Xantrex Technology 3000 manual Calculating Cable Sizes, Calculating Size of DC Input Cables

Designing Your Installation

Calculating Cable Sizes

To operate safely and effectively, the XPower Inverter 3000 Plus needs proper cables and fuses. Because the XPower Inverter 3000 Plus has low- voltage and high-current input, it is essential that you use low-resistance wiring between the battery and the inverter to deliver the maximum amount of usable energy to your load.

For safe and efficient operation, you will need to calculate cable sizes for your:

•DC input cables from the battery to inverter (one way)

•Chassis ground cable from the grounding point to the chassis ground lug on the inverter’s DC panel.

See Figure 3-4, “DC Panel Connections” on page 3–11.

WARNING

Use only copper wire rated 90 °C minimum. Never use a DC input cable longer than specified in Table 3-1. A longer cable can potentially generate enough heat to start a fire or result in poor inverter performance.

Calculating Size of DC Input Cables

Refer to Table 3-1 to plan the DC cabling:

•Keep all cables as short as possible, and ensure that each cable between the inverter and the battery is no longer than 10 feet (3 m).

•Do not use aluminum cable. It has about 1/3 more resistance than copper cable of the same size, and it is difficult to make good, low- resistance connections to aluminum wire.

•We recommend that you use oil-resistant cable.

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