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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><div style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">How about squirting some silicone dielectric grease into the contacts before mating and wrapping the connection with the sticky black tape used on coaxial cable for outdoor antenna work. I don't have a name handy here on my phone, sorry.<br><br>Glenn</div></div><div dir="ltr"><hr><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">From: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="mailto:vtsolar@icloud.com">Kirk Herander</a></span><br><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">Sent: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">\u200e6/\u200e6/\u200e2016 17:28</span><br><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">To: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">RE-wrenches</a></span><br><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">[RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment</span><br><br></div><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Hello,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">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></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">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></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">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></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">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></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Has anyone ever seen what I\u2019m describing in a marine environment?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Kirk Herander<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Celebrating our 25<sup>th</sup> Anniversary 1991-2016<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="www.vermontsolarnow.com"><span style="color: blue;">www.vermontsolarnow.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">dba Vermont Solar Engineering<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">NABCEP<sup>TM </sup>2003 Inaugural Certificant<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">VT RE Incentive Program Partner<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">802.863.1202</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>