[RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment

[Bill Brooks]

Kirk,

I ran into a very similar problem with a system where the connectors were left unmated for a period of time. Salts got into the connectors and whenever the humidity was high, the salt would track current through the connector seals. Replace all the connectors first before trying anything else.

Bill.

Sent from my awesomely huge iPhone 6+

> On Jun 7, 2016, at 9:56 AM, August Goers <august at luminalt.com> wrote:
> 
> Kirk,
>  
> It sounds like you might have a bonafide ground fault somewhere, possibly at a location other than the module lead connections. I’ve seen current leakage cause all kinds of strange corrosion problems. Maybe there is a pinched or cracked module lead or homerun? It might even be possible that the wire in the conduit going to the inverters has a minor ground fault that gets compounded by moisture and low resistance up around the array. Make sure the array equipment grounding is solid too. Keep us posted on what you find!
>  
> Cheers,
>  
> August
>  
> From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Kirk Herander
> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2016 7:15 AM
> To: 'RE-wrenches'
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment
>  
> Hi,
> For clarity, corrosion was found on various module interconnects between panels, not where a string end mates to a field installed home-run connector. So I would hope Canadian Solar would use identical connectors on all their modules. They all certainly looked like MC4 connectors to me.
>  
> Kirk Herander
> Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC
> Celebrating our 25th Anniversary 1991-2016
> www.vermontsolarnow.com
> dba Vermont Solar Engineering
> NABCEPTM  2003 Inaugural Certificant
> VT RE Incentive Program Partner
> 802.863.1202
>  
>  
>  
> From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of jay
> Sent: Monday, June 06, 2016 11:15 PM
> To: RE-wrenches
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment
>  
> Hi Kirk,
> the connectors if done correctly are water tight.  
> There are few thoughts as to issues.
>  
> wrong sized gland nut
> incorrectly tightened
> if double jacketed wire, the outer layer could have come lose allowing water in.
> are they real MC-4?
>  
> debris during installation allowing damaged O rings
>  
> Can’t think of much else. but way to many of them out there for it to be a OEM problem.
>  
> jay
> peltz power
> On Jun 6, 2016, at 2:28 PM, Kirk Herander <vtsolar at icloud.com> wrote:
>  
> Hello,
>  
> I am debugging a Florida ocean-side 35 kw array using 4 year old Canadian Solar panels, which I’ve never had a high opinion of, installed by others.
> I’ve discovered several not-so-good problems, such as low insulation resistance through the panels, ONLY when raining, early to mid-morning condensation, or by using the last resort of spraying the panels with a garden house and watching the SMA inverters shut down due to failing their self “Riso” (that’s the IRT) test creating a ground fault error.
> That aside, what’s just as interesting is that about 8 or 9 of the module interconnections were basically oozing the aqua-blue copper tarnish. I’ve never seen this in any installation before. Either the MC4s weren’t crimped and tightened at the factory well, or the connectors were seated poorly, although that doesn’t seem to be the case. BTW, I replaced all these dubious MC4 connectors and the ground faults still occur when the panels are wet.
> The bigger issue is the panel warranty, but is there anything on the market which could seal these connections, perhaps a type of “clamshell” to provide an extra layer of protection, which is removable if need be? There’s always glue-filled heat shrink, but ideally I don’t want anything permanent surrounding the connectors.
> Has anyone ever seen what I’m describing in a marine environment?
>  
> Kirk Herander
> Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC 
> Celebrating our 25th Anniversary 1991-2016
> www.vermontsolarnow.com
> dba Vermont Solar Engineering
> NABCEPTM  2003 Inaugural Certificant
> VT RE Incentive Program Partner
> 802.863.1202
>  
>  
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
> 
> List Address: RE-wrenches at 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 at 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
> 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20160607/103967f8/attachment-0002.html>