What determines your battery-inverter bus bar size?

[740GLE]

Kinda pricey? A power in is about the same as the blue seas he went with is it not?

As for the only plus I see over the blue seas is the expandability like you mentioned plus clean cable management, but the blueseas looks like it can be clean as well.

The blueseas does offer a bunch of smaller connections for the smaller loads of say a 12v system.

 

[robbob2112]

Kinda pricey? A power in is about the same as the blue seas he went with is it not?

As for the only plus I see over the blue seas is the expandability like you mentioned plus clean cable management, but the blueseas looks like it can be clean as well.

The blueseas does offer a bunch of smaller connections for the smaller loads of say a 12v system.

The only detractor for the blue sea bars is there is no cover included. Ideally they would have a clear plastic cover to mount over them. The real issue with the victron is it only has 4 posts other than the expansion bolt. He needs 5 to start with and maybe more in the future. So trade having enough plus extra now for the slightly nicer look. But, I have seen a number of builds that used the blue sea that were really well done and organized, and covered with a lexan sheet on standoffs. I am still just in planning stages and both systems are high on my list.

 

[AZ Solar Junkie]

The only detractor for the blue sea bars is there is no cover included. Ideally they would have a clear plastic cover to mount over them. The real issue with the victron is it only has 4 posts other than the expansion bolt. He needs 5 to start with and maybe more in the future. So trade having enough plus extra now for the slightly nicer look. But, I have seen a number of builds that used the blue sea that were really well done and organized, and covered with a lexan sheet on standoffs. I am still just in planning stages and both systems are high on my list.

As far as the Lynx goes I like it mostly for the better protection in case one of my younger kids were to get in there and be tempted to touch a bus bar - the Lynx has the best cover I’ve found on a bus bar.

 

[rhino]

As far as the Lynx goes I like it mostly for the better protection in case one of my younger kids were to get in there and be tempted to touch a bus bar - the Lynx has the best cover I’ve found on a bus bar.

The regular Victron busbars also have a good cover. If I recall (I have a couple installed) they are touch safe as well. The cover molds around the cables coming off the busbar.

Edit: I suppose if you don't have all the studs used and in both directions someone could poke a finger in the opening.

 

[Sennen]

As far as the Lynx goes I like it mostly for the better protection in case one of my younger kids were to get in there and be tempted to touch a bus bar - the Lynx has the best cover I’ve found on a bus bar.

All connections should be behind a lockable door or within a screwed on box. But yeah, covers are nice.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RHDD43L is helpful.

 

[740GLE]

The only detractor for the blue sea bars is there is no cover included. Ideally they would have a clear plastic cover to mount over them. The real issue with the victron is it only has 4 posts other than the expansion bolt. He needs 5 to start with and maybe more in the future. So trade having enough plus extra now for the slightly nicer look. But, I have seen a number of builds that used the blue sea that were really well done and organized, and covered with a lexan sheet on standoffs. I am still just in planning stages and both systems are high on my list.

He bought two of those blue seas to meet his needs, he could have make one lynx work, as you mention using the expansion bar connections.

In a pinch the Lynx has 6 spots.

 

[jfharper]

I’ve been thinking about the lynx…just curious. In order to get the current thing right, the stagger deal, would you do like the rack bus bars are? Diagonal configuration? So battery cables at the ends, then for the pos, going from left to right if top view pov batt on left, inv1-2-3-4, then the neg would be again left to right inv4-3-2-1? Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[robbob2112]

I’ve been thinking about the lynx…just curious. In order to get the current thing right, the stagger deal, would you do like the rack bus bars are? Diagonal configuration? So battery cables at the ends, then for the pos, going from left to right if top view pov batt on left, inv1-2-3-4, then the neg would be again left to right inv4-3-2-1? Hopefully that makes sense.

On the 8 stud version.
I would do as was suggested earlier in the thread someplace - put the battery cables in the middle then put the inverters on the next two studs in either direction. This goes for both polarities. This way the highest draw devices are closest together. Anything else you put on these later will either be small or you can redesign your load later. i.e. if you add a second battery bank you move 2 inverter cables over one stud and put the new battery cable next to the first. In that case you could also do ... inverter-battery-invert-inverter-battery-inverter .... Cross that bridge when you come to it.

On the Lynx the same would apply I think but it really isn't intended for more than 4 connections per polarity. You can use the bolt and hole at the ends to add an additional cable but then you loose the neat look of the lynx in the first place.

 

[EnergizerNate]

Long discussions in other threads on the topic and it comes down to something like do you prefer emacs or vi?

I poked around on the victron site and I can't find anyplace where they recommend stacking lugs. I can find several examples where they explicitly say you should never do it. My search was admittedly brief so maybe you can point the way to where they recommend it?

Basically the reason I say it is because the bar is smooth and when you put a lug on it and you put the nut on it and tighten you are compressing everything to get as good a surface contact as possible. You also get the full surface of the lug in contact with the bar.

Now when you stack them the lugs are not perfectly flat and you compress them with the nut. The first one has good contact with the bar. The second one is twisted sideways a bit and only has the contact surface between the lugs so slightly smaller area. You also have more material to expand and contract so more potential for loosening the nut, more potential for corrosion and resistance between the lugs.

Will does a video where he talks about stacking lugs and shows how it can create hot spots. He comes down to recommending not to stack or to only stack 2.

vi all day.

 

[jfharper]

Ok, so I got my bus bars, and they look legit. What I’m trying to determine now is the battery to inverter spacing on the bus bars. My setup is four inverters setup as two separate systems 120/240 split phase all connected to the same battery rack.

I can’t get all inverters bus bar connections equal distance from the battery connector. Best I can do is two and two, meaning one set of two will be the same but closer distance and the other set will be the same but farther distance…hope that makes sense.

If we end up adding another battery rack, then I can get all four equal to the two battery connectors, but not right now with the one bank.

So, what’s the theory behind this equal distance thing, and since my setup is two separate systems could this play to my benefit? Or am I just going to have to do the best I can right now? Or should I alter the pattern between pos and neg. Meaning if let’s say inv1&2 is closest for pos, I would put inv1&2 farthest for neg.

 

[Sennen]

For battery usage balancing the most important measurement is bus bar to battery, I believe.

 

[robbob2112]

Just put the cable ends from the battery bank in the middle and put the cables fromthe inferters on either side of it.

Inverter-inverter-battery-inverter-inverter.

There are a number of write ups and videos if you look for them. 'Current gradient through busbar' is a good search term and you can loose yourself for hours. Or you can just put them in the order that I list above.

Most cabinets for batteries just hook up on the ends, and reality is the difference is less important when you aren't running thousands of amps. Most important is cross sectional area of the bar.

 

[jfharper]

Just put the cable ends from the battery bank in the middle and put the cables fromthe inferters on either side of it.

Inverter-inverter-battery-inverter-inverter.

There are a number of write ups and videos if you look for them. 'Current gradient through busbar' is a good search term and you can loose yourself for hours. Or you can just put them in the order that I list above.

Most cabinets for batteries just hook up on the ends, and reality is the difference is less important when you aren't running thousands of amps. Most important is cross sectional area of the bar.

Ok thanks. Any difference which inv goes where regarding the phase? So it’s inv1&2 master and slave split phase and inv3&4 master and slave split phase. These two sets of inverters will not be comm connected together, so their phasing could be independent…not sure if that matters since we are talking about dc.

 

[robbob2112]

Ok thanks. Any difference which inv goes where regarding the phase? So it’s inv1&2 master and slave split phase and inv3&4 master and slave split phase. These two sets of inverters will not be comm connected together, so their phasing could be independent…not sure if that matters since we are talking about dc.

Only aesthetics. I would do 3-1-battery-2-4 were it me.