Solar/charger to battery wiring

[Bod]

I'm planing to fit solar panels, the best place for the controller, is close to the battery charger.

Could I have one set of suitable sized cables, feeding from the controller, via the charger, to the batteries?

It's unlikely that both would be in use at the same time.  But would the cable be sized for the single heaviest current, or the total of both?

 

Thanks

Bod

[WotEver]

14 minutes ago, Bod said:

I'm planing to fit solar panels, the best place for the controller, is close to the battery charger.

Could I have one set of suitable sized cables, feeding from the controller, via the charger, to the batteries?

It's unlikely that both would be in use at the same time.  But would the cable be sized for the single heaviest current, or the total of both?

 

Thanks

Bod

Yes you could. The cable should be sized for the maximum output of both charge sources combined. 

[Jess--]

cable should be rated for the total output of solar and the charger.

you say it's unlikely both will be used at the same time but unless you cover your solar panels or disconnect them if you ever use your charger in daylight both methods will be in use

[Chewbacka]

Over sized cables for the charging system are a good idea as they reduce volt drop (power lost in the cables) and as they are usually quite short the extra cost is not that much.

[smileypete]

The relevant manuals should give the cable size needed, failing that a good rule of thumb to get the mm2 needed is 'amps divided by three'

As said it's good to keep the cables short for charge sources, for a 12V boat if they are more than 2.5 metres from the batts I'd increase the cable size found above pro rata.

Edited January 6, 2018 by smileypete

[Bod]

Thanks all!

Looks like the idea is good, now just to put it into practise.

 

Bod