Inverter cable length?

[croakz]

Hi all,

I moved my house batteries from the aft cockpit port locker to the fwd cockpit port locker. I'm now looking to upgrade my ProMariner 1500W inverter to a Xantrex Freedom XC inverter / charger 2000W, which means I need to upgrade the cables from the stock 1AWG to 2/0. The inverter is currently in the starboard cockpit locker, which will be a longer run than the 5ft max that Xantrex lists.

When those who have upgraded their inverters, did you rewire or did you move it? I'm now debating:

• Moving my batteries to the starboard locker
  or Moving my inverter to a port side locker
  or Wondering what size cables I should upgrade to for a 10ft length
  or even just running the Xantrex at 1500W and keeping everything the same

Any thought from you all's experiences? Thanks.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

For determining the proper size wire for cable runs, check out the Blue Sea Systems Circuit Wizard in your phone's app store. HTH, Gary

 

[YukonRon]

I recently replaced our inverter/charger with a Victron 3000 as part of our Lithium upgrade. The original factory setup had the inverter on the opposite side of the boat running 2/0 cables 16 feet long! Way outside of safe specs!
I installed the new inverter within 4 ft of the batteries AND upgraded all my cables to 4/0.
My specs are different, but the Xantrex 2000 you are considering has a max 2 second surge capability of 4000 Watts, and DC Nominal Current Load of 192 Adc. The charger side is capable of putting out 80Amps. These are serious numbers and need to be accounted for using max possible currents. That includes fuses, buss bars, battery switches, etc. Every link in the chain must be calculated for MAX current.
Consider upgrading to T-Class fuses for the higher AIC rating; meaning they won't melt to a dead short if way overloaded.
Your numbers will vary, so check all your specs and do the math. Or have a professional do the job for you if you don't feel comfortable with it.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Gin]

Nigel Caldor also has created calculator for determining wire size that works well. It includes both an ABYC calculator (for the US or anyone using the AWG wire system) as well as an ISO calculator (for European or other metric systems): https://boathowto.com/electrics/wire-size-calculators/

Gini

 

[knotflying]

If I were going to relocate my inverter I would put it in the cave. I always thought that the cockpit storage was a horrible place to store the inverter. Putting it in the back wall of the cave will decrease the wire length required and have it in a dry spot , a win/win.

 

[croakz]

Thanks all. My worry was about the 5ft max cable length stated by Xantrex, but looks like everywhere else just says to use the right AWG for whatever length you need. I think I'm going to try to put it in the same location as the current inverter and just upsize the cables.