[RE-wrenches] Outback Mate 3 and Hub: Questions and warnings

[William Miller]

Friends:



I recently managed to blow up a Hub 10.3.  We are using Beldon 600 Volt
rated Cat-5 cable and it is a bear to make up on RJ45 connectors. It seems
I managed to short at least two of the leads.  Apparently there is no
overcurrent protection in these hubs.  I saw a rather sizable spark
generated inside the Hub when I plugged the defective lead in.  Now we have
Ethernet cable testers in all of the rigs and we test each cable before
connecting.  Outback, if you are listening, this should not be.  The
circuitry should have protection.  This little boo-boo cost me over
$250.00.  Bad design!



I also recently managed to damage a Mate3.  I am not quite sure how it
happened, but I suspect I reversed a hub lead with a router lead in the
back of the Mate3.  The symptoms were:  worked fine except would not
connect to the internet.  No traffic lights on the router.  The Hub leads
do carry power, so the possibility exists that swapping the leads could
cause harm.



I asked a technician at Outback if swapping leads would cause this
problem.  I was told in no uncertain terms, “Yes.”  “No.”  “I don’t know.”
Does anyone else on this list have any experience with this problem?



If indeed the easily-accomplished swapping of leads into adjacent
connectors in a hard-to-reach area of this controller will cause its
demise, this seems like bad engineering.  We will be strain-relieving these
cables in such a manner as to make it impossible to swap them.



While I am on the subject, we continue to have problems with the Mate3
dropping data.  Unlike Enphase, that buffers data and can store it until
connectivity is restored, the Mate3 just loses an hour of data here and an
hour of data there.  Anyone else experience this?  Outback, can you improve
on this?



We have had less problems with our Optics systems going off-line.  It
happens, but less frequently.  This used to happen so often we devised
relays that are remotely operated using a Control-by-Web system to reboot
the Mates when they locked up.  I am interested in anyone’s experience in
this particular area as well.



We had sourced 600 volt rated Cat5e to run alongside high voltage leads.  I
confess ignorance in that until a few weeks ago, I did not realize that the
garden-variety Cat5e is rated for 300 volts.  This is suitable for
colocation with the voltages usually found in off-grid systems.  It may not
be adequate for string systems that exceed the 300 volts.



Anyway, that’s what I have been learning the hard way lately.  I hope
someone can learn from my mistakes.  If anyone has anything to add, I am
always looking for extra input.



Sincerely,



William Miller



[image: Gradient Cap_mini]
Lic 773985
millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
805-438-5600
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