Hi All, Has anybody had success with these butt splices with the adhesive shrink tubing? http://www.mcmaster.com/#butt-splices/=skb9qs
Best, On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 1:12 PM, August Goers <aug...@luminalt.com> wrote: > Hi All - > > We have been using outdoor Ideal brand wire nuts (the blue ones packed > with waterproof gel/grease) for all of our residential DC side splices > (typically #10 wire) for 10 years now and have never had a single problem. > If the installers properly strip the conductors and follow the > instructions I feel that these wire nuts make very robust connections. We > always do a good pull test after twisting the wire nut on. I would never > recommend standard wire nuts without the grease and have seen these fail > numerous times during inspections of systems installed by others. > Insulated terminal blocks also work well but don't have that nice > waterproof grease in them to help avoid moisture issues. You can wrap them > with a good splicing tape to help keep moisture out but the cost for these > connections is significantly higher than wire nuts: > > http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/EMDCI/Home/Products/Catalog/~? > N=5433135&rt=c3 > > Normally I error on the robust conservative side of the installation > spectrum but in this case it sounds like I may not. > > Just my $0.02 > > Best, August > > > -----Original Message----- > From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On > Behalf Of William Miller > Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 8:40 AM > To: RE-wrenches > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AFCI disturbances. > > Richard: > > Possibly. I think I prefer din mount connector blocks. However, if a wire > nut can arc internally a connector block might also. I am still wondering > about this concept. > > William > > Miller Solar > > > On Jun 25, 2014, at 6:09 AM, richard.l.rat...@valley.net (Richard L > Ratico) wrote: > > > > William, > > Would UL listed crimp sleeves be an acceptable substitute where you > > would otherwise use wirenuts? > > > > Dick Ratico > > Solarwind Electric > > > > > > --- You wrote: > > Bob-O: > > > > > > > > When you say verboten, what does that mean? Not kosher? Frowned upon? > > Disallowed by law??? > > > > > > > > I am quite curious about this subject. Here is what I have learned so > far: > > > > > > > > This is a unique case where we are replacing 3 dead SMA U series > > inverters with 2 US series inverters. The U series seem to all be > > dying at about 12 to 14 years of age. We have about a dozen of these > > to swap on our calendar and expect more. It may be that to do this > > right requires that we pull new wire from the arrays. This makes the > job a lot more expensive. > > > > > > > > We have never used a wire nut on a PV lead until this project. It's > > not that we disapprove of wire nuts in general, it is because we know > > that if we were to use them regularly we would eventually have failures > and call backs. > > We allow only one splice in a PV lead: between the cable provided by > > the manufacturer of the module and a bulkhead mounted MC4 connector > > direct to THWN in conduit > > (http://millersolar.com/MillerSolar/practices/PV_wiring/PV_Cable_wirin > > g/_PV_ > > Cable_Wiring.html). > > > > > > > > We checked the manufacturer's listing and the wire nuts are rated for > > 600 volts. We do use wire nuts on AC circuits, such as switch and > > receptacle circuits in a power room. > > > > > > > > A tech at SMA told me that wire nuts "arc internally to the spring" > > causing the AFCI faults. I am not aware of any process of "internal > > arcing." To me, arcing means, as per the dictionary definition: "a > > luminous bridge formed in a gap between two electrodes." The same > > tech told me to solder the leads and apply shrink tubing. I don't > > believe this is an approved method. By the way, we have spliced leads > > on both US series inverters and only one is exhibiting AFCI > disturbances. > > > > > > > > I do favor mounted terminal blocks, either screw or tubular type. I > > need to check if the Amp model we stock are 600 volt rated. > > > > > > > > I was told by another representative from SMA that on a ground-mount > > system it is legal to disable the AFCI protection. > > > > > > > > I will be troubleshooting this job tomorrow and I will let you all > > know what I learn. > > > > > > > > William Miller > > --- end of quote --- > > _______________________________________________ > > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > > > Change listserver email address & settings: > > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > > > List-Archive: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist > > .html > > > > List rules & etiquette: > > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > > > Check out or update participant bios: > > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.htm > l > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > -- Nathan Charles Engineer NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional #042013-20 Paradise Energy Solutions (717) 283-2021 direct
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
