[RE-wrenches] CBI circuit breakers

Allan Sindelar allan at positiveenergysolar.com
Mon Jul 27 21:56:15 PDT 2009


Kent,

No, this hasn’t happened to me yet.

 

My biggest issue with CBI breakers is finding the correct bit/tip to get
good torque. I’m not sure what it is, and would appreciate hearing what
works best – it’s something like a size 2½ Phillips crossed with a Whitworth
square drive, or something (neither of those actually exist). 

 

Allan Sindelar

Allan at 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

 

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 <http://www.bluemoutainsolar.com/> 



Can you be more specific as to what
problems you have had?   
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