going solar -- too many wires on batteries

[oside trailer]

i purchased two 15 watt solar panels and a 30 amp controller (probably overkill, but who knows? maybe i'll add more panels some day) to help me boondock a little longer in my trailer.

trouble is, there are too many wires coming off the set of (2) 6V batteries i have wired in a series to accommodate the leads to the solar controller. there's a fuse box, an inverter, and a converter/charger attached already... as well as one of those "Toad Chargers" which charges from the vehcile engine.

i bought a fused power distribution block that allows you to run one 6 awg wire (+) in and two 8 awg wires out. i'll use it to consolidate the fuse box & inverter leads coming from the battery from 2 down to 1 (and break after the block inside of the trailer to the fuse box and inverter).

my question is: on the return side (-) both the fuse box & the inverter are wired directly to the negative battery terminal. can these be grounded to the trailer frame or a bus block instead? i need to consolidate on the ground side the same as i did on the positive side with the power distribution block.

will post pictures shortly...

[mikeschn]

will post pictures shortly...

Yea, that would help!

Mike...

[oside trailer]

Still working on those pics... But yeah, i just re-read my post and, um...well... Hrmph!

Here,s the simplified version: there are too many wires coming off of my battery terminals. Some are for charging the battery, some are for powering things in the trailer.

What should I do? Suggestions?

One possible answer: I bought a power distribution block that allows you to split one 6 awg wire into two 8 awg wires (with two fuses in between). Do I need to buy another for the negative (-) side? Or can negative (-) simply be grounded?

[Shadow Catcher]

I have a seven terminal water proof box under the trailer that comes off the TV plug and goes to each of the proper destinations, lights, brakes cut off switch for the battery. This uses ring terminals and is where the solar controller goes/terminates. You want a cut off switch for all 12V!!!

[Grid Runner Adventures]

ya you need to use terminal strips.

so it will have 1 wire going from each post of your battery to a terminal strip and branch off from there.

also put a battery disconnect switch in Harborfreight has these for 3.99 or 5 bucks depending on which one you go with.

you will also want a pv disconnect switch most likely so you can turn the panels flow off before you mess with the wires. otherwise they will always be live wires.