Help wrapping up solar setup.. Few Fuses and Gauge questions.

[Carl Wonderful]

Ammost done here, but cant figure out last few things to keep my setup safe and have peace of mind when I use and leave my boat.

1971 Catalina 22, with a 100 watt solar panel, 100 ah Li time lithium battery, MPPT victron 100/20 controller, 150 amp bus bars, and a (Giandel, pure sine wave) 600 watt inverter. No large draw appliances, just a bunch of lights and fans and inverter for recording music and using laptop and small stuff while I stay over on my little boat.

I drew a diagram to help see what I have so far. I labeled a few spots that I "think" I need a fuse or power switch or larger gauge wire...

-I think I still need a few large fuses (where and what size fuse?)and...
- a power cut off switch wired in.
- Also little unsure about where and when I need a heavier gauge (and what gauge) wire in my setup.
- also if anything looks wrong please help me right it.

Thanks a boat load.

 

[JoeWhite]

Nice fun diagram.
No fuse is needed between the solar panel and the mppt charger. But, you need a fuse from the output of the charger to the battery less than 20 AMPS.
The shunt goes on the negative lug of the battery then the other side of the shunt is connected to all the devices. The monitor is connected across the shunt to measure current in and out of the battery.
And yes you need 2 more fuses on the cables connected to the positive terminal of the battery.
100AH battery will not last long with 600 watt inverter turned on.
Try it when you are ashore.
Size of the cable to the bar, 00
Inverter, 10 AGW.

 

[...3TacksontheWater]

Basically looks good. I would encourage you to get the latest switch panel available:

Electrical Panel Master DC Kit, 7-1/2" x 5-1/4"

Catalina Direct, publishers of the Catalina 22 and Catalina 25 Owner's Handbooks and the largest supplier of parts and Lewmar winches for Catalina Yachts in the country

www.catalinadirect.com

Look up “Jim’s Little Boat“ on Youtube for his electrical upgrade video how to upgrade to this type of pannel. Getting this pannel will take care of your breakers/fuses. Breakers are far more convenient. Fuses blow. Literally. I also upgraded Waffle House’s electrical panel to this kit. I love it. You need to pick up a separate led battery monitor/USB outlets panel to meet your needs. In today‘s world you need both type A and USB C connectivity. I got my monitor/outlet kit off of Amazon. I did select one with a cigarette lighter adapter just in case that ever comes in handy.

Regarding ”your computer” videos, etc. I won’t bring a laptop on WH. The only work related meetings I’ve had on the boat were utilizing an iPad. Between making calls, reviewing emails and presentations, an iPad is lighter stores easier while underway, has downloaded movies and videos to watch in the evenings plus it has a much brighter screen and fantastic battery life compared to most all of my laptops. I may change my mind about this if I start to spend more time on the boat but as it is now, I would rather not bring a much heavier and more fragile laptop along for what is basically supposed to be a break away from the daily routine. lol

Here are a couple of pics of my electrical panel install but the USB outlet panel is having difficulty uploading:

 

[Carl Wonderful]

Nice fun diagram.
No fuse is needed between the solar panel and the mppt charger. But, you need a fuse from the output of the charger to the battery less than 20 AMPS.
The shunt goes on the negative lug of the battery then the other side of the shunt is connected to all the devices. The monitor is connected across the shunt to measure current in and out of the battery.
And yes you need 2 more fuses on the cables connected to the positive terminal of the battery.
100AH battery will not last long with 600 watt inverter turned on.
Try it when you are ashore.
Size of the cable to the bar, 00
Inverter, 10 AGW.

Thanks for the info Joe. I'm trying to understand the specifics of what you've mentioned but I'm still not sure about a few things. Is there any way you could do me a HUGE favor and edit/write a few notes on the diagram I posted.... showing the things you mentioned and where they go? OR maybe depending on what your device is maybe that would be difficult....
If that's the case.

- "But, you need a fuse from the output of the charger to the battery less than 20 AMPS" do you meant I need a fuse on the + and - between the charger and the batter, and those fuses need to be less than 20 amps?
-Shunt- I have it first up from from negative and then little positive from the shunt goes to the + of the battery. So the shunt is correct on my diagram, right?
-so a fuse on each of the 3 wires coming from the positive of the battery? (how big of fuses?)
- I will prob only be pulling 25 to 50 watts from the inverter most of the time, and will only need to do that for a few hours a night when I'm recording music. That 100 ah battery should be able to handle that, right?
-"cable to he bar" ... Does that mean the + and - cables fro mthe battery to the bus bars both need to be 00?

Sorry, I'm just totally stuck on these last few things and got all paranoid from watching videos saying how dangerous it can be if not done correctly with all the fuses and right size wires? Also everyone seems to do things a little different so its hard to know where to take the info from.

I want to be able to leave the boat and let the panel keep charging the battery and not worry about it.

Thanks!!

 

[east coaster]

I recommend you check out Pacific Yacht Systems for the best professional advice on what you are doing. Theny are great, answer questions and have many videos.

 

[rgranger]

Back (30+ years now) when I got the small sailboat restoration bug, I purchased this book

It is very easy to read.

 

[Carl Wonderful]

Back (30+ years now) when I got the small sailboat restoration bug, I purchased this book

View attachment 238107

It is very easy to read.

I do have that book. Its good. I also have a few others, but I guess I'm still just stuck on these last few specifics (of my little system) on fuses basically....

 

[AaronD]

ABYC 11.12.2.2 :'[Fuses shall] have a short circuit current rating that exceeds the system’s available fault current..."

I.e., you need to fuse the positive terminal with a fuse rated with an Ampere Interrupting Capacity (AIC) exceeding your battery's short-circuit current (which is much higher for Lithium batteries than lead-acid, as the internal resistance is much lower). That fuse must be within 7" of the positive terminal (longer if sheathed).

For larger banks that usually means a Class T fuse.

If your battery doesn't specify its fault current (or internal resistance, from which you can compute it), you can fall back to ABYC's table. For a 12v 100 Ah Lithium battery, that would be AIC >=5000; a good MRBF fuse should meet that 5k requirement, and it would mount directly on the terminal, making it easy to meet the 7" limit, so probably easier than Class T in your case.

Naturally, you'll want to go with the cheapest random-letter-sequence Amazon brand for fire safety equipment. yikes

 

[Stu Jackson]

I do have that book. Its good. I also have a few others, but I guess I'm still just stuck on these last few specifics (of my little system) on fuses basically....

https://d2pyqm2yd3fw2i.cloudfront.net/files/resources/reference/20010.pdf