Wiring a Victron MPPT 100/30 Solar Charge Controller | Van Electrics | DIY Sprinter Conversion UK
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- The next instalment in my short electrical series - Installing a Victron solar charge controller!
Solar charge controllers allow you to take the energy harnessed from your solar panels and then use it to charge your leisure batteries in the van. Victron’s solar charge controller was actually super simple to set up and also comes with bluetooth so you can monitor the controller on your phone.
To protect the system and to allow me to isolate it from the rest of the system, I added various circuit breakers, fuses and kill switches as well.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.
Link to Blog for more info: www.greenhorncountryclub.co.u...
Materials used:
Victron Mppt 100/30 Charger Controller - www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/vic...
2P 250V Circuit Breaker (32A) - amzn.eu/d/avAsvMM
Distribution Box - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401617893397
Kill Switch - amzn.eu/d/8DvnG0y
40A Mega Fuse - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373541780873
Fuse Holder - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403402611589
16mm2 Battery Cable - Red - www.theoffgridengineer.co.uk/
16mm2 Battery Cable - Black - www.theoffgridengineer.co.uk/
16mm x 8mm Cable Lugs x6 - amzn.eu/d/hgSoWFK
16mm x 10mm Cable Lugs x6 - amzn.eu/d/bm9jZnP
Cable Heat Shrink - amzn.eu/d/2euJdkG
TOTAL SPEND: £268.98
You can now see a full breakdown of costs here: www.greenhorncountryclub.co.u...
View complete wiring diagram: uploads-ssl.webflow.com/60d22...
Link to solar panel installation video: • How to Install a Solar...
Link to battery bank video: • Sizing and Wiring up L... Link to VSR video: • Video
More content at: www.greenhorncountryclub.co.uk
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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:33 - Disclaimer
0:46 - Circuit diagram
1:18 - Components
1:54 - Fixing down components
2:25 - Cables
3:20 - Connecting controller to battery
8:23 - Checking power to controller
9:03 - Connecting panel to controller
12:00 - Checking power from solar panel
Nice, clear and accurate info. Just a tiny thing - you said 100 watts was the 100 on the MPPT, but you correctly said volts later :-)
The ONLY thing you did wrong was cutting the solar cables at the same time - this would short the positive and negative lines together through the cutting tool (good job you’d covered the panels first.
Nice vid :-)
Ah yes! You’re absolutely right - something I realised after watching it back a little while later 😅 Thanks so much, really appreciate the feedback!
@@GreenHornCountryClub Hi mate, another thing is, for the best connection and current transfer; washers should be between the nut and the connector lug, not between the lug and the terminal/fuse etc.
Especially if it is a spring washer as you would negate the locking effect to a large degree and create a much smaller surface area to carry the current.
I just rewatched it and it looks like you cut the vid and redid the fuse connection in the correct order.. =0)
@@concernedcitizen3159 Hey bud! Sorry for the confusion - I did indeed place the washer between the connector lug and nut, I must have mistakenly said washer at the wrong moment 😅
New Subscriber here 👍🏽 Did anyone else flinch when both the wires from the solar panel got cut at the same time ? 😅😅😅 😂
Following this instal to put a solar set up in my shed to charge my Ebike 😉👍🏽
Even I did when I watched it back 😅 Rookie.
Thanks for the sub though dude! Let me know how you get on with the install 👍🏼
Yes me 😱
@@graham_ozzy 🤣
@@graham_ozzy 🤣
I know you said that you covered the solar panels and that it's an extra step, but you should never cut both positive and negative wires simultaneously unless they are not hooked up to anything.
Hey bud, thanks for the message - you’re absolutely right and something that someone else mentioned in the comments too. A mistake I made in haste!
Good choice with the Victron 100/30. I have 100/20 and love it. Happy travels from the USA!
Thanks brother!
I have been doing this years & years I watch so my channels for Victron for the motorhome and this video how you show and explain will definitely help others far better then when I had to learn …. Again great content dude 👍
This is SO good to hear 🙏 I must admit, because I'm learning as I go and feel like I'm fumbling my way through, I'm often worried that things aren't clear enough but this is super reassuring! Thanks again bro
Great idea of the MDF panel to hold the hardware 2:09 I was thinking that also a larger plastic kitchen cutting board will be an excellent choice too because it is plastic and will never be affected by humidity 😊
Thanks man! Plastic would be a great idea too
Awesome looking project. One thing though. On your kill switch, I believe all four sides have a little panel that slides out, making it easy to route the cables out of the side of the box instead of bending the ring terminals and going out the bottom. At least my Kill Switch does anyway. It looks just like yours except the housing is gray instead of black. There's a scene at exactly 06:29 that shows the arched panel that slides out with a bit of a tug. That allows you to recess the stitch so only the round dial is visible on the surface, unlike surface mounting the way you did it.
Hello bud, thanks so much! You’re absolutely right, there’s a little panel on each of the four sides of the kill switch that slot out allowing you to have the cables running out the sides. I didn’t have space for my fuses and circuit breakers on the same side of the ply as everything else, so I mounted them underneath and fed the cables through. The other option is to screw the kill switch to the underside of the board, so you can only see the top of the switch from the topside, but my plywood was a little too thick 👍🏼
Thanks for the video. A great help for me whom, in a way, just like you... "not much knowledge about electricity". 🙂
Thank you man! I’m glad it helped 😄
Hiya, just wondering what size cable you used to ground? Also, I’ve no space for a ground on my busbar so I’ll be grounding it directly to the van but (stupid question) if the the busbar is earthed is the MPPT not earthed by default as the negative cable is going to it? Clueless as you can tell but will be wiring later and found your videos a great help - thanks a mil!!
Hey! I believe I used 35mm cable to ground the negative busbar. Essentially as long as the negative busbar is grounded, anything else you connect to it will have a route to ground too 👍🏼
likin' the slotted holes on mounting board.
Thanks dude! I’d love to say I came up with that idea myself 😅
Hi there! I like how you traced out the components so that you would know how they would fit. Do you have a video of you doing that? I might have missed it.
Hey dude! Unfortunately I didn’t film that part. I already had the section of ply cut so I knew the space I had to work with, then it just consisted of me sat in the living room with all the electrical components out and moving them around until they all looked relatively evenly spaced out. Once I had the layout I was happy with, I traced around each component and just a hole saw and jigsaw to cut the holes 👍🏼
@@GreenHornCountryClub I am assuming the longer slots were done with a router of sorts?
@@gamerscircle I don’t have a router sadly so I drilled a small hole either end with a hole saw and then connected them with a jigsaw.
Will the negative bus bar. Do you earth the bar then everything that connects to it will be earthed??
Hey bud - that’s correct! In 12V systems, if you make sure that the negative busbar is grounded it will then act as a ground for everything that’s connected to it 👍🏼
@@GreenHornCountryClub sweet, nice one man ✌️
How come you use a 40w mega fuse here but on everything else is a 100?
Hey bud, I just checked Victron’s documentation and they recommended a 40A fuse for the MPPT 100/30: www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Manual_BlueSolar_100-30__100-50/en/installation.html
Hiya thanks, your vid is exactly what id been looking for. Wasnt sure in what order you had to connect everything. Hopefully you'll see this comment with it being an older vid. What did you cover your solar panels with? Also when people say dont cut both panel wires at the same time do they literally just mean cut the +, put that to one side, then cut the - ??
Hey thanks for the comment! Because I cut both wires at the same time with metal cable cutters, I risked briefly creating a connection from the positive wire, through the cable cutters, into the negative wire 😅 Just make sure to do one at a time. In terms of covering the solar panel whilst I worked, I just used a big blanket.
@@GreenHornCountryClub ahh nice one thanks for that. I get what you mean now.
Did you just cover your panel with some cardboard or a sheet or something while you were wiring it up?
So glad I've found your videos. Im pretty much ready to buy all my electrical things but just wasnt really sure what gets wired together first or in what order.
Ps i like your nose ring. I have one too 😉
@@hollygrinstead7252 yee just covered it in a big old bed sheet whilst I was wiring it up. Nose rings are the one 👏🏻
Pp
Why do all of these people put stupid rings in their noses?
It's a pretty good way of finding out who the intolerant losers are. Case in point - your comment.
By these people do you mean British people? (It’s to hang keys off btw).
I hope you found my video helpful despite my stupid appearance xxx