diy solar

diy solar

Minimal RV Setup Leads

c2005

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Joined
Apr 9, 2022
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I have a small teardrop camper with a 100AH AGM on the tongue and will be adding solar. I will be going with the recommended Rich Solar setup (https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/the-minimalist-great-for-small-vans-and-cars.html).

What I am trying to figure out is how to best hook the Solar Controller to the battery. The Solar Controller has a working temp up to 113 degrees and the battery is in a metal tongue box. I am certain during the summer, it can go well beyond 113 degrees in the metal tongue box. So I feel it'll be best to have the controller inside with the rest of the electrical.

Inside the camper, I have identified the negative / ground bus bar (copper / brass in the picture - circled green). For the positive lead, I think the best spot will be at the master cutoff switch (circled red). There would be the live side and the switched side I could tap into.

Question would be: can I in-fact tap into this master switch as the positive lead and the negative bus bar for ground on the Controller? Or should I be looking to add dedicated leads back to the battery? There's an in-line 30a fuse at the battery positive terminal if that gives any idea what the camper is already wired for.

Additional note: the camper has a built in charger - when connected to shore power, it's charging the battery.

Thanks for any insight!

camper electrical.png
 
Looking to wire up this up this weekend. Giving this a bump.

Is wiring the solar charge controller to the negative bus bar and positive to the master kill switch correct?

Additional question: if I'm not charging and camper is in storage (kill switch turned to off), should panels be disconnected from controller? I'm worried of power getting to charge controller and having no where to go.
 
You could mount your controller in there with that equipment, connect to either terminal with a crimp ring on your 10awg wires. It needs to be fused, so an inline 25-30A fuse or breaker - for the smaller units I just use a 12V self resetting breaker. A switching breaker is handy if you want to be able to shut off that connection.

Your PV leads can come into the same compartment and connect to your solar controller. Having a convenient way to shut those down is also handy for maintenance or servicing.

A solar controller needs to connect to a 12V source before panels are connected to it. For storage having a mini-breaker 2-pole breaker works well as a switch for PV input. The charge leads can connect to any place in your system that is convenient, as long as everything is sufficiently sized to carry the current. I can't tell from your photo what is pos and what is neg, or what feeds that terminal block. Too bad they didn't make that a fused terminal block for 12V loads, like one of these:

images


As an example, here's my 30 controller with a PV disconnect and the 12V switching breaker:

 
Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm looking into the various fuses and breakers you mentioned.

As for wiring the controller to the two points in the picture, I have struggled to trace the positive line back to the battery entirely. Little more complex than I expected. But the main positive lead from the battery has a 30a fuse on it. And I just have to figure that goes to the master kill switch on the camper.
 
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