Charge to battery or distribution panel?

Hello,
I have charge cables from my solar panel and outboard alternator attached directly to my batteries. It is messy with cables in the battery compartment. I would like to attach the charge cables to my distribution panel, instead of into the battery box, as this would be much neater and would reduce the number of cables going to the battery. Is this a bad idea - is there any real problem with introducing the charge to the distribution panel instead of directly to the batteries? Seems to me it is all part of the same circuit?

Thanks in advance,
Roger

 

There shouldn't be but do some research regarding your particular components and the distance between everything ie the cable run lengths.

 

The outboard charge output never goes above mid 13 volts (Tohatsu 6hp alternator). The solar panel is 20W through a PWM controller. All runs are short (<15 feet) through 14 AWG wires.

 

At 13V the batteries are not getting a full charge. They need over 14V.

 

<15 feet in one direction or both?
There may be something wrong with your voltage regulator.
You should be seeing over 14 v when charging.