your solar panel to the 50 amp breaker on the battery box in my setup, on the battery side of the breaker?

Here is a pic. Forgive the rat's nest I still need to pick up some wire loom.

Also, in that pic I hadn't run the 8g to the fuse block yet. I didn't have the right size lugs, it's all setup correctly now.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Dklein90]

The converter is a Progressive Dynamics 6882 with an output rating of 9 amps. What I would like to do is tie the converter into the line between the battery and the fuse block. This way when I'm at a campground I can plug in and use their power for all of the acessories. Is that possible. Maybe it dosnt even work that way, I just don't know.

 

[maktruk]

My suggestion is upgrade to a smart converter. Mine was inexpensive at $145, three stage smart charger/converter. No switching needed.

link

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Dklein90]

With the converter you have, Its output would have to wired into a transferswitch between your battery & loadcenter.
Using a transferswitch, When mains power available, the converter is switched in to power the loads.
When mains not available, the battery is switched in to power the loads.
The transferswitch can be simple manual operated.
But, Since that wont satisfy alot of 'Expoguys, lucky you. All manner of overly complex automation features can be easily incorporated.

This looks like the powersupply/converter you have ?
https://www.progressivedyn.com/service_discontinued/688 owners manual.pdf

Yes that is my converter.

I like the idea of a transfer switch and I don't mind having to manualy switch it. Is the idea to only allow one device to be sending power to the fuse block at a time. So the transfer switch shuts down one source and allows the other to take over?

If it isn't to much trouble could you provide a link to one just to make sure I'm on the same page.. And could this be wired in between the battery and the fuse block?

 

[Dklein90]

My suggestion is upgrade to a smart converter. Mine was inexpensive at $145, three stage smart charger/converter. No switching needed.

link

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

While I like the idea of a new converter I have to keep what I have for now. The wife isnt to excited about spending money on "the new toy"

 

[Dklein90]

Would a simple battery selector switch work in this case. I feel that being able to turn off power to the solar and battery and turn on power from the converter could be done with an a/b/off type switch. I may be over simplifying this though.

 

[Dklein90]

Got it. I'll order a battery selecter switch from Amazon. When you say get one that is robust enough what do you you mean. I will likely only have a few LED lights, a fantastic fan, refrigerator (when not using propane), and the fan for the furnace. My solar system is 100 watts to a single deep cell battery.

 

[Dklein90]

With the converter you have, Its output would have to wired into a transferswitch between your battery & loadcenter.
Using a transferswitch, When mains power available, the converter is switched in to power the loads.
When mains not available, the battery is switched in to power the loads.
The transferswitch can be simple manual operated.
But, Since that wont satisfy alot of 'Expoguys, lucky you. All manner of overly complex automation features can be easily incorporated.

This looks like the powersupply/converter you have ?
https://www.progressivedyn.com/service_discontinued/688 owners manual.pdf

I've done more looking into my converter and current wiring set up. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but my converter has a transfer switch built into it. On the front panel there is a three way switch with the up position being battery, middle position -off, and down position -converter. Below that switch there are two glass fuses. One 15amp and one 10amp. The plate states they are both rated to no more than 15amps.

On the back of my converter, on the 12 volt side, there are 4 wires; 1 Red, 1 white, and 2 blues (all of this can be seen on the link above). The red and white wires bring power from the battery (I confirmed this with a multimeter). The 2 blue wires are the 12 volt outs to the acessories for both battery and converter, they each have their own glass fuse. (I checked this by pulling each fuse and checking the wires with a multimeter).

This brings me back to my original problem of where do I put my fuseblock. I want all of my acessories run to one location.

Here are my acessories and needed fuse sizes.
Refridgerator 10 amps
Heater. 3 amps
Fantastic fan. 4 amps
Inside light. 4 amps
Outside lights. 4-6 amps

I don't plan to add anything else to the system.

The novice in me thinks that one of the blue output wires with a 15 amp fuse run to the power lead of the fuse block isn't enough for the load I may have. What about running both of the blue wires to the fuseblock. Would this give me double the load and help support all of the acessories I have.

 

[dwh]

That 3 way switch probably controls the blue wires.

There is a 120v -> 12v converter in that load center which should feed power to the battery when plugged into shore power.

So the switch should always be set to battery unless you remove the battery and still need to power 12v loads.

Hook your new fuseblock to the battery and leave switch set to battery.

Don't forget a fuse to protect the wire from battery to the new fuseblock.

 

[dwh]

Forgot to add...

If the loads are less than 9a total then the converter will power them and still have a couple of amps left over to charge the battery.

If the loads are more than 9a then the converter can't keep up and the the battery will drain to supply the difference.

You should add more 120v -> 12v capacity. A 15a battery charger (for a total of 24a) should do for your situation.

 

[dwh]

Or get a decent 25a charger, hook everything to the battery and use that POS load center for target practice.

 

[Dklein90]

That 3 way switch probably controls the blue wires.

There is a 120v -> 12v converter in that load center which should feed power to the battery when plugged into shore power.

So the switch should always be set to battery unless you remove the battery and still need to power 12v loads.

Hook your new fuseblock to the battery and leave switch set to battery.

Don't forget a fuse to protect the wire from battery to the new fuseblock.

This got me wondering about how my converter works.. I ran an extension cord from my house to the converter and started checking with my multimeter. I flipped the main breaker (120v) to on and the 12v switch to converter. Disconnected the battery from the system and measured the output at the end it the battery wire. No voltage with switch on converter or battery. Then I measured the voltage at the two blue wires coming from the back of the converter 18.57 volts on each with switch on converter and none with switch on battery.

This tells me that my converter doesn't charge the battery. And the switch does exactly what it says. Turns on and off battery and converter.

With the battery reconnected and converter switched to battery I was getting 13.7 volts on the blue wires. Switch to converter again I got 18.57 volts on the blue wires.

 

[dwh]

Wow. Even worse than I thought. Supreme POS.

So here's the answer...

Or get a decent 25a charger, hook everything to the battery and use that POS load center for target practice.

 

[Dklein90]

So I've learned a lot about my junk battery replacer/ converter. Should I replace it with a new unit that would cover all the power needs I have and charge my battery when the solar falls short. Yes I should, but right now it's not in the cards so I have to compromise with what I have.

Here's my plan.
Fridge direct to battery with inline 10 amp fuse. It will only be used occasionally as propane will be used most of the time.
Heater 3amps/ fantastic fan 4 amps to one blue line on back of converter with 15 amp fuse.
Inside and outside LED lights / usb chargers on the fuseblock which will be connected to the second blue wire on the converter.

This way when boondocking I will be able to run all 12 volt appliances off of my battery and when in a campground I can plug in and run everything through the converter/ battery replacer.

I say I've learned a lot but maybe I've learned nothing and have over complicated it all.