I also had a faulty 15 A breaker on an array with less than 11 amps
short circuit current. It tripped intermittently maybe 4 or 5 times
over a year, so we swapped it out. Perhaps they had a bad batch?
I was going to test it at the shop, but didn't have a chance yet.
R. Walters
Solarray.com
NABCEP # 04170442
On Jul 27, 2009, at 6:04 PM, Kent Osterberg wrote:
Allan,
I've had trouble with breakers opening when they shouldn't. On an
array of two strings of Mitsubishi 175s (Isc = 7.9A) I had two 15-A
breakers open. Last week, I had a low-power call from a customer
with three strings of Evergreen 190s (Isc = 7.1A); one 15-A breaker
in the combiner was open. Most of my installs are around 3000 ft
elevation, so the irradiance is possibly a little higher than
normal, but not by enough that it should be an issue for 15-amp
breakers. If this is a wide-spread problem, I'd expect others on
this list to have noticed.
As others have mentioned, it is important to take precautions to
make sure that stranded wires are well tightened in these
breakers. I tighten, wiggle, re-tighten, and then check again
later. On systems where I've had breakers open, loose connections
haven't been the issue.
Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
www.bluemoutainsolar.com
Allan Sindelar wrote:
I have had no problems to date, Kent. Can you be more specific as
to what
problems you have had?
Allan Sindelar
al...@positiveenergysolar.com
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Positive Energy, Inc.
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
505 424-1112
www.positiveenergysolar.com
-----Original Message-----
Is it just me, or have other wrenches had problems with the CBI
circuit
breakers used in the Outback or Midnite combiner boxes?
Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
http://www.bluemountainsolar.com/
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