Solar Panel Circuit Breaker Wiring

[Tellie]

I agree with you goboatingnow to a point. I a perfect world all boats are wired correctly and corrosion, loose fittings, weeping is never an issue. It's true that many boat manufacturers get cheap when trying to expand circuits to save costs.This is an area that dirves me nuts. I just finished adding a circuit on a new Lagoon that had three circuit breakers double tagged. I don't get the lack of simple quality control. Also many people are buying older baots that have had many hands in the electrical system. Unless the system has been gone through with a fine toothed comb by a professional marine electrician I'd be a bit hesitant to recomend getting rid of the fuses. Only because most poeple don't know the sins of the PO. Also it's a very common practice of many people to constantly keep resetting a breaker. A constantly tripping breaker is a warning sign something is wrong in the electrical circuit. A blown fuse can't be reset and kinda forces people to figure out what is really going on by keeping the circuit open and some added dummy proofing. I d agree with most of your assements on how an electrical breaker system should work. But in my personal opinion and small experiance fuses are a redundant safety feature most people would be wise to live with.

[goboatingnow]

sure Tellie, I agree with your real world assessment, even if I dont like it. I still have no fuses onboard though!.

Agree particulary about PO's and electrics, I have years of industrial quality electronics and electrical engineering. I think Ive virtually ripped out the entire electrics on every boat Ive owned. It boils my blood that boats costing quater of a mil, have electrical ( and engine warning )systems that cost pennies. Then a sucession of incompent bodgers adds electronics and wiring and fuses!, and the whole thing is a shameful mess. Havent yet met a boat that is wired to conventional industrial standards.



Dave

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

sure Tellie, I agree with your real world assessment, even if I dont like it. I still have no fuses onboard though!.

Agree particulary about PO's and electrics, I have years of industrial quality electronics and electrical engineering. I think Ive virtually ripped out the entire electrics on every boat Ive owned. It boils my blood that boats costing quater of a mil, have electrical ( and engine warning )systems that cost pennies. Then a sucession of incompent bodgers adds electronics and wiring and fuses!, and the whole thing is a shameful mess. Havent yet met a boat that is wired to conventional industrial standards.



Dave

I was a commercial elctrician for longer than I wanted to be in a past life. We had an electrical engineer that worked for us that was hoot on friday night six pack round tables at the shop. He would confound us with his knowledge and we'd invite him out to the field.

[McG]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I have 3 solar panels, 2 32 watt flexible (one on each ama) and a 120 watt on the arch. They all feed a BlueSky MPPT controller which then goes through a 20 amp marine circuit breaker to feed the batteries.

Hi senormechanico, do you mean you have 2 unisolar 32w panels and a 120w crystalline together through the same controller? Is it 2 x 32w in parallel and 120w in series

[McG]

Originally Posted by ShipShape

I have my wind gen using the same charge controller

Hi ShipShape, what happens when the solar panels (for argument sake) are pumping 17V 10A to the controller and the wind comes up and your wind charger pumps 15v 5A?

What gets to the controller effectively?