<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi Kirk,<div class="">the connectors if done correctly are water tight. </div><div class="">There are few thoughts as to issues.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">wrong sized gland nut</div><div class="">incorrectly tightened</div><div class="">if double jacketed wire, the outer layer could have come lose allowing water in.</div><div class="">are they real MC-4?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">debris during installation allowing damaged O rings</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Can\u2019t think of much else. but way to many of them out there for it to be a OEM problem.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">jay</div><div class="">peltz power</div><div class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Jun 6, 2016, at 2:28 PM, Kirk Herander <<a href="mailto:vtsolar@icloud.com" class="">vtsolar@icloud.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="">Hello,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="">I am debugging a Florida ocean-side 35 kw array using 4 year old Canadian Solar panels, which I\u2019ve never had a high opinion of, installed by others.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="">I\u2019ve 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 \u201cRiso\u201d (that\u2019s the IRT) test creating a ground fault error.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="">That aside, what\u2019s just as interesting is that about 8 or 9 of the module interconnections were basically oozing the aqua-blue copper tarnish. I\u2019ve never seen this in any installation before. Either the MC4s weren\u2019t crimped and tightened at the factory well, or the connectors were seated poorly, although that doesn\u2019t seem to be the case. BTW, I replaced all these dubious MC4 connectors and the ground faults still occur when the panels are wet.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="">The bigger issue is the panel warranty, but is there anything on the market which could seal these connections, perhaps a type of \u201cclamshell\u201d to provide an extra layer of protection, which is removable if need be? There\u2019s always glue-filled heat shrink, but ideally I don\u2019t want anything permanent surrounding the connectors.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="">Has anyone ever seen what I\u2019m describing in a marine environment?<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;" class="">Kirk Herander<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;" class="">Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;" class="">Celebrating our 25<sup class="">th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Anniversary 1991-2016<o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;" class=""><a href="x-msg://361/www.vermontsolarnow.com" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">www.vermontsolarnow.com</span></a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;" class="">dba Vermont Solar Engineering<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;" class="">NABCEP<sup class="">TM <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></sup>2003 Inaugural Certificant<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; 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