After 15 yeras of living in my solar electric house I’m pulling all the loose ends together ans establishing a dedicated battery and power room.I would like to move both my dc and ac panels to shorten runs and to consolidate .What kind of junction box or such could i use to make up the splices to get me to the new location. I dont have ten millions circuits but would like to find something easier and neater than a bunch of wire nuts and oct. boxes.Something with screw terminals?Thanks.
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Wirenuts are going to be the cheapest option. They are listed(legal) provided you use the correct size. Be sure to make sure the ones you buy are listed for DC and if you have any Aluminum wire, for CU to AL as well. You are going to stuff them all in a box and cover them anyway, hopefully to never have to look at them again, so why worry about screw terminals?
If you insist on screw terminals, you may have to visit your local Electrical Wholesale house. They will have what you need and you will hopefully be assisted by someone who knows his stuff. Make sure everything you use is listed for your application and no matter how you make your splices, label everything. Your wholesale house will have some kind of handy and inexpensive labeling system. You'll be happy you did...someday.
In most similar situations I leave the existing box/es in place and gut them. Any doors are screwed shut. This saves all the cosmetic work and loads of labor. If possible I would run conduit to the new breaker panel.
Label all circuits by number keyed to a laminated card mounted on the old panel box. I say numbered and keyed to the card/s, multiple copies come in handy, and not descriptions of what each circuit runs to. The uses of any particular circuit are likely to change with time.
Notations on an easily replaceable card are more likely to be updated than any sleeve or flagged label attached directly to the cables. Few things are as frustrating as a panel schedule that is several renovations out of date. They can be worse than no schedule at all.
As for the connections I would use any of the better rated wire nuts for any small gauge wires and insulated lugs for the larger ones. I would not use terminal blocks unless there were lots, 25+, connections. Terminal blocks are great for industrial applications where access for calibrations and readings are frequently needed.
Also terminal blocks if damaged usually need to be replaced in blocks. Making replacement of a single connection more complicated and expensive than necessary. Wire nuts, properly sized and applied, are effective and safe with a long history of use.
Just leave plenty of slack on the paired wires and neatly bend the bundle in one wide sweeping bend around the inner perimeter of the box. Kinks are not as good as smooth bends when changes or repairs are needed. OK it looks a little disorganized but the bundle can be completely removed from the box for sorting and repairs. Better than working in even a large box. Better efficient and effective than pretty. The cover keeps everything looking nice.
One thing that's done in big video installations is a system that uses numbered pairs of sleeve labels. Every wire has two ends, and when you find two ends that both have "1041" on them, you know they're the ends of the same piece of coax. In a plant that has thousands of cables and requires frequent changes, this turns out to be a good way to go. I just wish I could find them small enough for #12.
-- J.S.
Treetalk,
You could do a perfectly acceptable job with wirenuts(for smaller circuits)and larger size J-boxes.For sizing the boxes you need 2 cubic in. of volume for each #14 wire, 2.25 in. for each #12 , 2.5 in. for each #10 etc. If a wire passes through the box it counts as one conductor,if it splices it counts as two.
On the other hand if you're really proud of your system and want to show it off,consider using a trough with a multiple point terminal strip mounted in it.The sheet metal trough ( officially called metal wireway ) comes in foot long increments,and can be 4,6,8,12 inches square,galvanized or enamel gray,screw or hinged cover.You have to buy the endcaps with it.Look at the store electrical panels at your Lowes or Home Depot.They both pre-wire all their panels up to wireways with terminal strips in them,makes it easier(cheaper) for local electrical contractors.
For identifying conductors the Cadillac way is to use the hand held wire markers that give you a wrap around label.3m makes a cheaper write-on marker for the same kind of labels.When you take the cover off of a panel and see a " central air cond." label on a wire , it's better than counting breakers,remembering which side is odd and which is even, then looking on the panel schedule.
And don't ty-rap every thing together real tight trying to make it look immaculate.A beautiful panel is a hot panel.Let the wires breathe in order to shed heat.
Just my two cents worth.
Barry
Treetalk,
My compliments on living on PV. Are you off-grid?
Anyway, I suggest going to a electric supply/wholesale house. Get a junction box big enough to get your hands into. I recently used a 12x12x8 inch j-box to do the same thing on a renovation I'm wiring. Get one with knockouts (unless you have access to a knockout punch or have a hole saw and are a masochist).
As far as splicing the wires, wire nuts will work. The all-out best are Scotch brand "Scotchlok" part # 20041 (for the yellows). They have a very strong spring, which is surrounded by a steel shell (which in turn is insulated). Pretwist the wires and spin a wire nut on tight.
You could look into terminal strips, which would look cool and be the easiest to change of the need arose.
Good luck.
Cliff