Fusing series/parallel batteries

Hey Victron crew.

I nearly have all the pieces together for a full camper power upgrade. The system consists of 1 x 100 -50 mppt, 1 x Orion Xs1400 DCDC, 1 x 20 amp ACDC, Cerbo gx, 1 x 20 amp 24-12 converter 2 x balancers and 1 x 3000 Va Redarc inverter. The only non victron unit is the inverter which was due to the form factor basically.

I am stuck though on the best way to fuse my 2s2p setup. I have 4 x 140ah LifePo4 batteries, all with a 100 amp bms. The layout will be in the shape of a T, 2 vertical and 2 horizontal with limited space for fusing right near the terminals. My easiest option would be mrbf fuses but I have concerns over the low AIC rating @ 5ka @ 24V. Would it help if every battery terminal + and - has a fuse to distribute the load and if so what size fuses seeing there would be 4 + and 4 - fuses ? Is it a good idea in general to fuse every terminal when connecting in series/parallel and not just the main in/out cables going to the Lynx distributor ? I do have a Noark 200amp mccb to install as a main battery breaker and disconnect but the closest I can get that still leaves me with around 900mm of cable length unprotected if that is the only main battery protection I have. In Australia the standards are to fuse within 1 meter of the battery terminal but this still leaves a lot of cable unprotected. Any help is greatly appreciated. :folded_hands:

I also would like to add that I am aware that series connecting lithium is said to be a bad idea but after living offgrid for 25 years and having experienced living on 12V, 24V and now 48V I won’t go with 12V again so chose 24V for the camper. I can’t go 48V or more to the point 51.2V due to a 50V cutoff for diy in Australia. I have seen a few positive experiences using the Victron balancers on lithium so fingers and toes crossed on that.

Cheers :folded_hands:

If you can only do approx. 1m between fuses and batteries then you could consider placing the unfused cable in an outer sheath, suitably derating the cable current rating (US and European boat standards state this is acceptable) or go for a cable with two layers of insulation.

Regarding fusing, I am only familiar with Victron batteries without internal BMS and fuse each parallel string with Class T due to the very low internal resistance of these batteries.