Next are the black cables, which are 3 -long 1-gauge cables, Canadian Tire part #011-1032-2. They ha

I have just completed the research what I need and get all the pieces phase. At first, I was completely overwhelmed by the whole thing. But with a solid knowledge base about 12V systems, I was able to keep reading until things made sense.
Going left to right, starting with the blue cables at the top. These are 1 -long 1-gauge warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer cables from Canadian Tire, part #011-1091-0. They have round terminal ends for fitting between a nut and a bolt. These will go between the shunt and the negative terminal on the inverter and between the fuse and the positive terminal on the inverter.
Next are the black cables, which are 3 -long 1-gauge cables, Canadian Tire part #011-1032-2. They have heavy lug at one end that goes around the battery post and a smaller looped terminal end to go between a nut and a bolt. One will go from the negative terminal of my battery bank to the shunt and the other will go from the positive terminal warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer of the battery bank to the fuse.
So between the two cable lengths, I have four feet to get from my battery bank to my inverter, which will limit where I can put it, but will mean very little resistance and therefore less of a voltage drop. The inverter warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer manufacturer recommends 4-gauge cable with a maximum length of 6 , so I am well above the recommended specs.
I did a lot of research and consulting as to where to find battery cables and the end resulting was very overwhelming, complicated, and expensive. The Canadian Tire cables are well made and I paid $75 plus tax total for all four.
Next, the long silver thing is a 150 amp fuse and holder from Northern Arizona Sun Electric . These folks have great service and competitive prices, but I won t be ordering from them again from Canada because they ship through warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer UPS, meaning I have to add a nearly $50 brokerage fee to my order on top of the more expensive shipping price than if they used USPS. I will be getting a back up fuse from them when I am in the States this winter, however!
Sizing the fuse was a little counter-intuitive, but once I thought about it, it makes perfect sense. Basically, you want a fuse that can handle your maximum load and not blow early, but it can t have so much capacity as to allow a damaging load to pass through.
warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer Having a 1,000 watt inverter with a surge capacity of 2,000 watts, that means I could have as much as 167 amps (2,000/12) going through my system at one time. That said, I know I will not be running anything with that kind of load in the foreseeable future, so the 150 amp fuse is sufficient. warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer It s not that expensive of a part, so I always have the option of replacing it with a higher rating later if need be.
The short silver item and round thing next to the fuse are the shunt and the battery monitor. They come together. I bought a Xantrex LinkPRO battery monitor simply because I had sufficient Amazon gift certificates to cover the cost. The PRO s main additional feature over the LITE model is that it gives you the amount of time left at your current rate of consumption instead of just the amount of battery life as a percentage. That information would have been worth the $40 price difference even if I had been paying out of pocket.
The coiled wire is the Xantrex Connection Kit . Electrically savvy RVers with a source for parts would find it much cheaper to make their own connection kit. But for a newbie, this kit apparently makes the installation fool proof. There is some assembly required, but everything is colour-coded. I am going to start the assembly this weekend. Since I essentially got the monitor free, the trouble of researching, finding the parts, and making my own connection kit just didn t seem worth my time.
Next nice weekend warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer that my mother is available, we ll move into the finishing putting it all together, set up the inverter in the living room, and bring 120V power from the inverter from the living room to the study via the rig belly and then finish warm n go insulated travel bottle warmer all the trim along the floor in the rig phase.
I sure have come a long way in my electrical knowledge in the last four years and I am starting to apply this knowledge to the 120V world, too. One thing I love about RVing is that it gives you the chance to learn so many new skills if you want to. Now, I like paying someone to do work as much as the next person, but it s nice to know that you could have done them.