outback breakers [RE-wrenches]

[Ray Walters]

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Hi;

I've broken some of those Outback breakers, one with a handheld nutdriver, 
and the other with a torque wrench set to what Outback told me at the time 
was correct: 12 ft -lbs . Obviously ,that was too high and unfortunately I 
haven' t seen in any of the literature that comes with either the PSDC or 
the breakers what that torque should be. I'm guessing 45 to 60 in-lbs,  but 
currently I instruct my crew to be careful and hold your other hand against 
the plastic of the breaker to feel when it begins to strain. Very 
sketchy.  We get torque ratings for the screw terminals, but anything in 
those boxes with a hex head then we're guessing. Also, I never got a 
response from Chris F. on some questions I sent him about the FX inverters, 
so I will post those questions to the list now:

Chris, I was looking at the FX specs on the website. One sheet says the 
FX2024 surges to 3800 VA, and another says 4800 VA (both at 5 secs). Also 
Peak AC amps are different too. Which numbers should I be using? Also, what 
is the minimum watts that will pull it out of sleep mode reliably? Can a 
single Compact Fluorescent (say 20 watt w/ electronic ballast) do it? The 
last FX I installed, we had to keep it on full time because 3 to 4 lights 
were required to bring it "on".
Are you offering Dealers any kind of incentive to buy a Mate for their tool 
kit, so we don't have to add that to the cost of every Outback installation?
Do you still offer the modified cover plate with cooling fan for the FX 
series to upgrade its continuous rating, or is that now covered by the VFX 
series?

Ray Walters




>Dan,
>
>I have integrated dozens of OutBack power centers.  Because these are all 
>ETL listed integrations, I use a torque wrench for all final mechanical 
>connections.  I have broken OutBack breakers twice.  Once because I had 
>the torque wrench set improperly; once because I over tightened the 
>breaker before using the torque wrench.  I have never had any problem with 
>the screws mounting the breakers to the DC deadplate.  (The AC breakers 
>are only screwed down when Square D breakers are used, otherwise the AC 
>deadplate holds these fast.)
>
>Best regards,
>
>David C. Brearley
>Eastern Region Technical Services Manager
>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer(tm)
>
>Energy Outfitters
>218 Little Falls Rd, Units 7 & 8
>Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
>Phone: 973/239-1815
>Fax: 973/239-8794
>www.energyoutfitters.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dan Whigham, SC Solar [mailto:DWhigham at scsolar.com]
>Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 2:53 PM
>To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>Subject: outback breakers [RE-wrenches]
>
>
>Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
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>Your opinion counts! We're giving away ten $100 cash prizes!
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>& package design. Hurry, only ten $100 prizes left!
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>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>To All:
>
>Anyone have issues with the Outback breakers, breaking on them? While 
>tightening the screws holding it to the DC or AC mounting plates or the 
>lugs to the ac or dc inputs?
>
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Dan Whigham
>
>SC Solar
>Lighting The Way
>
>www.scsolar.com
>803-802-5522  Phone
>803-233-1750 Fax
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Ray Walters
ray at solarray.com
President, SolarRay, Inc.
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
BS Mechanical Engineering, UT Austin 88
Returned US Peace Corps Volunteer 

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