[RE-wrenches] Polaris gone bad?

[August Goers]

Hi All –



I’ve never been a fan of splice block style connectors for rooftop junction
or combiner splices. They are expensive, bulky, and questionably rated for
wet locations. They are also easy to forget to tighten all the way which
will definitely lead to arc failures.



It sounds like Eric has switched over to splice cap crimp connectors. We
have too and haven’t looked back. I highly suggest that everyone still
using wire nuts or splice blocks to try these out:



http://www.idealind.com/ideal-electrical/us/en/products/wire-termination/60-crimp-connectors/copper-splice-cap-crimp-connectors.aspx



Among other sources, Amazon is a fairly easy way to try them out by getting
some splices, insulator caps, and the matching crimp tool.







August











*From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
Behalf Of *Rebecca Lundberg
*Sent:* Friday, April 07, 2017 6:36 AM
*To:* re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Polaris gone bad?



Eric,

I am aware of a similar experience. Knowing the PV will hopefully be in
place and without maintenance needs for decades does seem to warrant
putting the most robust connector in place. Inverter errors is what first
identified the problem. We did question the supplier to see if anyone else
was having trouble, thinking perhaps it was a bad batch with some kind of
defect? The only thing we could come up with is that perhaps the wrong size
screwdriver for securing the wires could cause it. Some brands require an
allen wrench (which now makes sense to me) but the brand we had was a
straight-head screw. We found that a slightly too big screwdriver worked
for the first few turns but then hit the rim inside the insulated connector
and wouldn't fully tighten the wire down. IF that were the cause then it
was essentially arcing because of a loose connection. However, a pull test
on the wire would have discovered a loose connection AND analyzing several
of the incidences we saw each seemed to have very tight wire connections,
so I'm not convinced this was the problem. Your post is the first I've read
of anyone else having this trouble, but I think most installers use wire
nuts.

Rebecca Lundberg



Wrenches,

We have been having Polaris connectors start to fail on older installs.
About 4 or 5 years ago we abandoned wire nuts in favor of the much more
pricey, but deemed safer Polaris insulated tap connectors in our combiners.
About a year ago we transitioned, about 80% away from Polaris to Buchannon
connectors. We have had two recent call-backs on systems downed due to
Polaris connectors burning up inside of boxes. (No damage beyond the
connector itself). Recently we interfaced with another solar install firm
that has gone back to wire nuts due to this same problem. Anyone else
seeing this? Wondering if this is an industry-wide issue regarding a
Polaris manufacturing defect or if we're still in the realm of isolated
flukes.

Eric
SunHarvest
(530) 559-5023
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