Wiring question

[AJMike]

Do they make wire connectors with a 90 degree bend for 6 gauge wire?

As I have mentioned before I replaced the Renogy 40 amp DC-DC charger with the 30 amp Victron model. The Victron charger has a large heat sink used to dissipate heat buildup and so it is supposed to be mounted vertically with the fins themselves vertical so as to allow the heat to escape. The only place that seems suitable for that in our Fuse is under the dinette seat, and that seat is not very high - about 18 inches or so from the floor to the bottom of the seat base - and the slots for the wire connector face the top. Thus there is not much free space above the top and the 6 gauge wire used in the connection does not bend easily and does not allow for much spare room when bent due to the thickness of the wire.

The only solution I can think of is to use some connector that contains a 90 degree bend, thus relieving the torque on the connector but I can't find anything like that, and don't even know if they make such a thing for 6 gauge wire.

I can only see 2 other solutions. One would be to mount the charger horizontally, but that would place the heat sink under the unit and thus provide no way for the heat to naturally escape. I did install a fan, and it would probably provide for enough air movement to keep the unit cool, but it just means more power usage and more noise when traveling. The second solution would be to replace the Victron with the Rengoy charger since it is supposed to be mounted horizontally.

I am not sure that my explanation is clear, and perhaps I should take some photos and add them to this thread to clarify. Let me know if that would help. In the meantime I have tried to explain the problem with this simple drawing. The big block is the charger and the 4 connections at the top are the 4 6 gauge wires, 2 for input and 2 for output. Sorry for its simplicity but I am not much of an artist.

[Winterbagoal]

Morich must have slept in.

[creativepart]

Something like this?

https://www.grainger.com/product/THO...onnector-6MFR8

[Winterbagoal]

I guess it depends on the type of clamp/assembly housing that the 4 individual wires feed into. I'm going to guess it's either a stripped wire, inserted into hole, and held in place by tightening a brass screw with a biting gator type plate on it, or a spring loaded version of same, possibly with alligator type jaws to grab and hold the wire securely. I bet on the screw down clamp on the bare wire option, considering the safety aspect with the amount of voltage/amperage present.
So that 90 degree lug probably won't do the job, but it's a good guess, just like this post.

p.s. Grainger rocks! Got my 3M VHB tape there. No one else nearby had any.

[DavidM]

If you strip your wire about an inch or so, then twist it tight and coat it with solder well s o the strands are held together, you can make a very tight 90 elbow with a pair of pliers. That will be as tight a 90 as any connector I can envision.

David

[imnprsd]

I installed a smaller Victron charger (with cooling fins) and added a 1/4" collar to the mounting bolts to build-up an empty space of air behind the heat sink.

CreativePart: Thanks for letting us know they make 90-degree battery lugs. I went to Amazon and found several choices (pack of 5 for $19 and free shipping):

https://www.amazon.com/Inch-Stud-Cor...s%2C734&sr=8-1

[Morich]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

Morich must have slept in.

I thought it over and decided I didn't understand the question! When we need a an odd angle, we stick it in a vise and bend it to fit!
But it all depends on what kind of hole you need to match??

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by creativepart

Something like this?

https://www.grainger.com/product/THO...onnector-6MFR8

No. The connections on the Victron charger are push-in and so do not use a nut to tighten them. It would have to be tubular on both ends with a 90 degree bend in the middle.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by Morich

I thought it over and decided I didn't understand the question! When we need a an odd angle, we stick it in a vise and bend it to fit!
But it all depends on what kind of hole you need to match??

So you are saying that the best thing to do is just make sure the 6 gauge wire is bend as much as possible in as short a distance as possible?

I tried doing that by hand, not having a vise, but perhaps I just need to use some pliers to get enough leverage. As it is the bend I was able to do without any tools just takes up too much space.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by imnprsd

I installed a smaller Victron charger (with cooling fins) and added a 1/4" collar to the mounting bolts to build-up an empty space of air behind the heat sink.

CreativePart: Thanks for letting us know they make 90-degree battery lugs. I went to Amazon and found several choices (pack of 5 for $19 and free shipping):

https://www.amazon.com/Inch-Stud-Cor...s%2C734&sr=8-1

This is more of what I was talking about:

[al1florida]

Originally Posted by AJMike

No. The connections on the Victron charger are push-in and so do not use a nut to tighten them. It would have to be tubular on both ends with a 90 degree bend in the middle.

Are the connections the type you push the wire in and then tighten a screw down to clamp the wire in place?

If so then DavidM's suggestion of strip back about 1" of the wire, then "tin" the wire with solder should work.

Use 2 pliers, one to hold the wire with insulation on it and one to hold/bend the tined wire 90 degrees. Now the tined end of the wire should just slip into the connector.

[Morich]

That would be my recommendation as well but with some debate on the solder. While it can make a nice looking end when soldered, if there is much power and therefore heat, the solder can be a problem at times as it does melt at low temps and that can let it run to spots where it gets us in trouble. sometimes better to just go bare?
Kind of a cross between getting nicer looking job and avoiding trouble? Some engineers spec it different ways at different times.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by al1florida

Are the connections the type you push the wire in and then tighten a screw down to clamp the wire in place?

Yes.

The problem has been that the wire length has caused enough torque on the connection that the wire just pulls out after a couple of days and then, of course, I get no charge from the device.

Originally Posted by Morich

That would be my recommendation as well but with some debate on the solder. While it can make a nice looking end when soldered, if there is much power and therefore heat, the solder can be a problem at times as it does melt at low temps and that can let it run to spots where it gets us in trouble. sometimes better to just go bare?

That is what I have decided to do. I was looking for a connector that would contain the 90 degree bend that I need, but if there is no such device then I will just try to bend the 6 gauge wire itself. Without a vise I am stuck with using pliers, but I would think that would work. I just don't want to damage the wire.

If that does not work I will have to decide if I should install the charger horizontally, which will require that the fan be operating whenever the charger is operating, or install the Renogy charger. That is supposed to have its own fan. Personally I would prefer the Victron but any port in a storm.

[Morich]

If the wire is pulling that hard, I might want to see if I could get a bit more slack and then use some form of clamp to take the strain rather than the fitting on the equipment. RV take a lot of up and down and wires that are tight do tend to flop enough to work loose.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by Morich

If the wire is pulling that hard, I might want to see if I could get a bit more slack and then use some form of clamp to take the strain rather than the fitting on the equipment. RV take a lot of up and down and wires that are tight do tend to flop enough to work loose.

Yes. I thought about that, but the natural place to put support for the wiring is at the top of the "cabinet" that the charger sits in since the wire sockets are at the top of the charger, but that top is the bottom of the seat and I have to take it off to get to the charger.

One thing may be to try to reposition the charger so that I can affix the wires to a wall, but I also have to take into account the placement of the heat sink fins so that the fan blows on them and moves the heat generated by the charger.

One choice may be to install a "brace" between the sides at the top of the cabinet, not to really brace the cabinet itself, but to provide some place to attach the wires and keep them from moving. I will look into that tomorrow if I can get out of the house to work on the RV.

One positive thing is that this has been an interesting experience for someone who never paid enough attention in shop class. So far it is a "work in progress", but I have learned quite a bit so far.

[Morich]

Way to go! That " try it to see" puts you way up there with folks like Elon Musk and playing with rockets?
I had to take time out to watch the countdown again today as it is a place where we have gone several times down near Padre Island. Great progress made today but the landing got a little messy.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by Morich

Way to go! That " try it to see" puts you way up there with folks like Elon Musk and playing with rockets?

I can't be sure about this, but I suspect that his rocket problems are probably a bit tougher to solve than my charger issues.

Originally Posted by Morich

I had to take time out to watch the countdown again today as it is a place where we have gone several times down near Padre Island. Great progress made today but the landing got a little messy.

Padre Island? Or South Padre Island?

Back in 1969 I had expected that we would have been to Mars by now. It was one of those lifetime dreams of mine to be alive when we visited Mars, but the whole thing just sort of ended with the moon landings. So very sad.

I would have liked to have been on one of those trips to Mars back when I was young enough to live through it, but I would prefer to miss today's landing. Quite a sight.

Still, when you consider that it is one person funding all of this, it gives me the shivers to see even this happening and the effort is almost enough to get me to buy one of those electric cars, if only to help fund this effort. I think it is the modern day equivalent of the effort to build the cross-country train service and that was partially funded by the government.

[al1florida]

Originally Posted by AJMike

I
Still, when you consider that it is one person funding all of this, it gives me the shivers to see even this happening and the effort is almost enough to get me to buy one of those electric cars, if only to help fund this effort. I think it is the modern day equivalent of the effort to build the cross-country train service and that was partially funded by the government.

I like your analogy about comparing private companies building coast to coast rail lines to now private companies building space exploration. I had not though of it in that manner.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by al1florida

I like your analogy about comparing private companies building coast to coast rail lines to now private companies building space exploration. I had not though of it in that manner.

As someone living in a more modern era I never really understood how much effort went into building the trans-continental railroad until I read Stephen Ambrose's book Nothing Like It In The World.

As I remember it (I read the book many years ago) at the end of that book there was an interesting story about a ceremony many years after the completion of the railroad tracks to recreate a section of the track building through some treacherous section of the Rocky Mountains. All these years after the manual effort had succeeded, and with the help of equipment they did not have at the time, the people found they could not actually rebuild that part of the tracks. What they had done many years before, all manually, they could not recreate with added equipment, and I suppose what that shows is that "impossible" is a relative term. If you have to do it you stand a better chance of success than if you just want to do it.

[Rick 99037]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

Morich must have slept in.

HaHaHaHa, so true.
But we all appreciate you, and your efforts too Morich.