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Truck - Camper Breaker Question


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#1 FreezingMan

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Posted 18 November 2022 - 10:57 PM

I'm in the infancy of upgrading my 2014 Fleet to a 100aH LiPo battery, DC2DC charging, and solar.  Looking at the BlueSea wire size chart, I think I need a 50 A breaker or fuse for 6 awg wire or a 80 A breaker/fuse for 4 awg wire to installed close to each battery.  For the camper battery I'm planning to install a short distance before the DC2DC charger.  Does this look correct?

 

https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

 

Separate question: Any suggestion on how to get the 4 awg wire into the Victron charger?


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#2 PaulT

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 01:56 AM

These might do the job for you: 

 

https://www.amazon.c...B07ZQ36SR4?th=1

 

Paul


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#3 Jon R

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 02:40 AM

What made you decide you want/need 4 awg wire? Are you planning to use a Victron Orion 12/12-30 or something larger?
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#4 FreezingMan

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 05:00 AM

What made you decide you want/need 4 awg wire? Are you planning to use a Victron Orion 12/12-30 or something larger?

. I’m planning to use that victron.
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#5 kmcintyre

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 01:48 PM

I'm in the infancy of upgrading my 2014 Fleet to a 100aH LiPo battery, DC2DC charging, and solar.  Looking at the BlueSea wire size chart, I think I need a 50 A breaker or fuse for 6 awg wire or a 80 A breaker/fuse for 4 awg wire to installed close to each battery.  For the camper battery I'm planning to install a short distance before the DC2DC charger.  Does this look correct?

 

https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

 

Separate question: Any suggestion on how to get the 4 awg wire into the Victron charger?

 

I'm definately not an expert but if you are going to run 4awg and then use something to reduce that to 6awg, don't you lose some of the benefits you are trying to achieve by doing that?  


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#6 Jon R

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 02:45 PM

Using 4awg for nearly all of the run and then reducing to 6 or 8 awg for the last few inches, assuming good connections, would have lower overall resistance than using the smaller wire over the whole length.

In this case, I may be able to provide information that can convince the OP that 6 awg is adequate. I have a 2021 GMC 3500 hd crew cab long bed with a Grandby front dinette, which has its battery compartment at the left rear of the camper. I suspect my wire run is about as long as any truck camper would have, and I can look closely at it to estimate the total length later today (it’s about 30 feet one way). The truck has a smart alternator obviously. I use the Victron 12/12-30 isolated Orion Smart charger installed at the rearmost part of the camper battery compartment.

With about 60 total feet of 6 awg Ancor Marine type 3 wire and an SB50 connector at the front of the camper, the voltage drop is low enough that the Orion’s engine running verification cycling function is NOT triggered at any time. The charger’s engine running detection function is able to detect engine running purely through the basic voltage detection thresholds. This is what you ideally want with the Orion to avoid cycling and lower average charging output. I would suggest reading the engine running detection portion of the Orion manual if what I’m describing is not clear.

I can make a more precise estimate of my wire run length and answer other questions about the installation for the OP if desired.
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#7 veryactivelife

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 02:59 PM

I ran 4AWG from the truck battery back to the camper with an 80amp breaker next to the truck batteries. At the camper end I used an Anderson connector and stepped down to 6AWG prior to entering the camper. Do not try to stuff 4AWG into the Orion.

Dean
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#8 Jon R

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 03:20 PM

I ran 4AWG from the truck battery back to the camper with an 80amp breaker next to the truck batteries. At the camper end I used an Anderson connector and stepped down to 6AWG prior to entering the camper. Do not try to stuff 4AWG into the Orion.

Dean


Agreed. It won’t even come close to fitting. Getting even the 6 awg Ancor wire to go into the connectors with no stray strands took some care.
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Jon R

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#9 ri-f

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 05:48 PM

I also ran 4AWG from under the hood to an Andersen connector in the front of the truck bed, and then continuing on with 4AWG from the Anderson connector to a couple of feet away from the B2B charger, at the tail end of the camper, where I stepped it down with a Blueseas Power Bar - 4AWG in, 6AWG out to the B2B. Then ran 6 AWG from the B2B to the Lithium battery one foot away. If you're just using a 30 amp B2B this is probably a bit of overkill. 6 AWG all the way would be sufficient unless you were thinking of a B2B with higher output. Personally, I tend to always opt for larger wire for less resistance over long runs, so I opted for the 4 AWG. Just keep in mind that you'll need a  wire stripper and pricey, heavy-duty crimper capable of properly swaging a connector (ring terminal) onto your 4 AWG cable, which then slips onto the power bar post. You could get away with normal size wire cutters and crimpers if you us 6 AWG.

Rich


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#10 Jon R

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Posted 19 November 2022 - 06:24 PM

I used a $20 Temco hammer crimp tool for with Ancor 6 awg wire and Ancor crimp connectors and it worked well. I did a test crimp, pull test, and a section cut to make sure I was doing it right. It’s not as pretty a finished crimp as a fancier crimp tool, but it’s pretty easy to consistently get good crimps, and you should cover the crimp with shrink tube anyway.
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Jon R

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2021 GMC 3500HD CC LB SRW Gas

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