DC CONTROL PANEL HELP

Hi again
Sorry to be a pain but have now found that the Rapido line cable is 12awg which I think is 2.05mm.
Bearing this in mind which method would you use? Obviously put a fuse in the line (size?) and then wire as is or wire each switch individually with 5amp fuses?
Best wishes
Martin
 
A 2mm cable is good for 10A and will power everything you listed earlier.
Providing it's fused correctly at the source with a 10A fuse it will be protected from accidental overload say f you plug something heavy into the ciggy socket.
In order to be safe the main positive wire at the control panel also needs to be 2mm or greater and it appears that it's not so removing the daisy chain and re-wiring the inputs would be required. This could be done as previously mentioned or you could make up a new daisy chain with heavier (2mm or greater) cable.
The output cables appear to be good for only 4-5 amps so they should be fused appropriately.
 
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12AWG is actually over 3mm CSA. I thought you said all the cables going to the old control panel were quite thin? A 13awg cable would be over 3mm thick Inc the insulation....did you miss it or is there an error somewhere?
 
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MERL said:
The copper core needs to be at least 2mm in diameter to carry 15A.
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If you scroll down to the materials and care section of the Amazon listing it says that the contact material is aluminium so it may not even be copper :unsure:

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Regards,
Del
 
Hi. Thanks again.
Cable size-I unsheathed all the cable and read the spec this morning rather than guess!!
Is aluminium rather than copper a problem?
 
alwaysared said:
If you scroll down to the materials and care section of the Amazon listing it says that the contact material is aluminium so it may not even be copper :unsure:

View attachment 207116

Regards,
Del
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An aluminium switch contact wouldn't last long! Probably the cable? Probably something else that's aluminium? You never know these days with online descriptions. This along with the fact that the cables are pretty thin and according to some reviews aren't particularly well crimped anyway would suggest a decent choice would be to rewire the inputs at least.
 
Alshymer said:
Is aluminium rather than copper a problem?
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It changes all of the current carrying capacity calculations because copper will carry about 35% more current than Ali of the same CSA.
Ultimately we're only guessing at the cable sizes anyway but based on what's been guessed at and said previously you'd change those 5A fuses for 3A. I can't recall your list of intended loads but 3A is still likely to be ok for you.
 
MERL said:
It changes all of the current carrying capacity calculations because copper will carry about 35% more current than Ali of the same CSA.
Ultimately we're only guessing at the cable sizes anyway but based on what's been guessed at and said previously you'd change those 5A fuses for 3A. I can't recall your list of intended loads but 3A is still likely to be ok for you.
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Thanks so much. I have taken up so much life your time but you have been so helpful as you have previously.
If I keep the panel I will definitely rewire it but may seek a better one now I have so much more information.
Best wishes and happy travelling (if you have time!!!😂)
 
Back in the 70's they used a lot of aluminium cables due to a worldwide shortage of copper. We had one of the main supply cables to one of the asphalt plants blow in the mid 90's. That was the fist time I saw lightening in reverse lol

Turned out that was an aluminium cable, about 8" diameter
 
MERL said:
So that's about 1.3mm². Good for about 6.5A if it's copper.
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Hello Merl
Just a quick message to thank you once again for all of your help.
I am getting there. I have fused the 12 AWG main feed with a 7.5amp fuse and individually wired each of the items on the control panel with 14AWG cabling to a 6 way fused buzz board.
Thank up for your time.
Much appreciated.
Regards
Martin
 
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