Charge controller question

[nature lover]

Hello all.  I watched too many solar videos.  The more I see the less I understand.  So this is probulaly A simple question for most of you.

I installed two 110 amp hour lead acid deep cycle batteries In a vented and sealed box.  I had a mechanic run a wire to connect the house batteries to the starter battery and alternator with a breaker.  I have a 150 watt folding panel and the “cheap”  charge controller that came with it.  I want to eventually upgrade to a better (mppt) controller and add a roof top panel also. (Using the roof top and the portable together sometimes and separately other times)  Of course the controller has 3 places to hook battery, panels, and appliances.  

The question I have now is: am I ok by attaching the batteries and the panel to the controller and then running a pigtail 12 volt cig liter plug (with fuse) from the batteries and plug the fridge into that outlet without going through the controller?

 

[jonyjoe303]

Yes, thats the best way to do it. All high drain devices its best connected to the battery or as close to the battery as possible.

 

[bullfrog]

Most use a fuse block directly off the batteries, so yes. Positive from one battery and negative from the other battery to balance the load as you will probably add more circuits later. Be sure to detach the panels before detaching the batteries and attach the batteries to the controller before attaching the panels to the controller, or just insure the panels are not producing power by folding them shut or cover them up so you don’t possibly damage the controller. I would highly recommend a better plug or wiring directly as cig plugs tend to disconnect on their own sometimes. As a side note did your mechanic isolate the house batteries from the vehicle battery when the vehicle is not running? The breaker could be turned of while stopped to prevent running down the vehicle battery but that is really hard on a breaker and not recommended.