I have a small sail boat with a 70ah lithium battery which is connected to a switch panel and has a disconnect switch adjacent to the battery which is on the active wire. All that is connected to the battery is a chartplotter, radio and a few led lights. There is no engine, no alternator, no inverter etc - very simple. I use the disconnect switch to isolate the battery when I leave the boat.
I am now in the process of adding a 70w flexible solar panel, with a Victron mppt 75/10 smartcontroller. Normally the solar panel will top up the battery while I’m away. Normally I will disconnect the panel when I come to the boat to get it out of the way. When the sail is over I will reconnect the pv and go home. But sometimes, like today, I want to disconnect the panels and leave the boat for a week or more. I am worried about leaving the controller connected to the battery and fear it will run it down. It is impractical to disconnect the controller at either the controller or the battery end. I am thinking I would like to put a switch in the negative between controller and battery. Is this okay to do and/or is there a smarter way to do it? I figure this must be a common issue and potential set-up but I can’t fi d anything on it here. Thanks very much for your help.
