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Do I need I need battery disconnect switches on my 12v vehicle mounted system?

TacoMeg

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Aug 24, 2021
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Total electrical/solar newbie here. I'm hoping to get advice on my vehicle mounted 12v system. I'm installing a DC to DC charger, 100ah LiFePO4 Battery, and solar panels in my Toyota Tacoma. The battery and DC to DC charger are mounted behind the rear seats in the cab. The house battery is then connected to a fuse block in the bed. Do I need battery shut off switches for safety? If so, where?

This is what I have installed so far:
Starter battery->30amp midi fuse->CTEK D250SA battery charger->30amp midi fuse->100ah Battle Born->40amp midi fuse->fuse block
I'm also going to add 2 100watt sun power flexible panels that will connect to the CTEK.
 
It sounds like you're planning to connect the output of your panels directly to the input side of your charger? If that's the case I think you definitely to isolate the power coming from the solar panels from the starting battery side of the CTEK or you'll cook your truck's electrical system with un-regulated voltage from the panels. Instead of hooking up the panels to the input side of the CTEK, I think most people here would advise you to get a solar charge controller and not connect the panels to the CTEK.

Edit: I looked up that charger and see that it actually has separate inputs for alternator and solar panel sources and is actually designed to work ask you described, so scratch what I said earlier.

About the cuttoff switches, I have Anderson connectors between my house batteries and the truck so I can just unplug the batteries entirely. That way I can remove the batteries but not have any unprotected connections.
 
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It sounds like you're planning to connect the output of your panels directly to the input side of your charger? If that's the case I think you definitely to isolate the power coming from the solar panels from the starting battery side of the CTEK or you'll cook your truck's electrical system with un-regulated voltage from the panels. Instead of hooking up the panels to the input side of the CTEK, I think most people here would advise you to get a solar charge controller and not connect the panels to the CTEK.
Unless the CTEK has a separate and distinct mppt port in like many all in 1 dc-dc chargers. (one example being the renogy dc dc, note im not advocating anything renogy, just sayin).
 
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