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WTB: snipped off MC cable connectors?

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Scott Willing

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi folks,

One of the readers of this group kindly offered to sell me some MC
connectors that he had snipped off the flying leads of some panels.

Unfortunately he only has an odd number, so I'll still need at least
one more. If anyone has some they would part with, or would even sell
me a short MC cable or two without charging a fortune for shipping,
please name your price. All I need is enough wire remaining on the
connector to make a decent splice.

I'd have been happy to buy a few cables from one of several US
suppliers but they either (a) don't respond to inquiries about
piss-ante purchases from Canucks or (b) charge more than the cables
are worth to ship them up here to Soviet Canuckistan.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Scott Willing
 
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sageroot

Jan 1, 1970
0
What is an MC connector? I have lots of connectors, not sure of the MC
designator..
 
S

Scott Willing

Jan 1, 1970
0
What is an MC connector? I have lots of connectors, not sure of the MC
designator..

Thanks for asking. Here's way more than you wanted to know.

It's a new single-conductor weatherproof connector that at least some
vendors claim is going to become the standard for solar panels. The
new Sharps I bought and some BP panels have these things on the end of
two flying leads (about 4' long) instead of the good old junction box
approach.

I can see the appeal for systems installers, especially when putting
in mega-panel installations. You just plug these puppies in; no
messing around with stripping wire, and with junction boxes that
become inaccessible if the panels are mounted parallel to a roof. And,
the connectors are sexed, so it's harder to mess up, e.g. when
building up series strings they just naturally chain together.

For me they're a bit of a pain. In a lifetime of playing with
electronics, I've regretted cutting off molded connectors more often
than not, so I'd rather not do that. Therefore I need some MC connex
to splice onto the end of my feeder lines to mate with the ones
tethered to the panels, and if other people have snipped their
connectors, that would be fine. In theory, one fellow is sending me
three in the mail; he ripped open the fourth to have a look at the
construction. (Damn!)

Short cables that I could split and graft on aren't outrageously
expensive in the US, but shipping charges can exceed the value of the
cables, winding up costing me about CDN$100 for the privilege of
connecting two panels(!) The only Canadian source I've found stocks
only the longer sizes and charges a fortune for them, so that I would
actually end up spending even more to connect my two panels.

This problem won't go away either, since I plan to standardize on this
particular panel and add a pair at a time while I slowly sell off my
collection of weird unmatched stuff. Once I have an array of identical
panels, I'll rewire to 24V and switch to an MPPT controller. That will
be the day I'll be most happy that I didn't cut the !@#$ things off.

Of course there's no such thing, AFAIK, as an MC connector designed
for self-installation on an arbitrary piece of wire; all these things
are molded. Makes sense from a weatherproofing standard etc., but...
urg.

I wish they'd supply the panels with conventional junction boxes,
prewired with the flying MC cables. Then you'd have the best of both
worlds.

But that would probably add $5 to the price of a panel. Horrors!
-=s
 
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