[RE-wrenches] Pass through/transition box for Enphase

Nick Soleil nsoleil at enphaseenergy.com
Thu Aug 11 09:13:49 PDT 2016


Hi Wrenches,


Enphase was manufacturing Engage Cable with fine strand (Type K) wiring.  Due to the challenges with wire terminals that are being discussed, we switched our manufacturing lines to standard, 19 strand conductors.


The transition to 19 strand Engage Cable occurred in late 2015, and the stock of fine strand cable should be largely flushed out of distribution channels at this time.  Our manufacturing and distribution channels are set up to so that the product that comes in first goes out first, so hopefully you don't have to deal with this issue again.



Cordially,

Nick Soleil

Enphase Energy | Field Applications Engineer


(707) 763-4784 x7267  // office

(707) 321-2937  // cell

[Enphase_esig_logo6.jpg]<https://enphase.com/>


Energy Evolved<http://enphase.com> ™


Powering What’s Next™ | The Enphase Energy Management System<http://ow.ly/HbVS3>


NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer #03262011-300

California C10 Licensed Electrician #986315

Texas Master Electrician #284451


“Don’t get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It’s just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there’s an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it’s wireless!”

- William McDonough



________________________________
From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> on behalf of August Goers <august at luminalt.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 7:03 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Pass through/transition box for Enphase


Hopefully manufacturers will steer away from supplying fine stranded wires with their trunk cables – it’s been a joke trying to fine the proper listed reasonably priced parts to make these connections. I bet that a huge percentage of the installs out there are not meeting the listing for fine stranded conductors.



That said, we use ferrules on the individual fine stranded conductors and then make the splices with the Ideal/Buchanan splice caps. This particular combo was presented in the SunPower ACPV instruction document and says it is listed for their class K conductors. I haven’t looked up the listing documents myself (at least recently) since this was presented in the manufacturer’s manual. As I posted before, the Ideal splice caps are the bomb! We love them and I’d highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t already.



Best,



August

Luminalt



From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org<mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of Glenn Burt
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 8:44 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Pass through/transition box for Enphase



The Ideal website for the Buchanan splice has a link to the UL listing for the product. It does not list it for use with anything other than standard stranded conductors.
If it is not part of the listing, it is not approved for that use, regardless of historical or anecdotal use.
That is what the NEC says, and what the UL listing says and the UL specification for their listing says.

________________________________

From: Brian Teitelbaum<mailto:bteitelbaum at aeesolar.com>
Sent: ‎8/‎10/‎2016 22:48
To: RE-wrenches<mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Pass through/transition box for Enphase

Jeremy,



Without digging into the specs on the Ideal connectors, I doubt that they will work with fine-stranded wire.



The problem with these types of connectors is that the set screw that you turn to tighten the connection is in direct contact with the wire strands. As you tighten it, it rubs the strands in a circular motion, which will stretch, flatten, and tear the strands. It would work fine if you use ferrules, but not without them.



Terminals that are rated for direct use with fine-stranded wire would have a clamping-type terminal, where the screw used to tighten the connection pushes down on a solid piece of metal which then clamps the wire. Even in this case, it may still not be approved for fine-stranded wire depending on its design.



The Buchanan splices should be fine. They are basically the same as a ferrule, except that they are crimped with a crimping tool instead of the pressure from tightening a screw in a bus bar. The crimping tool is not in direct contact with the wire strands, so there is no tearing or other damage to the wire. However, the spec sheet does not specify the acceptable wire types, and I can’t seem to find anything with a Google search. It might be worth contacting Buchanan/Ideal to see if they have better info.



Brian Teitelbaum

AEE Solar



From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org<mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of Jeremy Rodriguez
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 6:32 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Pass through/transition box for Enphase



How about these?

https://idealind.com/us/en/products/wire-termination/set-screw-connectors/set-screw-connectors/set-screw-wire-connectors.aspx

Jeremy Rodriguez

Solar Installation And Design Expert

All Solar, Inc.

1463 M St

Penrose Colorado 81240



Sent by Jeremy's iPhone. Sorry for typos and shorthand!

On Aug 8, 2016, at 2:00 PM, Benn Kilburn <benn at skyfireenergy.com<mailto:benn at skyfireenergy.com>> wrote:

Din rail mounted terminal blocks.... Weidmuler WDU6 or WDU10, depending on the wire size you are using.

Benn Kilburn

SkyFire Energy Inc.

780-906-7807

On Aug 8, 2016, at 12:49 PM, Jason Szumlanski <jason at floridasolardesigngroup.com<mailto:jason at floridasolardesigngroup.com>> wrote:

I'm looking to bring 8 Enphase 240V circuits in multiple conduits into an enclosure inside the attic where I can transition to Romex. I'd rather use some kind of rail mounted terminals in an enclosure or something rather than making splices in a generic j-box. I'm not looking to combine circuits - just transition from THWN to Romex and keep things neat an organized.



Any sugg



[The entire original message is not included.]

The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any distribution of this message, in any form, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete or destroy any copy of this message!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20160811/11bd8c02/attachment-0002.html>


More information about the RE-wrenches mailing list