Present Solar Option?

[Casey Freswick]

I was never satisfied with how I rewired everything when I upgraded to lithium. Wires were too short. connections pulled out. So while wiring my solar system I rewired everything. This is what is looks like now. I also hooked up a solar panel to test the system and it worked great. Thanks for all the suggestions on the right equipment. Changed battery option on my phone.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Casey Freswick

I was never satisfied with how I rewired everything when I upgraded to lithium. Wires were too short. connections pulled out. So while wiring my solar system I rewired everything. This is what is looks like now. I also hooked up a solar panel to test the system and it worked great. Thanks for all the suggestions on the right equipment. Changed battery option on my phone.

I'm not sure where to start but I'm pretty sure that those orange cables are copper coated aluminum wires. If they are don't use them.

You really want to be sure that all of your cables are pure copper wire. Also, you would do well to invest in some tools for attaching lugs to your cables. It's important that the lugs are properly crimped onto the cable ends so that it equals one solid piece of copper. A hydraulic crimper is best. Here is an inexpensive tool that does a pretty good job.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Casey Freswick]

Well, I am checking on the wire. I had some of this wire in my system before, yesterday I added another 8' to what I already had. Some of my ground negative wire is 20 AMP house wire weaved together.

My crimping tool is here:

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Casey Freswick

Well, I am checking on the wire. I had some of this wire in my system before, yesterday I added another 8' to what I already had. Some of my ground negative wire is 20 AMP house wire weaved together.

My crimping tool is here:

Those crimpers aren't really made for electrical connectors. They may work well on certain specific wire but not so much on others.

Another thing that you might like to have is a ferrule kit with crimping tool. I love mine. They are a real game changer for smaller stranded wire (22G-7G). You strip off the appropriate amount of insulation then slip the ferrule over the wire and crimp it. No more struggling with lose wire ends. The ferrule makes a far superior connection.

If you use those twisted solid strand wires, it would be a good idea to either solder them at the end and/or use ferules.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Casey Freswick]

Originally Posted by Wavery

I'm not sure where to start but I'm pretty sure that those orange cables are copper coated aluminum wires. If they are don't use them.

"You really want to be sure that all of your cables are pure copper wire. Also, you would do well to invest in some tools for attaching lugs to your cables. It's important that the lugs are properly crimped onto the cable ends so that it equals one solid piece of copper. A hydraulic crimper is best. Here is an inexpensive tool that does a pretty good job."

I bought my wire from a auto parts store, battery cable wire. It is 4G wire, strands of copper. It is not one solid copper wire. I think that this should work. I have 20 amp house wire for my main wire for grounding into the frame to my negative block. I will change all those to a solid wire. Thanks for sharpening my attempt at wiring.

[Casey Freswick]

My crimper says it is for swags, ferrules and stops. It has a lot of pressure and I think it works. I actually have a box of small ferrule but never used them. I need to get the crimper tool for that. So I will start using them in the future. Thanks for the heads up.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Casey Freswick

I bought my wire from a auto parts store, battery cable wire. It is 4G wire, strands of copper. It is not one solid copper wire. ... I have 20 amp house wire for my main wire for grounding into the frame to my negative block. I will change all those to a solid wire.

Pure copper is not the same as solid copper, of course. I'm not sure you could hand-bend 4G solid copper.

Bill

[Casey Freswick]

Originally Posted by Bill

Pure copper is not the same as solid copper, of course. I'm not sure you could hand-bend 4G solid copper.

Bill

I did not intend to use the word "pure" in a technical way. I asked if it was copper wire and not a copper coated wire and they said it was copper. It is not one solid wire, it is multiple wires. It says 4G on the wire. I will also not be used between the battery and inverter. I will use 2 2/0 copper wire (multi strands) from batter to both positive and negative poles on my inverter. Will be attaching solar panels today. They came with their own wiring and a 4 to 1 harness. Will take a picture when I am finished.

[Casey Freswick]

I have finished wiring my new solar system. Everything is working great. Here is a picture of my completed panel.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Casey Freswick

I have finished wiring my new solar system. Everything is working great. Here is a picture of my completed panel.

I would recommend NOT putting multiple wires on a singe connector. This is especially true on the inverter. You might want to have a dedicated ground busbar and a dedicated positive busbar. Have a single 2/0 wire going from the battery pos to the pos busbar and a single 2/0 wire from the battery to the neg busbar. Then run a single 2/0 cable from each busbar to your inverter. Run all of your ground wires (singly) to an empty port on the ground busbar and the same with the positive busbar.

The optimum system will have only 1 wire on any singe terminal with the odd exception of 2 (smaller) wires on one terminal. What you have going on, on your inverter may cause you problems down the road. You will certainly have a lack of continuity and an increase of heat and corrosion.

You might want to try to find busbars (sometimes called "Distribution Blocks") like these. Be sure they are rated 250A.

https://www.amazon.com/Hoteam-Distri...%2C185&sr=8-18