INSTALLATION
Trace Engineering Co. Inc. Tel (360) 435-8826 Part Number 3179
5916 195
th
Street, NE Fax (360) 435-2229 Effective August 6, 1998
Arlington, WA 98223 USA www.traceengineering.com
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possible. You may connect the system without going through the chassis ground terminal, but the
RC7’s fuel gauge feature will not work properly.
Battery Cable Sizing
The bigger the battery cables the better. Undersized cables result in additional stress on the inverter,
lower efficiency, reduced surge power and lower peak output voltage. Don’t use cables that are too
small in diameter. The following table gives recommended cable sizes for the various cable-run
lengths and inverter voltages.
Table 1, Minimum Recommended Battery Cable Size (In free air)
Inverter
Typical DC
Minimum
1 to 3 feet
3 to 5 ft
5 to 10 ft
L2012 200 Amps 250A 00 00 0000
L2512 250 Amps 300A 00 0000 0000
L3012 300 Amps 400A 0000 0000 0000
The term “Free Air” is defined by the NEC as the cabling not being enclosed in conduit or raceway.
Cables enclosed have a substantially lower continuous current carrying ability due to heating factors.
The National Electric Code (NEC) requires that the cables be protected by a fuse or breaker rated to
match the cables ampacity at 75 degrees Celsius. The NEC also allows rounding up to the next fuse
size from the cable rating, i.e. 150-amp cable size rounds up to a 175-amp fuse size.
Warning!
Under-sized cables may melt or burn if the inverter is asked to produce high
power.
DC Over Current Protection
In order to comply with the UL 458 safety standard (Land Vehicle Installations) a UL approved type of
battery over-current protection is required. Fuses and disconnects must be sized to protect the
wiring in the system. The fuse is required to blow before the wire reaches its maximum current
carrying capability.
These installation parts are not supplied as part of the inverter. However, Trace Engineering offers a
DC-rated class T fuse and safety-covered fuse block which are compatible with the Legend Series II
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