jasonhc73
Cat herder, and dog toy tosser.
Now my 8 wires are no longer getting tangled with the Bermuda grass. 
I only zapped myself once during the installation. This has to be a record for DIYers! 240V DC hurts a little.??
? A day later and it still feels like I smashed my finger with a hammer.
Pro-tip, (ya know because I'm an expert now) just cut the ends off and put new ones on. Even better, do it right at the beginning and you won't have any MC-4 ends to bother with. You would have a nice fresh roll of Solar DC wire.
I used 1½" PVC with 8, 8awg wires for the prime run. 1½" conduit has PLENTY of space for F-ups where you need to have the MC-4 in the conduit also. (4 strings)
I used 1¼" PVC with 4, 8awg wires for the two branches. Also plenty of space for the 4 - 8 AWG wires. (2 Strings)
String 1/2 enter by the mount.
String 3/4 enter from the roof. This probably could have been done another way, but I'm not worried about it.
If you have MC4 ends, these little corner boxes make for an extremely tight fit. I had to use the zip ties to press then 8 sets in there. One of the screws that hold the cover on decided to leap into the abyss of my yard.
This looks almost professional, aside from the zip ties again to squeeze 10 pounds of wire into 5 pounds of box.
Cutting a big hole takes a hole saw, don't pay $20+ per hole saw. Harbor Freight has a $12.99 kit that will make the two holes you need just fine. (https://www.harborfreight.com/1-in-2-12-in-carbon-steel-hole-saw-set-10-pc-57523.html)
This took me 3 days to do, the function is clearly more important than the form to me. ?
Pro-Tip number two - only do one MC4 connection at a time. About the 20th you will finally figure out the method to the chaos of male-female and positive negative. Until that happens, just stick to one at a time. I ran out of MC4s and was able to resupply in only 12 hours thanks to Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DQQ4CJ6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
I only zapped myself once during the installation. This has to be a record for DIYers! 240V DC hurts a little.??
? A day later and it still feels like I smashed my finger with a hammer.Pro-tip, (ya know because I'm an expert now) just cut the ends off and put new ones on. Even better, do it right at the beginning and you won't have any MC-4 ends to bother with. You would have a nice fresh roll of Solar DC wire.
I used 1½" PVC with 8, 8awg wires for the prime run. 1½" conduit has PLENTY of space for F-ups where you need to have the MC-4 in the conduit also. (4 strings)
I used 1¼" PVC with 4, 8awg wires for the two branches. Also plenty of space for the 4 - 8 AWG wires. (2 Strings)
String 1/2 enter by the mount.
String 3/4 enter from the roof. This probably could have been done another way, but I'm not worried about it.
If you have MC4 ends, these little corner boxes make for an extremely tight fit. I had to use the zip ties to press then 8 sets in there. One of the screws that hold the cover on decided to leap into the abyss of my yard.
This looks almost professional, aside from the zip ties again to squeeze 10 pounds of wire into 5 pounds of box.
Cutting a big hole takes a hole saw, don't pay $20+ per hole saw. Harbor Freight has a $12.99 kit that will make the two holes you need just fine. (https://www.harborfreight.com/1-in-2-12-in-carbon-steel-hole-saw-set-10-pc-57523.html)
This took me 3 days to do, the function is clearly more important than the form to me. ?
Pro-Tip number two - only do one MC4 connection at a time. About the 20th you will finally figure out the method to the chaos of male-female and positive negative. Until that happens, just stick to one at a time. I ran out of MC4s and was able to resupply in only 12 hours thanks to Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DQQ4CJ6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
