I have a renogy 200watt rv solar kit with the adventurer controller to install in my cargo conversion to charge the 2 6v golf cart batteries. I had this worked out in my head, but decided to call tech support to double check, and they were no help at all, only able to tell that they never recommend anything in between the controller and battery and to contact a licensed electrician. So my two questions are:
1: They seem adamant about never having the panels connected to the controller without the controller first being connected to the batteries. Will this really damage the controller? It seems like they would engineer a safety into that so it wouldn't be an issue. I had planned to use a dual battery switch wired to give me four positions:
1:Batteries/Load/Solar --Normal operation
2:Batteries/Load --This mode is just a by product
3:Solar/Batteries --While towing, or away for an extended time the house can be completely powered off and the solar panels still charging
4:all three isolated Off
2. I went though this complication because I want to use a remote terminal bulkhead fitting to get the power from batteries outside through the wall. This would allow me to have just the positive cable run from the battery+ terminal to the exterior of the trailer wall, and the solar and fuse block would tie in on the inside of the wall instead of needing multiple wires running though the wall to the battery. The ground would attach to the frame on the interior and the exterior. Without isolating the solar charger with this setup, if I were to disconnect the batteries to service or move them, the power from the solar panel would still be in the cable and could arc, etc.
I guess this is a consideration with even a standard setup, but it just seems odd to me. Like removing your car battery with your engine running. How does this normally work? Do you have to physically disconnect the solar panel from the controller before you disconnect your battery?
Thanks in advance for any help on this, I hope my questions are clear enough to understand. -Aaron