Chris Bryant wrote:
edatlanta wrote:
Chris Bryant wrote:
I measure voltage drop across terminals and cables under load.
This would only test the capacity of the entire system. The OP is looking for a bad connection or undersized wire based on heat built up.
No, this tests each cable and each connection. Why guess using an IR gun when you can *directly* measure the loss with an accurate meter. That's how I measured and found bad crimps- which were heating up- put a couple hundred amps load, and put a volt meter across every connection- not the entire system.
Bad crimp- got hot:
That was wrapped in elecrical tape.
The OP is not going to find a bad connection on the solar side with a heat gun, but he could with a volt meter.
There you go!! Excellent example of how to not do it. A guy at a solar store was trying to sell my friend a hammer crimper. I told him I can do a better field crimp with a pair of vise grips. I bought a hydraulic crimp 16 ton on ebay for $36.00. Nothing to brag about compared to the $1,800 one I had at work but it gets the job done for us do it yerselfers. Under heavy loads I have seen several hammer crimps burn up.
