Wire #6, #4, lugs and bus bars
"Beautifying" my solar wiring from controller to battery. Scrap pieces of #18 wire (yes, like on your desk lamp) twisted together to make it #12 need to be replaced with proper #6 and #4 wires. Tr...
Forum Discussion
I bought a bunch of copper lugs from JcWhitney back when I was wiring up my camper in 1990. They fit the 25' roll of #4 wire I bought at the same time.
When it came time to buy fittings for my #000 wire and the 1,500 watt inverter I was installing, I used 1/2" copper tubing instead, and I figured if the ends ever failed, I was not out any money, and could install the proper ones a few years later. That was 1997 and the fittings are still working great, and have had more than 150 amps going through them.
I took about 3" long 1/2" OD copper tubing and flattened the last 2" in my bench vise. Then fold back over 1" of the tubing, and drill a 3/8" hole in it. Put in the wire, and then clamped well with the bench vise, and they never came loose. Even when I tried by pulling on the wire!
As for the clamps that you are looking at. If it says for #6 wire, it will fit, stranded or not. If you 'must' cut away a few strands of the #6 wire, it will still fit, and will still carry 100 amps without overheating. Downsizing the wire from #6 to #8 (by cutting away nearly 1/3 of the wire) will not change it's resistance in any way over the 1" long section of copper wire that is fit into the lugs. Even #4 wire cut down to #8 size will not overheat just because the last 1" is cut down a bit. Of course try to fit in as much of the wire as possible, by twisting it, and many times it will fit just fine. But don't worry about that last 1" of wire being a little undersized.
Did you know that #12 wire can carry 50 amps? In a heating element, with the proper glass insulation, (rated at 250F+) or in free air, it can carry that much amperage. #12 wire will overheat and not last 30 years inside a building when it carries more than 20 amps, so NEC code says no more than 20 amp fuse with #12 wire. And actually they limit a 20 amp circuit to not carry more than 16 amps on a normal basis.
Those fittings that you show pictures of will work great, and offer the least amount of resistance between the fittings. They should last well over 30 years.
Have fun camping, and enjoy the solar system!
Fred.
When it came time to buy fittings for my #000 wire and the 1,500 watt inverter I was installing, I used 1/2" copper tubing instead, and I figured if the ends ever failed, I was not out any money, and could install the proper ones a few years later. That was 1997 and the fittings are still working great, and have had more than 150 amps going through them.
I took about 3" long 1/2" OD copper tubing and flattened the last 2" in my bench vise. Then fold back over 1" of the tubing, and drill a 3/8" hole in it. Put in the wire, and then clamped well with the bench vise, and they never came loose. Even when I tried by pulling on the wire!
As for the clamps that you are looking at. If it says for #6 wire, it will fit, stranded or not. If you 'must' cut away a few strands of the #6 wire, it will still fit, and will still carry 100 amps without overheating. Downsizing the wire from #6 to #8 (by cutting away nearly 1/3 of the wire) will not change it's resistance in any way over the 1" long section of copper wire that is fit into the lugs. Even #4 wire cut down to #8 size will not overheat just because the last 1" is cut down a bit. Of course try to fit in as much of the wire as possible, by twisting it, and many times it will fit just fine. But don't worry about that last 1" of wire being a little undersized.
Did you know that #12 wire can carry 50 amps? In a heating element, with the proper glass insulation, (rated at 250F+) or in free air, it can carry that much amperage. #12 wire will overheat and not last 30 years inside a building when it carries more than 20 amps, so NEC code says no more than 20 amp fuse with #12 wire. And actually they limit a 20 amp circuit to not carry more than 16 amps on a normal basis.
Those fittings that you show pictures of will work great, and offer the least amount of resistance between the fittings. They should last well over 30 years.
Have fun camping, and enjoy the solar system!
Fred.
