Access to area behind main DC rotary switches

[belladonna]

How do you get access behind these switches and the Charles battery charger mounted on the same panel?
Thanx, Jim

[KenKrawford]

Jim the only way I've found to access the wiring to those switches is to take the screws out that fasten the switch plate. The problem I ran into on my boat was there is almost no play in those cables and the wire is very stiff. I quickly gave up. What are you trying to do?

[belladonna]

Hello Ken - Sorry to be so late in replying to you but I normally get an email from the association that someone did respond to my inquiry but in this case I didn't. Anyway I want to mount a solar controller right below the battery switches which means I'll have to "pull" the wires to that area as well as actually mount the controller with 2 panel and 2 battery wires attached to it externally and I see no way to get access to that area. If you look at a post in the Electrical & Electronics Forum Re: solar install by Olivia Mae on Thu, Oct 23,2019 10:08pm she has attached 3 pics, the last of which shows the controller (same one I have) mounted below the switches. This was an aftermarket application so someone had to get behind that panel.
Thanx Ken and I will gladly accept any help I can get. JIm

[Olivia Mae]

Hi Jim,

I was able to loosen that battery switch panel and pull it out just enough to attach my controllers and get the wires out to connect to them. It wasn't easy as the wires to the battery switches are stiff and not long enough to pull the panel out much. I used to work on cars in a previous life, so maybe I'm just patient with that kind of challenge I routed the solar wiring down to that lower area from back behind the main electrical panel above. The hardest part was getting my arm far enough behind the panel to snake the wires out through the holes I drilled for them in the panel. I remember it being a real PITA. I may have also taken the screws out of the battery switches to allow the panel to move around a little more.

Scott (Olivia Mae)

[belladonna]

Thanx Scott. I'm certain that I don't have the dexterity and patience that you do for installing the controller on that panel. I may look at mounting it on the panel above the fold down door for the fuses, etc. and thus have a longer run to the batteries. Speaking of batteries where did you connect the positive and negative from the controller to your battery system? I have a house bank (4 -6V Trojan 145's) and a Grp 27 starting battery, both running thru an Automatic Charging Relay so am wondering where I should connect into the battery system? Perhaps at the ACR, one or both of the rotary switches or just where? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanx, Jim