One controller or two?

[john61ct]

I'm a bit less conservative but your approach may well be wiser, but I've yet to come across an example.

In any case certainly a minor point and moot here in this one.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I can understand that. If it is difficult, I would certainly ditch the idea of individual controllers. If you have other good forms of power generation, redundancy is less of a consideration, so the simple and cheap Victron 75/15 is by far the best option.

In future, if you ever do a refit, a swan neck is a great way of feeding multiple deck wires. On a metal boat it is simply a matter of welding a bent pipe for a foolproof watertight connection. A swan neck at the mast and stern is a great addition so you can easily feed future wires through the deck. More wires are often needed when equipment changes.

With individual controllers the wires from each panel will be thinner so the total wire bundle size feeding individual controllers is not enormously larger, or more expensive than wiring the panels in parallel with a single controller. However, if not wired like this from the start, the cost and trouble of changing makes the modification not worthwhile.

I would be surprised if a larger computer fan does not solve your noise problem. Consider running the fan at lower voltage (for example a 24v fan supplied with 12v). This greatly reduces the fan speed and therefore the noise. The internal fan in the Outback is tiny. A larger external fan running at low speed should provide plenty of cooling with much less noise, but it will need some experimentation with the fan speed and thermostat cut in temperature to find the best combination. Electronic modules that will convert 24v to an lower and adjustable voltage are readily available.

Thanks for reminding me of your elegant solution of a Swan Neck.
I was only thinking I needed 2 more penetrations, but your idea is more fwd looking if ever I have Outback problems

I do have one Swan Neck above the pilothouse, for the Aft Mast Cables, which is getting pretty full.

A new one at the Stern is easy to do now as we are building the 5th Solar Panel support just aft of the travellor on my strong Tender Davit/Gangway support.

This will allow me to be able to go with individual controllers in the future if required and combine the Stern Light and new Cockpit Lights into one bundle . Great Idea !