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Source to buy quality wire ferrules?

F

fisherman

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Good Day,

I'm looking to purchase a few sizes of ferrules for wiring into my Victron SCC's. Would anyone have recommendations on where to buy good quality ones?

And would you have any recommendations on which crimper to purchase?

Thank you
 
www.ferrulesdirect.com

Ferrules Direct

Insulated Ferrules, Non-Insulated Ferrules, Terminals, Wire Ducts, Crimping Tools, Cable Accessories, Terminal Blocks, Push Buttons, Heat Shrink, Compression Lugs, Automotive Products, Wire Cutters, Wire Strippers
www.ferrulesdirect.com www.ferrulesdirect.com

worked for me. And I’d read this. credit to waffleman


In my experience, Victron manuals don’t seem to consistently address what wire to use and whether ferrules are recommended. Light ferrules seem like a good idea and this resource seems to confirm this.

19A913DC-DFD7-4829-990B-B04840AAF469.png
 
For easier reference:
Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) avatar imageGuy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) ♦♦ alaskannoob commented · Feb 16 2023 at 6:17 AM
I’ll make some resources to demonstrate why.
Ferrules make for a much neater installation, but they limit the contact surface area.
In some cases this isn’t an issue, but in others it can be.
A square crimpted ferrule will be better than a loose round one over thick stranded cable, but all will be inferior to fine stranded cable inserted with care and then torqued correctly.
Failure of an MPPT due to insufficient contact at the terminals is all too common unfortunately, though many MPPTs are also installed without optimum contact and without issues as well.

Best practice is a clean job, with fine strand to spec, and maximum contact surface area.
 
And to be clear, at least the battery and PV connections on the Victron SCC's are specifically designed to be used with fine stranded cables (they clamp down and have ridges) unlike some other SCCs that have screw down terminals. This is why ferrules are not needed and actually should not be used.
 
rhino said:
DO NOT USE FERRULES WITH THE Victron SCC!

Ferrule or not? 10 AWG, 7-strand, PV wire into MPPT RS 450/200 - Victron Community

community.victronenergy.com community.victronenergy.com
Click to expand...
I read the linked stuff. I’m not sure Guy Stewart has made his case. Just an assertion of better contact.

I’d like to see something more authoritative.

A thin ferrule, containing all the strands of a fine strand wire, properly torqued, seems superior. The outlying strands are constrained and conducting.

edit-the victron publication reads “Use ferrules for all wiring connections,…”
 
Bluedog225 said:
I’d like to see something more authoritative. The all caps are not persuasive either.
Click to expand...
I thought I'd have you there ;) I believe I saw Andy in the off grid garage channel also remove his ferrules for his Victron SCC. It does seem like you can have a proper installation with ferrules but I can see where non-ferrule would have more contact area if all strands are properly seated in the terminal.
 
rhino said:
And to be clear, at least the battery and PV connections on the Victron SCC's are specifically designed to be used with fine stranded cables (they clamp down and have ridges) unlike some other SCCs that have screw down terminals. This is why ferrules are not needed and actually should not be used.
Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing to the Victron thread on this. Makes sense if they are specifically designed to handle stranded to consider not using those ferrules.
 
I deleted the all caps comment. Sorry about that. ?

The victron publication seems authoritative. The moderator of that forum seems to be expressing an opinion without backup sources cited.

I don’t know how to determine which wire attachment points are designed for stranded wire and will provide greater resistance with a ferrule.

The guidance victron gives is that it needs a “cage.” Not sure what that means exactly.

I’m hoping more of our experts will chime in.

@sunshine_eggo
 
Bluedog225 said:
I deleted the all caps comment. Sorry about that. ?

The victron publication seems authoritative. The moderator of that forum seems to be expressing an opinion without backup sources cited.

I don’t know how to determine which wire attachment points are designed for stranded wire and will provide greater resistance with a ferrule.

The guidance victron gives is that it needs a “cage.” Not sure what that means exactly.

I’m hoping more of our experts will chime in.

@sunshine_eggo
Click to expand...

What's a ferrule? :p

Seriously , I would never consider using ferrules on the MPPT. I don't know the name for those types of terminals, but they effectively maximize contact area between the terminal and stranded wire. Putting a ferrule in them would reduce contact area.


1.2. Wiring safety precautions • Use flexible multi-stranded copper cable for the battery and PV connections. • The diameter of the individual strand of the cable used should not exceed 0.4mm (0.016 inch) or have a surface area exceeding 0.125mm² (AWG26). • The maximum operating temperature is 90°C (194°F). • • A 25mm² cable, for example, should have at least 196 strands (class 5 or higher stranding according to VDE 0295, IEC 60228 and BS6360). An AWG2 gauge cable should have at least 259/26 stranding (259 strands of AWG26). Example of suitable cable: class 5 “Tri-rated” cable (it has three approvals: American (UL), Canadian (CSA) and British (BS)). • In case of thicker strands the contact area will be too small and the resulting high contact resistance will cause severe overheating, eventually resulting in fire. See below figure for examples of what cable to use and not to use.
1680541142358.png

I would say this is consistent with Guy's assertion.
 
I’ll check the vid when I’m back at my desk.

I didn’t see that said no ferrules. Just wire size.

And if ferrules are the norm in Europe, maybe they are assumed?

Strange the veteran documentation isn’t better here. I wonder what our dealers think?

@HighTechLab
@SignatureSolarJames
 
Thanks. They still say “use ferrules” in the official documentation.

And there are at least a couple of ferrule statements in misc victron documentation.

I’ll keep looking for a “don’t use ferrules”. Weird that this isn’t settled.
 
I'm going out on a limb here and say that it seems some of the terminals on my Cerbo GX are going to hold a wire MUCH better with a ferrule than without a ferrule. I'm specifically referring to the relay and temperature sensor ports.
 
I try hard to only use components that will accept a ring / lug connector - but it isn't always possible.

Instead of ferules I prefer pin terminals for 10 awg and smaller, but I get mixed reactions to it.
 
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