Confused about fuse panel wiring/info.

[ginga]

This is the panel I purchased.  http://www.genuinedealz.com/blue-se...-fuse-block-with-cover-6-circuit-negative-bus

I'm having a rough time finding an exact definition of what an "integrated ground buss" is and it's function.  My best guess would be that I don't need to actually wire the panel to a ground, but I don't think that is right.  

Also is it correct that since each block is 30amp max then I should be using only 30amp fuses?   

More questions:  I want to wire up a cigarette lighter to my fuse panel.  With the product linked below I assume the positive goes to the fuse panel and I ground the negative?  

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GC018-S...8287&sr=1-5&keywords=cigarette+lighter+socket

I ask because I want to plug this into it:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P9C032/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
[font=Arial,]↳[/font]  I want to power the fridge by my auxiliary batteries and not my power inverter or my house cigarette lighter.  

 

[MazdaGuy15]

The picture doesn't really show much but the ground buss will need to be grounded out to the batteries and anything your running on it will also need to be grounded out (usually to the panel ground buss) Basically its just a location to ground everything out to.

And you should size your fuses for the wire and whatever your powering NOT the max the panel can take. (example... fan shouldn't use more than 5amps so you put a 6amp fuse for that appliance)

The cigarette lighter you have picked out has a fuse built into it so its not really the right one to use since you have the main fuse block. But to wire it up you would connect the positive to one of the fused ports on your fuse block and the negative would go to the ground buss on the fuse block.

Personally I would hard wire the fridge into the fuse block but that only works if you aren't going to move it later. If you do use a cigarette conection to power the fridge make sure the wires going to it are at least (they can be bigger) the same gauge (thickness) as the wire that comes out of the fridge.

 

[Gary68]

the negative from the battery goes to the top large center bolt,the positive from battery goes to bottom large center bolt

the negative out are the top screws,the positive out are the bottom side screws

skip the ciggy plug and wire the fridge direct

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

You can get a fuse block with or without a ground bus.  If it has a ground bus, as yours does, (see first picture) you run a wire from the positive on your battery to the fuse side, and from the negative on your battery to it's ground bus, and everything hooked up to the fuse box has two wires, one to the fused hot terminal, and one to the ground terminal as the return.

If it doesn't have a ground bus (see second picture)  then you only run a wire from the positive on your battery to the fuse block and only one wire runs from the fused hot to the item, and the item itself gets grounded to the chassis to provide a return path to the battery.

 

[highdesertranger]

all good advice so far. that fuse panel is 100amp max so that means everything added up must not exceed 100a. the 30a is for each individual circuit they cannot exceed 30a. I am with the others hard wire the refer or get a Blue Seas ciggy plug or use Anderson connectors. highdesertranger

 

[rvpopeye]

A 30 amp fuse feeds a 10 ga wire
20 amp fuse = 12 ga
15 amp = 14 ga
.......
You can use smaller fuses but I'd stick with 14 ga wire for a minimum.
Longer runs , bump up to a bigger wire.
I use all 10 and 12 just to allow for future additions and keeping it simple.

 

[ginga]

Thank you all for your help. I did make a really stupid mistake. I purchased the fuse block without the ground buss:

So if I understand correctly from OptimisticParanoid then all I have to do differently for this fuse panel is to connect the positive to the terminal on the panel and then ground the negative from the device I am wiring to the chassis like anything else I would wire up.

If I can ask another question, a few of yall have suggested I hardwire the fridge to my batteries. The fridge came with two cords, one 12v DC cord for my cars cigarette lights and then a regular AC cord. What would it take to hardwire this fridge to my battery? It seemed simpler to wire up a cigarette lighter to my fuse panel.

 

[Weight]

The cigarette lighter type of socket are not as reliable as other connections. The marine grade are a bit better, but a direct connection to the battery will insure your refrigerator doesn't fail due to bad connection. Direct to the battery could be direct to the fuse panel. I would run a wire back to the negative battery and not rely on a chassis ground path. You could get a separate terminal block for your negatives. Be sure to fuse the feed to the fuse block as close to the positive battery as you can.

 

[ginga]

So if I understand correctly from OptimisticParanoid then all I have to do differently for this fuse panel is to connect the positive to the terminal on the panel and then ground the negative from the device I am wiring to the chassis like anything else I would wire up.  

I felt I needed to rephrase this entire question. 

So if I understant correctly from OptimisticParanoid then I need to wire a single cable from my battery positive to my fuse panel positive.  Then a device like a fan gets wired to the panel.  Positive wire for fan goes to panel and gets fused and then negative wire goes to chassis for grounding.  Yes?

 

[ginga]

The cigarette lighter type of socket are not as reliable as other connections. The marine grade are a bit better, but a direct connection to the battery will insure your refrigerator doesn't fail due to bad connection. Direct to the battery could be direct to the fuse panel. I would run a wire back to the negative battery and not rely on a chassis ground path. You could get a separate terminal block for your negatives. Be sure to fuse the feed to the fuse block as close to the positive battery as you can.

Would wiring the fridge direct to the battery then entail cutting the supplied wires from the fridge and crimping lugs onto them?

 

[MikeRuth]

Yes you would need to cut the 12V wire and install lugs appropriate for the fuse block and ground. Ah you mention Frdge directly to the battery. If you do you still should have a fuse in the hot line to the fridge, If your connecting the fridge to the fuse block then your good to go.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I felt I needed to rephrase this entire question. 

So if I understant correctly from OptimisticParanoid then I need to wire a single cable from my battery positive to my fuse panel positive.  Then a device like a fan gets wired to the panel.  Positive wire for fan goes to panel and gets fused and then negative wire goes to chassis for grounding.  Yes?

This is essentially correct, except that I would recommend that the wire between the battery and the fuse block have it's own master fuse in it.  I would recommend 4 gauge wire between the battery and the block and a Maxi Fuse of 80 amps.  Here's a link to a good Maxi Fuse holder, which should be mounted fairly close to the battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=H2ZCQ5X1VYS8M41CW20N

 

[Almost There]

 

If I can ask another question, a few of yall have suggested I hardwire the fridge to my batteries.  The fridge came with two cords, one 12v DC cord for my cars cigarette lights and then a regular AC cord.  What would it take to hardwire this fridge to my battery?  It seemed simpler to wire up a cigarette lighter to my fuse panel.

I used those 12v cig plugs on both the fridge and freezer for the past 10 months and I can attest to the PITA that they are.

I installed Marinco outlets thoughout the van so it's not like I was using cheap outlets.

One of the cig plugs malfunctioned within the first couple of months...the tip wasn't aimed straight out and would refuse to make good contact. I started using the 120v connector in to my portable 120W inverter in to the Marinco outlet. That worked but at a substantial power usage I'm sure.

The freezer was on 120V service all summer in my cargo trailer but when I put it back in the van for the winter I had constant trouble with the cig plug coming out of the outlet.

I was constantly checking to see if I still had power to it and the tip was starting to bend just like the other one did.

Finally one day in desperation I cut both the cig plugs off, removed the 2 Marinco outlets and hard wired the two units!

I should have done it 9 1/2 months ago. I never have to worry about the plugs working loose and there's no power use due to heat.

If I ever want to remove one of the units from the van I can simply unplug the cord at the fridge.

BTW Whynter wanted $24.95 plus shipping for those chinzy cords...my cost of the fix - $0.00 - okay 4 butt connectors...

 

[ginga]

This is essentially correct, except that I would recommend that the wire between the battery and the fuse block have it's own master fuse in it.  I would recommend 4 gauge wire between the battery and the block and a Maxi Fuse of 80 amps.  Here's a link to a good Maxi Fuse holder, which should be mounted fairly close to the battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=H2ZCQ5X1VYS8M41CW20N

My fridge's 12/24DC cord that it came with has a fuse already built into it.  I assume the supplied fuse will suffice for my hardwiring?

 

[ginga]

A 30 amp fuse feeds a 10 ga wire
  20 amp fuse = 12 ga
  15 amp = 14 ga
.......
You can use smaller fuses but I'd stick with 14 ga wire for a minimum.
Longer runs , bump up to a bigger wire.
I use all 10 and 12 just to allow for future additions and keeping it simple.

Would you say 10 or 12 gauge wire for the battery+ to the fuse panel+ ?

 

[ginga]

My fridge's 12/24DC cord that it came with has a fuse already built into it.  I assume the supplied fuse will suffice for my hardwiring?

Mm, strike that.  It won't work.  The manual recommends that if I hardwire it to include a 15amp inline fuse.  

Is putting a 15amp inline fuse really more necessary than wiring it through my fuse panel?  Does using the fuse panel for it make things more difficult?

 

[SternWake]

Are you Willing to cut the 12 volt cord that the ARB came with?

I had a friend's 50 QT ARB, and its 12v cors was 5 feet of 16AWG wire.

This is INADEQUATE in the extreme.

ARB use a danfoss/Secop compressor, and in the PDF Spec sheet they do not allow the use of any Wiring less than 12AWG, no matter how short.

So right off the bat the 16AWG ciggy plug 12v power cord is an insult to the compressor.

What I wound up doing was installing 45 amp anderson powerpoles in my Frineds 16AWG power cord, so the original cord could still be used in amy 12v outlet, but I also has a 10 AWG power cord with 45 amps powerpoles go righ to the fuse block. So he could disconnect the original cord and plug fridge into thicker wire closer to the battery.

The Noco power cord you linked is Not adequate for a compressor fridge, not when the battery gets to 60% charged or below. there will be too much voltage drop, and you might hear the Condenser fan poower up, and think the compressor is running, but it is not, and will not, until the battery is recharged.

The shorter and thicker the 12v wiring is to the Compressor controller, the better it will work, and will continut to work for longer even when the battery is drawn lower than desirable.

But better the battery go too low, than food spoil, and a Ciggy plug/receptacle and 16AWG feeding a Danfoss compressor is electrically criminal.

But they have to sell it with a Ciggy plug, otherwise it would not be marketable to joe blow consumer who gets confused trying install a plug into a household outlet.

http://files.danfoss.com/TechnicalInfo/Dila/06/bd35-50f_electronic_unit_ac-dc_04-2009_ei100g402.pdf

The PDF above shows that 12AWG is acceptable for a total circuit length of 8 feet. That is there and back, so a 4 foot long power cord. yet the 12v power cord provided with the fridge is 16AWG and 5 feet long, and then there is the additional resistance of the ciggy plug and receptacle, and the wiring to the receptacle from battery.

At a Minimum, make sure the 12v ciggy receptacle, if used, is wired thickly to the battery/ Fuse block, but best to bypass the ciggy plugs and receptacles all together.

If one is willing to remove the access panel to the compressor controller( i have no idea how difficult this is), One can add piggy back connectors to the 12v input connectors on the compressor controller and wire these directly to Fuse block. That way there is no original cord cutting involved.

But I would cut the cord close to the plug on the fridge, or have an Extra:
https://www.amazon.com/ARB-10910076...4291&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=ARB+12v+power+cord

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Mm, strike that.  It won't work.  The manual recommends that if I hardwire it to include a 15amp inline fuse.  

Is putting a 15amp inline fuse really more necessary than wiring it through my fuse panel?  Does using the fuse panel for it make things more difficult?

The fuse that came with it is intended to protect the refrigerator, NOT the wire going to it.  If the wire going to it were to somehow have it's insulation damaged and touch the chassis, the fuse with the refrigerator would never blow, and the wire would cause a fire.  Remember, the cigarette lighter socket itself is fused to protect the wires. That's why they say if you aren't going through that, you need to fuse the hardwire yourself.

 

[ginga]

Are you Willing to cut the 12 volt cord that the ARB came with?

I had a friend's 50 QT ARB, and its 12v cors was 5 feet of 16AWG wire.

...

Seems like it might be simpler for me to use the 18awg AC cord the fridge came with.  Would it not be wise to wire that AC cord to the fuse panel with a 15amp fuse?  Or is it absolutely best to hardwire the fridge to the battery, because I'm not finding anything to wire up a 15amp fuse inline for 18awg wire.

 

[MazdaGuy15]

18 gauge wire is way to small. Do like sternwake said. Open up the cover and wire 12 gauge direct to the 12v power supply in the fridge. And to your fuse block. Either get another block to ground everything to or just return the one you have for one with a ground block in it.