SMA 4000tl start up woes

[Moxi]

Resy can you access the cables further back and use a cable tidy slinky to bind them together pop a tie or twist wire around that and push the whole thing along to the mc4 connector and tie off at you end so it’s lifted a bit and repositioned ? Not ideal but might be a fix until traction on your arms extend your reach towards the 2 m mark

Moxi

[resybaby]

Resy can you access the cables further back and use a cable tidy slinky to bind them together pop a tie or twist wire around that and push the whole thing along to the mc4 connector and tie off at you end so it’s lifted a bit and repositioned ? Not ideal but might be a fix until traction on your arms extend your reach towards the 2 m mark

Moxi

Nah cant Moxi, the installers have cable tied some of the cables along the runs which will stop me pushing something along the lengths, and just left the connectors dangling. Managed to get to all of them except two and get them off the tiles.
The worst one left being where the red blob is on the photo, will end up needing to strip a fair few off to get to that connector - and they are too big for one puny short armed weed like me.
Will need to mind if the raising lengths of wood show those to be the problem.

[nowty]

I presume your SMA inverter has its Optitrac switched on and set for 6min (fastest) scanning interval with that chimney.
I think they have changed the name in their latest inverters to “shade management”.

https://www.sma-sunny.com/us/using-shadows-effectively/

[resybaby]

I presume your SMA inverter has its Optitrac switched on and set for 6min (fastest) scanning interval with that chimney.
I think they have changed the name in their latest inverters to “shade management”.

https://www.sma-sunny.com/us/using-shadows-effectively/

Have absolutely no idea Nowty, but id guess not.

When the original panels were installed in 2011, there was already a proposal to install the log burner (the flues a 300mm diameter beast) so a space was left to permit the flue to rise up vertically from below, with no panel placed behind it. Snaking the flue through the loft with only a 400mm truss spacing would have been just to difficult to achieve if i introduced bends.

The new layout had to be a bit of a compromise due to the physical size of the new panels and the lower ridge height of the front bedroom, which the panels needed to 'creep' over, as well as the flue beasty.

I suppose its all a bit of a compromise in the end

[nowty]

At least the new half cut cell technology with the new panels will help compared with your old types as each panel is now effectively two smaller ones in parallel thus reducing shading impacts especially with a thin chimney like shadow.

[resybaby]

Very true, you can see the benefit with the last panel inline below the red blob. that ones clearly compromised by the front bedroom ridgeline late afternoon. in the photo is bottom half impacted significantly.

[resybaby]

Well have been peering under the panels from the driveway with the binos this morning and could clearly see three MC4 connectors dangling down into the channels on the concrete roof tiles, no doubt getting a good soaking every time it rains.
One dangler is right between panel one and two of the offending string.
Clambered up on the roof to try and sort that, only to find because the panels are so huge my normal sized arms arent long enough to reach the MC4's to lift and zip tie them off the roof, access only being from the one short panel end, and very little roof to work from giving its pretty much covered.
So have, as a test, wedged them up with a couple of lengths of timber to see initially if the problem disappears or becomes less frequent.
Fingers crossed.

Well, just back down here in Cornwall, been upto the parents for a couple of days.
Jotted down the FIT readings before i went and crossed my fingers that wedging the dangly MC4s would resolve things, temporarily at least, and stop me chasing my tail looking for the problem source.
I can report success.
The FIT system has autostarted on both days, woohoo, so despite test being very early days it looks like those danglers are the problem with a 2-0 victory so far. Merci beaucoup Westie.
Shall see if this continues then try and work out how to rig up a better permament fix given the rubbish access.

[Tinbum]

MC4s should be waterproof so something wrong their.

[Moxi]

Resy,

I’ve been thinking about this for a bit and coming from years of working in the nuclear industry where getting to things that are out of reach is an everyday occurrence.

Not knowing the exact layout hasn’t helped but I think if you use some lead flashing cut to strips that can be bent into a cupping U to enclose the cable / connector and then formed over the panel mounting rail to form a cable support band.

There are some extra long reach tools like this
https://amzn.eu/d/1tpIse4

But I reckon some garden canes or pieces 2” by 1” with one length fitted with a frame to hold the lead staple ( held in place with a small bit of cotton or a rubber band that will break away with a small amount of pressure) will do the job just as easily. The lead is soft enough not to risk damage to the cable, it’s malleable enough to form by pushing and tapping but not so flexible as to become lose again afterwards. Used lead in a similar way before in hot cells.

Moxi

[Kommando]

MC4 connectors made properly are IP67

If a product has an IP67 rating, that indicates it is "waterproof."

The 6 indicates "complete protection against dust over extended time" as well as "protection against contact with objects greater than 1mm in diameter, such as a wire or a small tool."

The 7 indicates the system is "protected against short periods of immersion in water while under pressure between 15cm and 1m."

IP67 products offer a greater degree of protection than those with IP65 or IP66 ratings, both of which are merely "water-resistant."

Sadly a lot are made in China to varying standards so you cannot assume they are to IP67 unless you can verify your source.