Bus bars and fuses vs lynx distributor

[FishBus]

Just beginning my electrical install on my thomas built. I purchased the 30 amp 200 ah battleborn kit. My batteries will be charging off of the victron multiplus inverter charger, a smart solar mppt 100/50 charge controller, and the orion tr 12v 30amp dc to dc isolated charger. Battleborn recommends bus bars and individual fuses in their wiring diagram but I've read some about the victron lynx distributors and I am wondering what the pros and cons of both configurations would be. Has anyone had any experience with using either one? and if so what size bus bars would be best for a system of this size? 600amp?

Thanks
Jake

 

[Rucker]

Short answer: possibly, but probably not.

A busbar just lets you connect more than two wires together.

A fuse protects the wire, and should not be sized for the load but rather for the max rated amperage for that gauge wire. Also, it must be located as close to the source of the current as possible. Typically this would mean using single fuse blocks, not distribution-type fuse blocks.

A fuse bus like the one you mention is more for heavy load distribution, so unless you have a number of high-current DC loads all coming right off the battery it won't do you much good.

I recommend you take a stab at answering the question for yourself! You can do this! Start by planning the location of your components, then determining wire length, then determining for each length the maximum current that will run through that wire. A wire should be sized for the maximum load that conductor is feeding. Wire gauge is a function of type of wire, size of load, and wire length.

From there you can determine fuse requirements; and only then can you see whether one of those 'fuse buses' might work for you.

 

[Tejon7]

If you haven't seen it already, Nate at Explorist.life has a short YouTube video that may address your question:

https://youtu.be/548aRhZMN-g

I ended up with a lynx distributor and like how clean and organized it makes things. My setup sounds pretty similar to yours, but I substituted a second MPPT 100/50 instead of the Orion.

 

[Rucker]

If you haven't seen it already, Nate at Explorist.life has a short YouTube video that may address your question:

https://youtu.be/548aRhZMN-g

I ended up with a lynx distributor and like how clean and organized it makes things. My setup sounds pretty similar to yours, but I substituted a second MPPT 100/50 instead of the Orion.

Nice video. He makes great points about using higher quality components and reducing the number of potential points of failure. Still not sure how many wires you need to connect together on a single distribution bus until you get to that point in your design.

One other minor point about the way BB suggests you wire things up-they have a shutoff between the battery and the positive bus bar location. I've read it makes real good sense to have a circuit breaker on the feed side from the solar panels to the charge controller because you can potentially damage the charge controller with a large input voltage/current if you disconnect the battery while the panels are lit up.

The CB is not for overvoltage, it's just a way to turn off the solar panel inputs while you're working on the system.