Electrical Question for the 12v guru's

JT76

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Jan 24, 2016
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With our new van on order I have been setting up tow vehicle to suit. It requires two anderson plugs, one to run battery and the other (red anderson) for esc. Fridge is then run through 12 pin.

I don't want the fridge to run through 12 pin so as soon as we get it I'll put an anderson plug to run that. Now I need three anderson plugs! So at the moment grey plug protected by 30a breaker and red anderson via 50a breaker. Grey to run fridge as it will draw somewhere between 18 - 23 amps non stop.

Now here is my question, I don't want to run a third anderson but I have made up a anderson double adapter using 8 bns wire. Is it safe to run this double adapter on the red 50a esc anderson? It will be running battery which I believe the bpro35 things sucks 20amps until battery reaches a float stage and I'm guessing esc could pull around 25amps. Best I could find is esc will use 6.2amps per twin brake magnets so I'm thinking 6.2amps x 4 (dual axle) not sure if this is correct?? So the red anderson will possibly have 45amps coming from it if the esc operates and battery is still charging. Which is below the 50amp breaker so I'm hope in good this is still a safe set up? Thoughts?

Other option is forget about charging battery via anderson and let solar do it. I believe when plugged in to 12v the solar then doesn't charge as car dc has priority, which seems a waste. This option means only need two andersons and no double adapter.
 

Dean Anderson

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Feb 7, 2014
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I run the ESC through the 12 Pin plug instead of the fridge and have a 150Amp Anderson on the rear for the fridge in the van. 3B&S cable to the back of the car. The 3 way fridge in the van works great running off the car.

I personally like to know the ESC is a stand alone system, and through the 12pin plug the ESC gets a larger gauge wire than the standard brake wire anyway.

No doubt you will get plenty of advice, cause everyone does things differently, all I can say is put as big a wire in as you can fit, less voltage drop always works better, especially with vehicles with smart alternators.

I suppose the question is....how are the brakes going to operate if they have 10 volts instead of 13 volts? The more draw the more voltage drop.
 
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WHHEMI

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Jan 18, 2016
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Are you going to be doing a lot of off road towing, (not dirt road but rough off road) if not wire the ESC upthrough the 12 pin.
 
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JT76

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Jan 24, 2016
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Thanks, I guess so many ways of doing the same thing. I'm now thinking I'll run my adapter if battery is down and needs a hit and it's not looking too sunny but other wise leave the two andersons for fridge and esc. Van comes standard with esc on a anderson so happy to keep it there as I've already fitted a red plug to the car. Was just not sure if a double adapter was frowned upon or not.
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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I think it's a requirement for the ESC to run on a stand alone circuit and the 12 pin would do it happily, I very much doubt the battery would be drawing that much power unless you ran the thing flat as a tack. My solar keeps my batteries charged up, no connection from tug at all just the fridge thru an anderson, when away like now by the time we pack up and move out they are fully charged up so I couldn't see the need to bother with more cables. Your solar will charge at a better rate than from the car anyway.
 
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