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<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><big>Wrenches,<br>
What a delight to receive such a wealth of oddball solutions to
my oddball request! Thank you to all who replied and all who
responded.<br>
<br>
The envelope, please... And the winner is... (muffled drumroll)
... Bill Battagin! (loud applause and canned music) with his
suggestion of smaller-gauge USE-2. I found 100' of 14 AWG
USW-2-RHH-RHW from an online vendor in New Hampshire and ordered
it. (wesbellwireandcable.com). At .160" OD, two conductors will
fit inside the 3/8" CGB. First runner-up awarded to Dick Ratigo.<br>
<br>
Daryl ("Is it possible to use 1/2" carflex connectors and nm
carflex from panel
to panel? You could then use THWN anywhere you wanted. This is
what we
used to do with all our systems back in the day...."): No,
unless there's a 3/8" terminal to fit 1/2" Carflex. Also, I'd
need two knockouts on at least 3 of the 6 j-boxes. But thank
you.<br>
<br>
Richard ("Thinking out loud here: Can you, 1) Use short pieces
of the TC for the box entry
/exit. Butt crimp, solder, insulate / heat shrink USE-2 or PV
wire to the
emerging TC tails."): Yes, that would work, just a bit laborious
and inelegant. <br>
("Or, 2) Can you modify the locknuts on the new 3/8" CGB by
grinding or cutting to reduce their diameter?"): Yes, and I
will, unless the six new 3/8" CGBs screw into the existing lock
rings and they're still in good shape.<br>
(" Or, 3) Ditch the locknuts, use
epoxy to fasten the CGB to the junction box?"): Again, it would
work, but imagine the trouble my descendants would have
replacing the CGBs again in another 25 years? Most likely the
modules and tracker will still be working then, but what about
those cracked epoxied CGBs? (tongue planted firmly in cheek
while writing this...)<br>
<br>
James ("Instead of un-obtanium wire, can you glue a modern j-box
onto the module, over the top of the old j-box?
For example:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/1986175-3/A99648-ND/1980953">http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/1986175-3/A99648-ND/1980953</a>
Or even just an outdoor rated plastic box that has the back cut
out?
Dow Corning 748 Noncorrosive Silicone Sealant would be an
appropriate RTV to use."): That's a really good outside-the-box
solution, but it looks like I'd have to buy 35 of them, at an
unknown price. J-boxes too would work but be expensive. And as a
side note, all six of the original j-boxes had come loose from
the Tedlar, and I glued them back on quite successfully with
that silicone caulk.<br>
<br>
Mac ("What about doing splicing in the j-box with float switch
cable? Landing your home run cable to one of the panel outputs,
then splicing with a return home run from your next panel?
Each conductor would function as either a series connection or a
home run. Not ideal, but seems like it will work."): Same
barrier as with Daryl - I'd need two cables on at least half of
the j-boxes, to handle both series and parallel wiring.<br>
<br>
Ray ("I just ran into this on a new Dasol 12 v module. I ended
up wiring with USE but couldn't do the series connections. I
had to bring each module wire into a J Box. I'm now using
Kyocera, as that was a PITA. Since your project is low
amperage, have you considered smaller USE like 12 or 14 GA? I
actually even keep 16 and 18 AWG TC around for little modules.
The volt drop isn't as bad as you might imagine, and 18 awg
actually has a free air rating of 18 amps (crazy huh? though
240.4(D)1 limits it to 5.6 amps continuous.)"): Yep, that would
work, but a lot of wiring labor (six runs of 18AWG type TC float
switch cable) - as you write, a PITA - and I'd worry about the
additional voltage drop (0.4V, 2.7% VD) on average of 8' of 18
AWG at 3A and 14V. At 28V and 14 AWG, VD is 0.6% for the same
length.<br>
<br>
Mick: ("Think back to the old Siemens M-53 which also had a tiny
j-box. That box had orange spongies through which one would poke
a #10 USE-2 wire, then an automotive style e-clip was pressed
onto the wire insulation for strain relief. As a variation on
that theme, I might try using my butane Master Ultratorch with
soldering tip installed. Being careful of how the exhaust jet is
pointing I would use the solder tip to melt a right sized hole
in the Solec j-box, then either the e-clip method could provide
strain relief by bearing against the inside surface of the box,
OR:Tiny zip ties could do a similar trick to make the wire too
fat to pull back through the melted hole. I'd use the black UV
ties, put one on the inside of the box and one on the outside so
the wire couldn't move either direction, then...since even those
UV ties get brittle out here, cover the outer one with black RTV
silicone."): Yep, that would work too. I might try a drill
before a torch, though. <br>
<br>
What a wealth of knowledge!<br>
Allan</big><br>
<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Allan <span class="SpellE">Sindelar</span></b><br>
<span style="font-size:10.0pt"><a
href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><u><span
style="color:#000099">Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</span></u></a></span><br>
<span style="font-size:10.0pt">NABCEP Certified PV
Installation Professional<br>
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br>
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
Founder, <b>Positive Energy, Inc.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">A
Certified B <span class="SpellE">Corporation<sup><span
style="font-size:7.5pt">TM</span></sup></span><br>
<st1:address w:st="on"><st1:street w:st="on">3209
Richards Lane</st1:street><br>
<st1:city w:st="on">Santa Fe</st1:city>, <st1:state
w:st="on">New Mexico</st1:state> <st1:postalcode
w:st="on">87507</st1:postalcode></st1:address><br>
<b>505 424-1112 office 780-2738 cell</b><br>
<a href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/"
target="_blank"><u>www.positiveenergysolar.com</u></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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On 10/10/2013 11:25 AM, Ray Walters wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:5256E311.90903@solarray.com" type="cite">
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I just ran into this on a new Dasol
12 v module. I ended up wiring with USE but couldn't do the
series connections. I had to bring each module wire into a J
Box. I'm now using Kyocera, as that was a PITA. Since your
project is low amperage, have you considered smaller USE like 12
or 14 GA? I actually even keep 16 and 18 AWG TC around for
little modules. The volt drop isn't as bad as you might
imagine, and 18 awg actually has a free air rating of 18 amps
(crazy huh? though 240.4(D)1 limits it to 5.6 amps continuous.)<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760</pre>
On 10/9/2013 11:48 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:52563F97.4010208@positiveenergysolar.com"
type="cite">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=ISO-8859-1">
Wrenches,<br>
I do a fair amount of work on ancient systems, just because
there's been off grid here for decades. I'm rewiring several old
arrays for my next door (meaning < 1/4 mile away) neighbor.
The particular array has six 53W Solec modules wired as three
two-module 24V pairs, on a Zomeworks tracker so old that it has
aluminum rails and attached freon canisters instead of the
integral square tubes. Both modules and tracker continue to work
well, but the wiring is so degraded from sun exposure that's
it's bare in spots, and this is what I want to fix.<br>
<br>
Each module has a tiny j-box - 3" x 3" x 7/8" deep. Each j-box
has a single 3/8" cord grip bushing (CGB). Each bushing has two
#10 conductors coming out of the single hole in the CGB. The
O.D. of each wire is about the same as that of THWN. The problem
is that the single hole in the CGB is only large enough to fit
this diameter. USE-2 is too large, and modern PV wire is way too
large. <br>
<br>
I bought a dozen replacement 3/8" CGBs from Del City, but the
matching lock rings are too large to fit inside the j-boxes. I'd
be cautious about using a narrow Unibit to drill an additional
hole in each j-box anyway, given that the holes would be so
close to the backsheet. <br>
<br>
The easiest solution would be to find some sunlight-resistant,
wet-rated single-conductor wire in #10 or #12 that has an
insulation O.D. about the same as THHN/THWN. Any ideas, please?
Code is not an issue in this instance - I just want a solution
that works.<br>
<br>
I thought about using float switch cable, which is UV-resistant,
wet-rated, direct-burial-rated type TC. We keep plenty in stock
for signal circuits, and it fits and is strong. The problem is
that I need single conductors, because each module will have one
series conductor and one output conductor, and they run to
different locations. <br>
<br>
Are there any better ideas out there?<br>
Thanks, Allan<br>
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class="SpellE">Sindelar</span></b><br>
<span style="font-size:10.0pt"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com"><u><span
style="color:#000099">Allan@positiveenergysolar.com</span></u></a></span><br>
<span style="font-size:10.0pt">NABCEP Certified
PV Installation Professional<br>
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional<br>
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
Founder, <b>Positive Energy, Inc.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
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class="SpellE">Corporation<sup><span
style="font-size:7.5pt">TM</span></sup></span><br>
<st1:address w:st="on"><st1:street w:st="on">3209
Richards Lane</st1:street><br>
<st1:city w:st="on">Santa Fe</st1:city>, <st1:state
w:st="on">New Mexico</st1:state> <st1:postalcode
w:st="on">87507</st1:postalcode></st1:address><br>
<b>505 424-1112 office 780-2738 cell</b><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/"
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