Weep holes. It’s allowed.
William Miller Miller Solar.com 805-438-5600 www.millersolar.com On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 7:06 PM Glenn via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: > Having opened and inspected dozens of rooftop installations, I can firmly > say that anything inside a box of any kind on a rooftop will absolutely be > exposed to moisture and often water. Whether it is humidity sucked in from > thermal cycling, or gasket failure through UV degradation, or here in the > north, snow and ice damage, it will happen. > > You will never convince me that it is acceptable to use any device there > that does not have a published, traceable listing for outdoor use in that > environment. > > -Glenn > > On Nov 11, 2025 19:30, Jason Szumlanski <[email protected]> > wrote: > > We're talking about inside a junction box (NEMA 3R or 4, for example), not > an "outdoor environment." Wagos (and other connectors like wire nuts, > Polaris Taps, power distribution blocks, terminal blocks, etc) are allowed > inside of a rooftop junction box, just like they are allowed in various > switch boxes, enclosures, and cabinets that are suitable for the > environment outdoors. > > For the same reason you can put circuit breakers inside of a NEMA 3R load > center outdoors, you can use splice connectors of many kinds inside of a > NEMA 3R enclosure. They do not need to be listed for "outdoors" because it > is not outdoors. It's enclosed and adequately protected from the > environment. > > In other words, any AHJ that challenges me on this, I just ask them to > show me a circuit breaker that's listed for use in a wet location. That's > usually enough to shut them down. > > > Jason Szumlanski > Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group > NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP) > Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956 > Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208 > > On Tue, Nov 11, 2025, 7:11 PM Glenn <[email protected]> wrote: > > I have not found a listing for Wagos in an outdoor environment. > > -Glenn > > On Nov 11, 2025 18:01, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > > We have had terrific success using Wagos in rooftop junction boxes for > splicing #12 Enphase cable to #10 home run THWN. We have no issues > whatsoever with these. > > Unfortunately, the #10 PV wire insulation is too large for the Wago > 221-6XX series. We have been buying #14-#4 Polaris taps and it's getting > very expensive. I would like an alternative. > > For a while we were using the King Innovation AlumiConn purple "suitcase" > connectors for Enphase, but they are only 300V rated and I don't think the > PV Wire insulation fits in those, either, for <300V applications. > > I have seen people using MC4 connectors in rooftop junction boxes like > Blake suggested, but I wasn't sure if that is acceptable practice to use > them this way (in an enclosure), and it does require a pretty large > junction box. We prefer to use the EZ Solar JB-# series of boxes. The rail > mount ones (JB-3) are pretty small, but the tile roof JB-2 is huge, and the > shingle JB-1 is sizable as well. I guess if there is no prohibition against > using them in an enclosure, then it should be allowed. I do like the > watertight nature of this solution. > > I have seen some clowns using MC4 connectors with #10 THHN wire to make > these splices. That's obviously no bueno. Crazy stuff... > > > Jason Szumlanski > Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group > NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP) > Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956 > Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208 > > > On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 4:44 PM Dave Tedeyan via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Adam, > This response is just to you. Is NYSERDA the inspection agency you are > talking about? Cause they have given me issues about using Wago Nuts inside > a 3R box, even after I got a statement from Wago saying that it is okay to > put it inside a 3R box. But squirting a bit of No-Ox in there seems to make > them happy about it. The one time we put one inside a 3R panel board to > extend a short wire and forgot to put No-Ox on that one, they gave us a 2 > out of 5 on the inspection, even though that was the only thing noted in > the entire inspection report! But I would be curious if the point you make > above will work with NYSERDA? > > Cheers, > Dave > > On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 4:16 PM AE Solar via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > > We had an inspection agency that was giving us a hard time about using > buchanan crimps in junction boxes because they aren't rated for > outdoor/damp locations. The point was made (on this listserve) that "*if > the inside of a 3R enclosure isn't considered dry enough for a buchanan > crimp/cap, then there's millions of 3R panels with breakers and busbars in > them that would have the same problem*". The inspection agency finally > relented. We put a little No-Alox in the cap. I know that's not what your > initial post was about, but tossing that in for consideration just in > case... > > Adam Katzman (he/him) > Autonomous Energies | Owner/Operator > www.AutonomousEnergies.com <http://www.autonomousenergies.com> > (518) 567-1468 > > > > > On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM Jay via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Sam > > I can’t imagine being just copper it would matter, the AHJ might have a > different opinion however > > Question. > How are you insulating them? > > Jay > > > On Nov 11, 2025, at 11:15 AM, Sam Haraldson via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Wrenches, > > On the attached product spec sheet for Ideal Copper Crimps (aka Buchanan > crimps) you'll see that max voltage for the crimp is rated at 600V but an > asterisk indicates up to 1000V when "in fixtures and signs". In our > application this is a 1000v system and we are joining pairs of #10 PV > wires. The junctions are made in a rail-mounted, plastic j-box. We could > not find the definition of "fixture" as it might pertain to this situation > in the NEC and as such are interested to learn more about using Buchanan > crimps for 1000V applications. > > <image.png> > > > Cheers, > Sam > > [image: OnSite Energy] <https://onsiteenergyinc.com/> > > Sam Haraldson > Operations Specialist > (406) 551-6135 > 1515 N. Rouse Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 > <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1515+N.+Rouse+Ave+Bozeman,+MT+59715?entry=gmail&source=g> > Locally owned and operated since 2012 > [image: B Corporation] <https://onsiteenergyinc.com/bcorp> > <IDEALIndustries-Crimp Connectors.pdf> > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. 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