Monday, Apr 18, 2011 at 21:29
Auke wrote: I am going to set up a dual battery system in our van and am not sure if and/ or where I should use a fuse to protect my gadgets and battery.
I will be using a 100 ah AGM battery, a 1500w Sine wave power inverter and a
watson 140a dual battery kit.
Should I use fuses? How many, where and what amount of Ah?
And do you just use anderson plugs to be able to disconnect your second battery or does it have other functions?
Auke,
I'm not familiar with the
Watson dual battery kit, so can't assist much with that one specifically. However, in general terms, if this dual battery system is mounted in the engine bay, there should be a suitable circuit breaker close to it's output. The cable from the dual battery set-up then needs to the routed to the rear of the vehicle and terminated using a 50amp Anderson Plug. Note that an Anderson Plug is just a neat, positive and convenient method of joining two cables together which need to carry more amps than what a normal trailer connecting plug can handle.
On the caravan, you need to install another Anderson Plug with cables leading to your battery, via another circuit breaker, mounted close to that battery.
The c/van battery should be earthed to the chassis as
well as using the earth/black cable from the Anderson Plug.
So, you now have the first half of the equation done......you have power coming from the vehicle, via a dual battery system and circuit breaker, Anderson Plug, another circuit breaker, then to the c/van battery. This will keep the battery charged when the system is in operation.
Back to the caravan battery......
You now need to set-up a system of fuses for the items you wish to operate using this battery. I suggest something like this:
http://www.narva.com.au/products/browse/boxes
So, you would run one heavy cable to the pins on one side of the fuse block. I find that it is best to solder the cable on to the tabs, but you may also choose to use the "daisy-chain" method. The pins on the opposite side are used individually....run a separate cable from a fuse to each item you want to provide power to (eg: water pump, radio/cd player, 12 volt lights etc). The size of the fuse you use will differ for each accessory you are powering.
As for the inverter, I believe it is best to take the 12v input cables for this, directly off the battery, via a fuse (which I'd imagine is provided with the inverter as an "in-line" type)..
Hope this helps. If in doubt, best to seek professional assistance.
Roachie
AnswerID:
451724