confused on circuit breaker placement for New TS-MPPT-45 Charge controller...

Re: confused on circuit breaker placement for New TS-MPPT-45 Charge controller...

rgearhead wrote: »

Hi all, Im installing a new Tristar mppt-45 this weekend, So im just reading the Installation Manual, And Im a little confused where it states to Install a Minimum size= 56.3amp for TS-45 fuse or breaker...

So i need to as to be clear, I do have a 60amp breaker for this, but Do they want it on the leaving +pos lead leaving the TP-45 charge controller going to Battery bank ?? also I have a shut off to install... does it matter which comes first on this +pos leaving leg = breaker then shut off or shut off then breaker ??



thanks....

The order does not matter a lot. Just affecting which of the two pieces you could safely work on by opening the other one.
Any disconnect would best be in both + and - leads, but the overcurrent protection can/should be only in whichever battery lead is not grounded.

Re: confused on circuit breaker placement for New TS-MPPT-45 Charge controller...

rgearhead wrote: »

thanks Inetdog'' that's something i need to read-look into as well, can anyone provide me with a link or info on the proper way to ground a battery lead... I have watched ton's of Vid's on solar battery bank systems but not once have i seen the bank grounded, ugh'' Help'' please....



Thanks....

With only a 12 volt system, you are not required to ground the batteries. But some CCs and inverters will connect the - battery lead to the device frame and in the case of an inverter to the "neutral" or grounded conductor on the AC side.
Under the NEC the AC side of your system (assuming 120V or 120/240V) will have to have one conductor grounded. That grounding can be done using one or two ground rods that meet the NEC specification, a long enough metal water pipe, or what is called a Concrete Encased Electrode (CEE) or Ufer ground after the man who invented it.
The latter is a connection to a minimum of 20' of electrically continuous rebar in the concrete of footings or foundation of the building. If you can make a CEE it will likely be the best ground electrode you can get.

The size wire you have to use to make the connection to the ground electrode will vary with the details of the system, but for a driven rod type electrode it does not need to be any larger than #6AWG copper.

Re: confused on circuit breaker placement for New TS-MPPT-45 Charge controller...

rgearhead wrote: »

Got to say thanks Inetdog, I have come a long way piecing my little system together to screw this up now, and be all for not''' so if i can pick your brain a bit more... as for a ground'' right next to my system in my garage I have used my 4" sewer line leaving threw my foundation for an earth ground, and thus far I have run a 6 gage wire to the Ground lug on the TS mppt - 45 and it also goes to a ground Buss bar that has a ground wire going to the lug on the case of my inverter.. should I run a 6 gage lead from the Neg- turminal of my battery bank to where these ground on that 4" sewr line as well??
is this correct
and also is it ok to ground my solar panels out in the yard where they are 70" from the house or must i pull a line all the way back with the power leads and ground it also where the rest ground at the sewer line ?

You are getting into a very much disputed area here, both in terms of what the NEC really requires and what is safest, disregarding for the moment what the NEC says.

All ground electrodes where are required by the NEC (which includes at least one local ground electrode for each separate structure) must be connected together (bonded).
So that role will usually be played by a combined Equipment Grounding Conductor (EGC) and either Ground Electrode Conductor or Bonding Jumper in the wiring which goes from your inverter to the building wiring.

But if the building wiring system has its electrode connection in a panel inside the house, some of our members discourage bringing the wire from the remote structure inside to get there.
Opinions vary, and the 2014 NEC has introduced yet another point of view, that the array (not the terminals but the racking etc.) must be connected to a local electrode which does NOT need to be bonded to other electrodes. Some professionals feel strongly enough that this is an actual hazard that they are pressing for an emergency amendment to the 2014 NEC to change this.

For historical reasons (possibly including the use of insulating sealer, i.e. oakum, to join the pipe sections together) a sewer pipe is not recognized as a good ground electrode. But nothing that I know of prohibits connecting to it if you also have some other valid ground electrode in play.