Wiring 2 busses together

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TinnedFish
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Location: A San Juan Island, Wa
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Wiring 2 busses together

Post by TinnedFish »

Dig,

I know, this is pretty non-standard... We'll have 2 busses - Habitation bus, and Library Bus. They are primarily non-rolling (we are homesteading, and plan to move homestead several times - hence the busses). To save scratch, and to keep things realistic, we have a single shore power drop, and one generator.

Solar/Battery Bank will exist as a standalone power station (brains and batteries in a trailer, panels in a farm).

I'm thinking I should source the single shore power drop into our Habitation bus (which is the bus most likely to be rolling down the road when the ground dries out in the spring). Here I'll do the standard integrated Inverter/Breaker Panels (120 &12), tied into the standalone solar power system.

For the Library bus I'm hoping to keep it really simple. A simple voltage Change-Over box and breaker panels. I'll source the Change-Over box w/ 120 from one of the circuits in the Habitation bus (or the generator when the Habitation bus is on the road). I'll source 12v from the Habitation bus, into the 12v breaker panel on the Library bus (and plugged into the solar system when the Habitation bus is on the road).

It seems so logical to me, but electrical people always tut-tut my ideas. Other than a super fat ground connection between the 2 busses, and maybe a sprinkling of lightning abatement - what is wrong w/ my plan to connect the busses? Is there something cheaper I'm overlooking?

Thanks in Advance,

TinnedFish

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Sharkey
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Post by Sharkey »

There's no reason this shouldn't work fine, the second bus is simply an appliance to the bus with the power system in it.

I don't know what you are planning to use as change overs, but regular transfer switches are pretty expensive. If you aren't planning on needing to switch between shore and generator power very often or very quickly, I'd simply have a pigtail on the bus that can be plugged into either outlet as needed, rather than have an actual switch. If you must have switches, a very decent transfer/lockout switch can be fabricated from two interlocked circuit breakers. I can supply a photo of this if desired.

If you want to have "quick connect" fittings on the 12 volt cable to the library, look into Anderson connectors. They come in amperages from 50 to 350 amps and fit together with a simple snap. Much easier (and safer from polarity reversals) than hard wired connections. Not particulatly expensive, and available from W.W. Grainers, as well as many other places.
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