MC cable crimper

[craig110]

Other than the obvious motive of wanting people to purchase MC cables instead of making their own, why does the MC cable crimper cost over $400 and an insulator installation tool costs over $500?  It appears that the MC wire used for PV arrays is just single conductor wire which isn't something that should require a complex / specialty crimper.  Has anyone made their own MC cables without the special crimper?

[KEG]

Craig

Is this MC cable some thing special for the solar panel or is it just the armored MC cable like 12/3 conductor that electricans use.

[craig110]

I haven't purchased any yet, so can't say for sure.  However, I haven't seen any product writeups that say the cable is armored.  For example, the wire part of the description of the MC 12 ft. cable on the Alternative Energy Store's page (no, they don't sell magnets... ;-) just says "12 Feet of black sunlight resistant 10 AWG cable."  With the exception of the end connectors, it sounds like rather generic wire.

[craig110]

Oh, I think I see where you question comes from.  I googling this more, I found that "MC" is also used to mean Metal Clad.  In PV-land, "MC" is "MultiContact" and stands for 4mm male/female connectors that allow panels to be quickly wired together.

[jimjjnn]

Make your own and solder connectors in place. Better connections that way and less money

[fred480v]

the crimpers we use @ work for single cables from #6-750mcm are 2500.00, tools are out of sight. the solder idea is the best be sure to use flux for electrical connections, if not outher fluxes will damage your wire with time

                 fred480v

[jimjjnn]

Sorry. Forgot to say to use resin flux only. DO NOT use acid core solder. It will corrode badly over a short period of time

[asheets]

If you do a lot of crimping work (say, you are a network administrator who pulls a lot of network cable), then a good, expensive crimper is well worth the money in terms of % of successful crimps, crimp quality, wrist and arm comfort, etc.

[Bruce S]

I'll second that statement!!

I use Ideal and Paladin. Tried others and went right back to the good stuff.

The MC crimpers you're lloking at are indeed ment for people who will be doing this all day long. Thet are also multi-function which means they not only crimp, but strip the insulation as well.

I use MC 12/3 with my stuff at home, but didn't go the tool route, due to the cost. For me the standard dykes and rosin-core solder is the way to go.

Hope this helps save you some money

Bruce S