[jhaley66]

I am about to buy an Iota battery charger. I want to wire it directly to my (new) AC electrical panel. Has anyone done this already? Do I need to cut the plug off and put crip connectors on the wire, or disconnect the old power cord completely and attach boat cable to the inside of the Iota unit?

 

[jhaley66]

Also, do you have any suggestions about a good place to order an Iota charger from?

Thanks in advance.....

 

[sailingdog]

Order them from HERE.

I would cut the cord and put crimp connectors on it and wire it to the AC panel that way. Opening the unit up and putting a new cord directly onto the inside of the unit will probably void the warranty, which cutting the cord will not.

 

[jhaley66]

Thanks very much for the link, Sailingdog. The price at wind & sun was half of what I had previously looked at by just googling Iota.

I notice that Iota sells battery wires that have a special lug to connect to the charger. Am I going to have to find a lug like that or can I just use some kind of ordinary crimp termination?

Thanks again.

 

[sailingdog]

I would use a regular crimp terminal. You should follow the suggestions at Maine Sail's page on Marine Wiring Termination. The tools are relatively inexpensive and will last you a lifetime...and save you a lot of money in the long run. The tools and proper wire and crimp terminals can be gotten at Sailorsolutions.com. The wire can also be bought from GenuineDealz.com

 

[jhaley66]

I have been following this forum for a while, so I have found Mainesail's posts on this topic to be very useful. I have already ordered the crimping tool that you recommend, along with connectors and wire from sailor's solutions and berkshire. This forum is a great resource.

Several sites advertise battery cables that use a lug on one end that I guess the lug bolt on the charger screws down on. An example is shown below:

IOTA Battery Chargers

I assume that I can just use a normal ring crimp connector instead.

 

[witzgall]

I opened up the unit and replaced the cord on my Iote 45a charger. The only issue was that I needed to protect the cord coming through the casing, as it is sharp metal. The original cord had a grommet that served as protection and strain relief. I made up a new grommet, and limited the chance of them pupping out with the use of external wire mount. THe unit is also screwed down.

Chris

 

[jhaley66]

How did you connect the battery cables to your Iota charger? Now that I have received the unit by mail I see that there are bolts that are designed to capture a lug under them. I think I can use a ring termination under the bolts, but the contact area is not that great.

I got the 55 amp model.