<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr">Hi William</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The fortress 12kw and the eg4 both say the max wire size is 3/0. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I have used 3/0 ferrules and they fit perfectly </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Jay</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Sep 2, 2025, at 10:08 PM, William Miller via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style>@font-face { font-family: Calibri; }
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div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }</style><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Friends:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Thank you for all of your input on this question. I feel it only right I report back how this turned out</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">I tried a crimper like this:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><div><image002.jpg></div></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">It left a jagged ridge on both sides of the ferrule where the dies met.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">The crimper below was suggested but I have not tried it:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><div><image007.jpg></div></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">This was suggested but I have not tried it either:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><div><image006.png></div></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">I had tried a similar crimper to the two above but it expanded the width of the ferrule beyond what the lug would accept.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Here is what several of you suggested: Slip the ferrule over the strands and insert it into the lug and let the set screw do the crimping for you. We tried this but the 4/0 ferrule when not crimped would not fit into the battery lug on a fortress Envy 12. The Envy 12 installation manual indicates a wire range of 1/0 to 3/0 and the placard inside the wire compartment door says up to 4/0. The lug seems tight for 4/0.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Here is what we did: Back in the days of the Trace DC250 (maybe 1988-ish) we had trouble wrangling all of the strands of a fine-stranded 4/0 battery cable to all fit in the lug without a bunch of strands poking out. I found some thin (~35 gauge) copper sheet at a local hobby shop. I would clean and polish it shiny and cut a little strip of the sheet slightly wider than the strip length and long enough to wrap about 1-1/4 times around the strand. I would wrap it tightly around the strands and hold it temporarily in place with a thin cable tie. I bent the end of the sheet into a chamfered shape to help guide the assembly into the lug. After I got it started I would snip the cable tie, fully insert the cable and tighten the set screw. I never had one of these connections fail. This is what we did on the Envy 12 battery cables. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">The next day we removed all of the set screws and inspected the connections. They all looked great: The copper sheeting had not twisted, it had a nice, shapely dimple and, peaking up into the lug, the cable looked to be well seated.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">I hope this feedback helps someone, someday.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">William</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Miller Solar</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">805-438-5600</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.millersolar.com/">www.millersolar.com</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CA Lic. 773985</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div>
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