Good wire gone bad

mike95490
mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Advanced Solar Electric Technical Forum #1
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Been getting high battery voltage alarms from the charge controller, and I went over all the battery interconnects and the terminals in the charge controller with an IR thermometer.

Then, when getting into the ePanel, to prep for the Midnight Controller for the new array, I saw the cause. And all the screws seem tight. Putting in new #4 wire (55A) and buss bar, and that should fix it up. Yow!
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Fried Buss Bar Album
Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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Comments

  • jcheil
    jcheil Solar Expert Posts: 722 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Good wire gone bad

    That would concern me. Usually that happens if the connection was not tight or the wire was undersized. I saw that same thing at a friends and the connection was tight also but what I figured happened was that it WAS loose at one point, and the constant overheating caused it to expand and somehow tighten back up. He was using the proper sized wire also.

    Now I always tend to oversize wires by 1 or 2 sizes anyways just in case. And the cost difference is not that much in the smaller gauges. I used #4 for everything in my new ePanel.

    But glad you found it now before more of that insulation melted away and then the conductor shorted out to the enclosure!
    Off-Grid in Central Florida since 2005, Full-Time since June 2014 | 12 X Sovello 205w panels, 9 X ToPoint 220w panels, 36x ToPoint 225w panels (12,525 watts total) | Custom built single-axis ground mounts | Complete FP2 Outback System: 3 x FM80, 2 x VFX3648, X240 Transformer, FLEXnet-DC, Mate-3, Hub-10, FW500 AC/DC | 24 x Trojan L16RE-B Batteries 1110ah @ 48v | Honda EU7000is Generator and a pile of "other" Generators | Home-Made PVC solar hot water collector | Custom data logging software http://www.somewhatcrookedcamp.com/monitormate.html
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  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Good wire gone bad

    Looks like both wires are overheating, must have underestimated the current draw overtime. As said, it's to easy to upsize high current wires.
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  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Good wire gone bad

    something...?? If those were right sized for the anticipated amperage and are tight, did you have an over amperage event(s)???
     
    KID #51B  4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
    CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM 
    Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
    2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
    Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
    West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Good wire gone bad

    Wires are from a 3Kw PV array - about 55amps on a 60A controller.

    From further chatting with the electrician who installed it (before I moved here) I think he had a old, lugged, battery cable, and cut it in half. If it was not new pristine copper, then it would have been prone to have contact go bad with the obvious result. The tinned lug is NOT pristine and new like the other lugs in the chassis. That's my bet. And now I know to re-torque the setscrews at least 1x.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • john p
    john p Solar Expert Posts: 814 ✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Good wire gone bad

    if you can find them the best bus bars are ones with solid base but saddle clips for each wire this way the cable is not held by the screw but by 2 screws holding down each cable saddle. The connection is far superior as its held by a thick solid u shape piece of metal.. .
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