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Need help with wire sizing for batteries in parallel (Please)

SniperX

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I know this probably gets asked so much people roll their eyes, but please, if you can help a newbie....
I bought 2 12V SOK206Amp lithium batteries and I want to wire in parallel. I have read on wiring, but this is over my head. I have a distance of about 1 foot for the red and black wires to connect these batteries in parallel. Is 2/0 or -2 or 00 (seen it all that way) too big for what I need to do? Does this wire not mean as much as what is wired TO the battery and drawing power? Would a 2 awg wire be ok or too small?
Thanks so much in advance.
 
I know this probably gets asked so much people roll their eyes, but please, if you can help a newbie....
I bought 2 12V SOK206Amp lithium batteries and I want to wire in parallel. I have read on wiring, but this is over my head. I have a distance of about 1 foot for the red and black wires to connect these batteries in parallel. Is 2/0 or -2 or 00 (seen it all that way) too big for what I need to do? Does this wire not mean as much as what is wired TO the battery and drawing power? Would a 2 awg wire be ok or too small?
Thanks so much in advance.
Figure out the max amps you will charge or discharge the batteries with. Those amps are what you base your wire gauge on.
 
Figure out the max amps you will charge or discharge the batteries with. Those amps are what you base your wire gauge on.
I purchased a NOCO GENPRO10X3 which charges at 10 amps. It has places for 3 batteries to be hooked up to it as a battery charger. I did not know what I was doing, and it took 20 hours to charge those batteries. I wished I had known what I was doing and would have tried to find a faster charger, so here I am trying to ask so I don't make another stupid mistake.
I have 400W solar with a 40A DCDC charger (so probably in all reality, 24 amps coming in during good sun) and I have 200W to add to it but am investigating whether I need a larger charge controller or will it all come in at around 36 amps and the 40A charge controller be ok.
I have no experience with what these batteries will be able to handle. The only big power draw will be my refrigerator which has the settings listed in the photo. And every once in a while, an additional dometic CFX95DZ powered cooler with the ratings on the photo. The rest are just LED lights that won't be on long. I do not have an inverter, but would like to think ahead and have at least 2,000W but more likely a 3000W inverter. This is why I was thinking the 00 awg wiring. I just have no idea what I am doing.
 

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I purchased a NOCO GENPRO10X3 which charges at 10 amps. It has places for 3 batteries to be hooked up to it as a battery charger. I did not know what I was doing, and it took 20 hours to charge those batteries. I wished I had known what I was doing and would have tried to find a faster charger, so here I am trying to ask so I don't make another stupid mistake.
I have 400W solar with a 40A DCDC charger (so probably in all reality, 24 amps coming in during good sun) and I have 200W to add to it but am investigating whether I need a larger charge controller or will it all come in at around 36 amps and the 40A charge controller be ok.
I have no experience with what these batteries will be able to handle. The only big power draw will be my refrigerator which has the settings listed in the photo. And every once in a while, an additional dometic CFX95DZ powered cooler with the ratings on the photo. The rest are just LED lights that won't be on long. I do not have an inverter, but would like to think ahead and have at least 2,000W but more likely a 3000W inverter. This is why I was thinking the 00 awg wiring. I just have no idea what I am doing.
For the amount of power-amps you are taking about 6 gauge wire would be fine. 4 gauge would be bettter and is commonly used. Bigger is better n this case. Give you room to be able to charge-discharge with more amps in the future.

Edit: I missed that you are wanting to use 12v. If you have to use 12v then your wires will need to be much larger than what I mentioned
 
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In the teach a man to fish department...

Most of the loads you describe are pretty small. A 2-3kW inverter is not. Watts divided by volts will give you amps. If you have a 3000 watt inverter on a 12 volt system you will get 250 amps. Length of run is another big factor. Take a look at this calculator to determine what you need.

 
In the teach a man to fish department...

Most of the loads you describe are pretty small. A 2-3kW inverter is not. Watts divided by volts will give you amps. If you have a 3000 watt inverter on a 12 volt system you will get 250 amps. Length of run is another big factor. Take a look at this calculator to determine what you need.

Would really love to know how "to fish", and I hate asking, but I have watched video after video, read as much as I can on forums and none of this makes sense to me. I truly want to understand it. I have a $6,000 system in my camper from Australia and I want to change out my 2 12V 120 amp AGM batteries to these 2 12V 206amh lithium batteries and I don't want to blow the system or anything, so I can't afford to "learn the hard way" and I just can't get a grasp on it. I asked on the beginner's corner so as not to irritate the smarties. I also do not trust any camper place to take this to and let them tinker with it either. But, I am looking at your Van specs where you say you have 1200wh LiFePo4 battery. So, if it is 12 volts, you have a 100 AH battery. Am I getting that right? I am trying.....
 
For the amount of power-amps you are taking about 6 gauge wire would be fine. 4 gauge would be bettter and is commonly used. Bigger is better n this case. Give you room to be able to charge-discharge with more amps in the future.
So if I wanted to add an inverter down the road, which obviously would draw way more power, then am I headed in the right direction for 00 AWG wire to parallel these 2 batteries with the thought process that I can add another lithium down the road and this inverter? 00 AWG would be overkill right now but won't hurt it, right? Then, I can add when I need to and not have to change the wiring again to add more?
 
Would really love to know how "to fish", and I hate asking, but I have watched video after video, read as much as I can on forums and none of this makes sense to me. I truly want to understand it. I have a $6,000 system in my camper from Australia and I want to change out my 2 12V 120 amp AGM batteries to these 2 12V 206amh lithium batteries and I don't want to blow the system or anything, so I can't afford to "learn the hard way" and I just can't get a grasp on it. I asked on the beginner's corner so as not to irritate the smarties. I also do not trust any camper place to take this to and let them tinker with it either. But, I am looking at your Van specs where you say you have 1200wh LiFePo4 battery. So, if it is 12 volts, you have a 100 AH battery. Am I getting that right? I am trying.....

Exactly. I have a 12 volt system and a 100aH battery. 12 x 100 = 1200. Look up Ohms law, it is the single most handy thing to know to answer these type of questions and it is very simple.
So if I wanted to add an inverter down the road, which obviously would draw way more power, then am I headed in the right direction for 00 AWG wire to parallel these 2 batteries with the thought process that I can add another lithium down the road and this inverter? 00 AWG would be overkill right now but won't hurt it, right? Then, I can add when I need to and not have to change the wiring again to add more?

Yup, if you want to use 00 AWG for your battery interconnects it won't do any harm and then that part of the system will be fine. Between 2-3kW is generally considered the max for a 12V system as the wire gauge required gets to be too much. If you do go this route make sure to get/make properly crimped and heat shrinked interconnects. At that kind of amperage everything has to be done right.
 
Exactly. I have a 12 volt system and a 100aH battery. 12 x 100 = 1200. Look up Ohms law, it is the single most handy thing to know to answer these type of questions and it is very simple.


Yup, if you want to use 00 AWG for your battery interconnects it won't do any harm and then that part of the system will be fine. Between 2-3kW is generally considered the max for a 12V system as the wire gauge required gets to be too much. If you do go this route make sure to get/make properly crimped and heat shrinked interconnects. At that kind of amperage everything has to be done right.
Thank you. I am looking to use marine wire/marine connections as we are in high humidity and camp a lot at the beach. I know it is not a boat and not out on the water, but I figured it would not degrade as fast as regular wiring. Heat shrinking is a must. I want to get a hydraulic crimping device that makes a nice crimp for something that big. Not looking to save money to regret it later, lol.
 
Thank you. I am looking to use marine wire/marine connections as we are in high humidity and camp a lot at the beach. I know it is not a boat and not out on the water, but I figured it would not degrade as fast as regular wiring. Heat shrinking is a must. I want to get a hydraulic crimping device that makes a nice crimp for something that big. Not looking to save money to regret it later, lol.

Hydraulic crimper is the way to go. Nice thing is you can do smaller gauge wire too. And know that it is tight and right. Use closed end lugs and adhesive lined heat shrink and you will be good to go.
 
In the teach a man to fish department...

Most of the loads you describe are pretty small. A 2-3kW inverter is not. Watts divided by volts will give you amps. If you have a 3000 watt inverter on a 12 volt system you will get 250 amps. Length of run is another big factor. Take a look at this calculator to determine what you need.

Thank you for teaching me how to fish. I now know that my house battery system (12v using 4AWG wire) can accommodate a maximum inverter size of 1500w. Now to decide if I even need to go that route.
 
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