Our Ericson 27 48v 5kw AMeP system has three battery locations and three fuses. This protects locations where a pair of conductors can chafe. The more remote batteries have 250a fuses, while the fuse which is easy to reach is 200a. Larger fuses would be better, but larger wire would be required as well. All fuses are mounted to the batteries for heat dissapation. The controller is set for a peak battery current of 150a. West Marine sells the Blue Seas post-style fuses and mounting studs. I've used their double fuse mount to connect battery chargers with 30a fuses. Di-electric battery spray grease is a little messy, but will effectively reduce corrosion.
The Oct/Nov issue of Professional Boatbuilder magazine has an article on
the design and installation of large battery banks.
In a side bar, the author discussed protection of large banks with Wayne
Kelsoe, VP of electrical engineering at Blue Seas Systems. Among the
author's conclusions is that Class-T fuses are preferred over circuit
breakers for protecting large battery banks.
..."a common failure mode after a short-circuit fault is for the
contacts to fuse when reset. How many of us have reset a circuit breaker
without investigating the cause? If the fault still exists, and the
over-current protection is compromised, a fire could result. At the very
least, the breaker will be internally damaged, and will not reset,
allowing the circuit to remain open. Boat operators often carry spare
fuses, but how many carry spare primary circuit breakers?"
Anybody in the group had any experience with the type of circuit breaker
failure that Wayne is talking about?
-Tom
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