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Post by SeattleAl on Jun 29, 2015 21:47:21 GMT -8
Hi again. I bought a 100w Foldable Solar Suitcase Battery Charger. Had it out camping and found that it worked really well to keep my small trailer batteries recharged. And extra 15-20 feet of cable would have helped in keeping that panels in the sun, so I'm planning to make up an extension. Any suggestions of what gauge wire I should use for a reasonable balance of weight and voltage loss? My not-too-well -informed guess would be 12G would be about right. Does anyone know what gauge the stock wire that comes with the unit is?
Thanks!
Al |
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Post by Admin on Jun 30, 2015 11:22:37 GMT -8
The 100 watt solar suitcase comes with 14 AWG wire. I would recommend using 10 AWG wire if you plan to run another 15-20 feet.
O.C
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Post by SeattleAl on Jun 30, 2015 11:49:01 GMT -8
Thanks for the quick reply. A quick follow-up question: would it be better to add a 15-20ft extension cable to the cable the unit came with, or replace the cable with a single 30-35 foot 10AWG wire? I know I lose power with a longer cable, but I'll be losing more power of the panels are in the shade.
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Post by Admin on Jun 30, 2015 13:21:24 GMT -8
If you can replace that cable with a single 35 feet 10 AWG wire I would do that. For a 35 feet run using 10 AWG wire you should see a voltage drop of about 3.5%.
O.C
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Post by SeattleAl on Jun 30, 2015 13:54:47 GMT -8
Thanks again. I can live with -3.5%. Amps drop a whole lot more in the shade.
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Post by Admin on Jun 30, 2015 14:19:17 GMT -8
You are welcome. Is there anything else I can help you with?
O.C
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Post by Aliner1218 on Jun 1, 2016 10:56:24 GMT -8
Can I use 12AWG wire?
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Post by burnhaven on Jun 2, 2016 4:14:00 GMT -8
I also just recently bought the 100 watt suitcase kit with controller. I was thinking of getting two of these extension cables 15 ft 10 gauge and inserting them in the cables that came with the kit. The goal is to set the panels on top of my pop-up trailer and clip the alligator clips to the battery on the trailer tongue. renogy.com/renogy-extension-cable-for-solar-power-system/ |
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Post by Admin on Jun 3, 2016 9:30:06 GMT -8
Hello Burnhaven,
You would use two of the renogy extension cables if you absolutely needed to extend that line. we wouldn't recommend extending it though. The controller will spit out certain voltages to charge the battery.
One thing you could do with the viewstar controller is set the charging voltages to user defined and set them to a higher voltage so you get a better charging voltage to the battery after the voltage drop.
Please feel free to contact our technical support team for clarification.
-A.L.
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