Is there an easy way to panel mount a DIN rail breaker?

[tigerwillow1]

I suppose a short DIN rail on standoffs could work. Best would be if there's already a commercial solution out there somewhere, like a DIN rail to panel mount adapter.

 

[Firstascent]

what type of panel? or do you not have one yet. DIN rail is typically mounted inside a panel, this is very common and standard in many industries.
Some panels may have a backplane (think of like a mesh plate with multiple mounting points) and you can mount the DIN rail to that. Or you could mount the din rail directly to the panel, but that isn't as clean because you'd have to drill into the panel itself.

There are also small panels designed specifically for MCCB's, you can get them fairly small just to fit a couple breakers. also depends on amperage though as well, most MCCB's won't be high amps, maybe up to 60a or so depending on manufacturer.

 

[tigerwillow1]

I hope I didn't use "panel" ambiguously . I mean a front panel. To give context, I have a Seplos rack mount battery that uses an internal fuse instead of a breaker. I want to add an on/off switch, more or less identical to what's on the signature solar batteries. Since I can't find a suitable on/off switch, an appropriately rated DC breaker will do the job. With the BMS and battery terminals attached to the battery's front panel, the added breaker is also best attached to the front panel. The panel-mount breakers I've found (outback and midnite) don't fit in the available space. A DIN rail breaker fits, but how to mount it to the front panel?

 

[Zil]

I use these switches. My favorite is a dpst for battery-CC-panel disconnect. The spst is great for a battery disconnect. https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/11/37/Manual_Battery_Switches/m-Series
I find Blue Sea products online at much less than MSRP.

 

[Firstascent]

Ah I see, thank for clarifying, I understand what you're wanting to do now.

The battery switches Zil referenced above are a great option and common among users.

if you're still wanting to use a din mount breaker, and assuming you have a rack mount, since you're using a rack mount battery, do you have space in your rack to run a piece of din rail across your rack in an open space?

Or, if you're ok with drilling in the front face plate panel of your battery, screw down a short 3" piece of din rail to the front panel itself, which would mimic (not as cleanly) the signature solar batteries you referred to.

 

[JoeHam]

Attach something like this by the battery ??

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S75TV3V/

 

[tigerwillow1]

The replies triggered more thinking. I looked at the Davis Poz and Will Prowse videos of the signature solar batteries and could see the breaker mounting on a couple of models. They don't use a DIN rail but instead have a strap around the midsection of the breaker to hold it to the front panel. On one model the strap is screwed to the front panel. On the other there are no screws showing so the strap (or clips possibly) must be welded to the inside of the panel. A strap screwed to the front panel is a possible solution for me and wouldn't be difficult to build. Making the square cutout in the panel would be the harder job.

I'm not looking at an external switch because I want a mechanism to know for sure that the battery terminals are totally dead when making connections. The BMS has an "off" mode which is probably good enough. The positive mechanical shutoff is to satisfy my paranoia of what could go wrong when dealing with so much energy.

I've read a lot of forum posts about the pro-and-cons of the 48 volt blue sea switches, with the battery going as high as 56 volts. I'm not too worried about that from a safety viewpoint. My guess is that one could use these switches with 100 volts and no safety hazard, but 48 volts is the target market and that's what they got certified for.

 

[Whinny]

How many amps?
Carling C series is good for 80vdc and front panel mount ...

C-Series Up to 100 Amp Breaker or 250 Amp for UL 489A

C-Series is a compact circuit breaker configurable in 1 to 6 poles. This up to 100 amp breaker or 250 amp for UL 489A has a max IC of 10,000 amps.

www.carlingtech.com

Easier to find the Blue seas version but for some reason it's rated 65vdc

https://www.bluesea.com/products/7269/C-Series_White_Toggle_Circuit_Breaker_-_Double_Pole_200_Amp

And they are quite compact.

edited because I thought it had the same mount as the a series...

 

[tigerwillow1]

I find deciphering the C-series data sheet a bit difficult. As far as I can tell, to get the 10,000 amp AIC, the maximum trip current is 100 amps. I'd like to go to at least 125 amps, which is available in the DIN rail breakers with the 10,000 AIC. The 100 amp C-series is probably my fallback if nothing else works. If I got one, the midnite or outback versions look like the easiest to source. The F series would be great with (I recall) a 25,000 AIC but they are way to big physically to fit into my battery case. I do find it odd that there's no simple high current DC panel switch available that's rated for a 48 volt system.

 

[Quattrohead]

Quite common to have the square holes cut out for the face of the breakers and a strap screwed in over the DIN rail mounting area.

 

[Bud Martin]

Looking for the strap for panel mount?
Like this? I saw the rear bracket similar to the video on Ali last year while looking way to mount the MCB on the front panel but I decide to use the DIN rail and not mount the breaker on the front panel.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Like this?

That's exactly what I'm looking for, almost, because they have it only for 2 and 3 pole breakers. As far as strap mounting being common, it's news to me. I've never touched a DIN rail breaker in my life. Besides being news, it's good news. This is exactly the info I was looking for, and a lot simpler than what I was imagining on my own. For me, the thread is a roaring success. Thank you all for helping!