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Old 12-06-2019, 06:00 PM   #1
masterdrago
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M.O.C. #20587
What's This Wire - Added 80amp Breaker

Today when I added/replaced the 40 amp breaker to the hydraulic pump with the recommended 80 amp, I noticed a wire that I cannot explain. It's a heavy red wire coming off another 40 amp tie point and goes under the floor. To where and what for I have no idea. It's the one with the blue arrow along with some others (a big red one from the + post of the battery and a big red one jumping to the breaker for the hydraulic pump).


 
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Old 12-06-2019, 08:11 PM   #2
Carl n Susan
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That wire feeds the converter/fuse panel via the disconnect switch in the convenience center.
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Old 12-06-2019, 08:21 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Carl n Susan View Post
That wire feeds the converter/fuse panel via the disconnect switch in the convenience center.
Thanks. That sure is a high current pathway off the battery to not be protected. Wondering if that terminal should be attached to the load side of that little breaker or have its own? Wondering what size might be appropriate? 50 amp?
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Old 12-06-2019, 08:43 PM   #4
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Mine is an older model, but that additional heavy wire that disappears under the floor comes off the load side of my 50 amp breaker (i.e. not the pump breaker) so it is protected.
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Old 12-06-2019, 09:21 PM   #5
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I'm thinking the red wire with the arrow is actually coming from the positive terminal of the battery. The loads for the hydraulic pump and the main inside panel should be coming off the other side of the 80 amp breaker where it isn't visible in the photo. You might have to really get inside that compartment a little more where you can see the cable, and I'm pretty sure you will see it go into the battery box.
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Old 12-06-2019, 09:26 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Carl n Susan View Post
That wire feeds the converter/fuse panel via the disconnect switch in the convenience center.
I'm confused. Why does the converter need a 12vdc supply? I was under the impression that it made 12vdc from the 120vac to operate the furnace, lighting, water pump and other 12vdc components. I do understand that it charges the battery. Is it just a distribution panel for the 12vdc source (battery bank) when not on shore power? Mine is a PD4575 - output 75amps @ 13.6vdc. If I install a breaker for just that converter, should I use an 80amp like I used in the hydraulic pump circuit?
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Old 12-06-2019, 09:36 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by rohrmann View Post
I'm thinking the red wire with the arrow is actually coming from the positive terminal of the battery. The loads for the hydraulic pump and the main inside panel should be coming off the other side of the 80 amp breaker where it isn't visible in the photo. You might have to really get inside that compartment a little more where you can see the cable, and I'm pretty sure you will see it go into the battery box.
Nope. The positive cable from the battery is the thick red wire coming through the strap support with the black electrical tape. The thick red wire jumping over to the 80amp Bussman is power to the hydraulic pump. The thick red wire w/blue arrow goes down under the floor of the front garage passthru, I'm assuming like you said to the convenience shut off switch. My surprise was - Why is not it fused? I'm going to fix that. See my other post #6.
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Old 12-07-2019, 08:32 AM   #8
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Again, mine is an older unit. And has fewer total wires on those breakers. But it does have the heavy wire going toward the rear of the unit. And again, mine comes from the load side of my 50 amp breaker. And I am pretty sure it goes to the battery disconnect switch and from there to the 12 volt fuse panel to supply battery power to the 12 volt fuses. It would require a heavy wire to supply enough current to the 12 volt fuse panel to operate everything when on battery power only.
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Old 12-07-2019, 08:37 AM   #9
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Again, mine is an older unit. And has fewer total wires on those breakers. But it does have the heavy wire going toward the rear of the unit. And again, mine comes from the load side of my 50 amp breaker. And I am pretty sure it goes to the battery disconnect switch and from there to the 12 volt fuse panel to supply battery power to the 12 volt fuses. It would require a heavy wire to supply enough current to the 12 volt fuse panel to operate everything when on battery power only.
Thanks. I'll get it fused this weekend.
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Old 12-07-2019, 08:43 AM   #10
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I don't know your model number, but the manual for the PD4500 model has the following statement concerning battery or not.


The INTELI-POWER series of converters are primarily designed for use with a battery, however, the output of the INTELI-POWER converters are a regulated, filtered DC voltage that can power sensitive electronics without the need for a battery or other filtering.
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Old 12-07-2019, 11:25 AM   #11
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OK I have been following this Thread and I admit I am confused. The usual wiring for the self resetting CBs starts with the battery cable to the supply side of the RIGHT CB. Another cable continues from there to the LEFT CB connecting to that CB's supply side. The load side of the the left CB feeds the pump and the main 12V line to the fuse panel. Here is a pic of this setup.
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There was a discussion earlier about all this albeit it centered around the 12V supply to the inverter. See http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=78438

So in this Thread there is the following pic.
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Originally Posted by masterdrago View Post



Not being able to see the right side of the 89 amp breaker doesn't help see what all is connected. But regardless, the big red wire with the yellow crimp is the feed to the converter/fuse panel. It is not protected by the old 40 amp CB. That CB is what is usually on the right side. It appears from the screw hole in the back wall, the left CB has been removed and the new 80 amp CB was installed to the right of the old 40 amp CB.

That big red wire with the yellow crimp should connect to the load side of the left CB (now the 80 amp one). In the process of the move, did the big red wire with the yellow crimp get disconnected and accidentally moved to old 40 amp breaker?

It definitely needs to be connected to the load side of the 80 amp CB.
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Old 12-11-2019, 04:52 PM   #12
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Where are you getting the 80 amp breaker. Is it a auto reset?
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Old 12-12-2019, 08:02 AM   #13
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Where are you getting the 80 amp breaker. Is it a auto reset?
It's one of these Bussmann CB185-80 at AMZN. Manual reset.
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Old 12-12-2019, 08:57 AM   #14
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I've finished cleaning up the wiring. I added a separate 80 amp on the left side of the pix for the converter (80amp since the rating was 75 in the manual). I routed the + terminal off the large 80 amp going to the hydraulic pump. I installed the 275 amp switch for the battery cutoff/isolation on the negative side. It splits the battery from the inverter and chassis ground. I took the DC wiring for the converter off the small 40amp breaker that had five other loads on it. Ran a separate wire from the + side of the battery to that breaker. Still do not know what the large red wire with the 30amp inline fuse going under the floor is for.


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Old 12-12-2019, 09:09 AM   #15
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What cannot be seen in my pix on the extreme left is the 150amp breaker for the inverter. I did not jack with that positive wire off the battery, through the breaker, then through a marine cut off switch then to the inverter.
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Old 12-12-2019, 03:01 PM   #16
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It's one of these Bussmann CB185-80 at AMZN. Manual reset.
Thanks
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