Quote:
Originally Posted by MAWilsonPE
Hello Brad & Chris,
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Of course, I talked to Matt about this before I did anything, just to get his take. He happened to have two Victron SmartSolar 100-50's available from some previous testing he did and offered them to me at a really good price. He mounted them on a panel, provided the breakers and lugs, and pre-wired the whole thing! The decision at that point was easy. The mounting plate he provided was bigger than I expected so my only mounting option was on top of the SSF box. You have to be pretty close to the lugs on that box to keep the wires short. See the picture below (it is getting pretty crowded in there!).
Connecting it up was pretty straight forward. I cut the solar panel feed lines going into the SSF box at the splice just outside the box (do this when it is dark, no sun, no power being generated) and was able to reach the new controllers without adding any more wire. There are two positive lugs on the SSF box. The top one is always connected to the batteries (the hydraulic slide/jacks pump and brake pump are on this circuit so they are always powered). The lower positive lug is the one that is switched from control panel inside the unit. The positive feed from the controllers is connected to the top lug. Ground to the ground lug.
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Best, Mike
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Mike,
Matt sent me the same kit as he sent you; can't believe it got here so fast! (I'm in Canada and it still got here in a week).
I decided to mount it to a new piece of plywood, and move the transfer switch inboard. I cut a 12"x34"x3/4" ply, mounted the transfer switch towards the center, which left room for the new Victron panel curbside. I was able to hook it up just as you described.
Dark now, and I'm parked at my house with partial shade, but will check tomorrow to see what kind of charge performance I will be getting now. A real test will be when I get it in full sun.
Thanks to you Mike for all your help, and thanks to Matt at Future Sales for the great service!
Brad