Where to buy low voltage cable and lugs?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Where to buy low voltage cable and lugs?

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Sounddude

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#1709333 25-Jan-2017 12:48

Aredwood: Definitely JA Russel or other electrical wholesaler for the lugs.

Have to be careful with JA Russels, they will try it on once they realise your not a sparky.

They tried to charge me $900 for a 100m roll of TPS which Mitre10 sold for $200.

richms

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#1709336 25-Jan-2017 12:54

Sounddude:

Have to be careful with JA Russels, they will try it on once they realise your not a sparky.

They tried to charge me $900 for a 100m roll of TPS which Mitre10 sold for $200.

That is the standard list price for it, when you get an account you get a discount structure applied to it, up to 95% on cables. That is so that the list that goes out with the goods never show anything to do with the real price paid incase the sparkies customers see it.

Cables are the worst for it, but you will see things like double power sockets on the docs as being $60 and other absurdities, noone pays anywhere near that. If you are doing a cash sale you just have to tell them what you want to pay for it and they will usually say ok or come back with another offer.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#1709343 25-Jan-2017 13:02

Good info, thanks. If the price is too high I'll ask for a discount or walk away. I don't need it that much.

Solar guy will charge me $45 for four lengths of solar wire with appropriate lugs, shipped. Given he has to get the parts and do the assembly that's ok, but I can probably do a little cheaper myself if I can find the parts.

richms

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#1709348 25-Jan-2017 13:10

At $45 I would just order them. Seems a very fair price for the work.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#1709355 25-Jan-2017 13:16

I might do that. I'm mostly looking for lugs and cables for the longer cable, as their cable is quite expensive so longer runs cost more.

One thing he said was people have had good success attaching individual solar panels to a piece of wood, then that wood to the roof with silicone adhesive, rather than screwing through the roof. I'm just a bit worried in Wellington that it'd just fly off.

PolicyGuy

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#1709407 25-Jan-2017 14:06

Sounddude:

Aredwood: Definitely JA Russel or other electrical wholesaler for the lugs.

Have to be careful with JA Russels, they will try it on once they realise your not a sparky.

They tried to charge me $900 for a 100m roll of TPS which Mitre10 sold for $200.

The stuff Mitre10 (or Bunnings, or ITM, or any other 'home handyman' store) is absolutely positively not the same stuff as an electrical wholesaler sells you, and it's certainly not worth as much as the stuff the sparky buys.
Also, once you are an account holder, the wholesaler will offer you a better price than 'retail'

MikeAqua

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#1709425 25-Jan-2017 14:27

richms: I comes down to tolerable voltage drop. When you only have 12 then every bit lost matters.

Based on his figures the 14AWG will keep voltage drop below 3%.

This is a circuit calculator I've found to be reliable.

http://circuitwizard.bluesea.com/

Mike

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richms

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#1709440 25-Jan-2017 14:58

PolicyGuy:

The stuff Mitre10 (or Bunnings, or ITM, or any other 'home handyman' store) is absolutely positively not the same stuff as an electrical wholesaler sells you, and it's certainly not worth as much as the stuff the sparky buys.
Also, once you are an account holder, the wholesaler will offer you a better price than 'retail'

The 10m packs are not, but the 100m rolls of 1.5 2+e I got from bunnings are the same as one of the brands the cousin gets me from russells.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#1723587 21-Feb-2017 11:24

Ok, did it myself, with parts from Stewarts. I got 3m of 1.5mm wire for about $6, they guy gave me an 85% discount, list price it was crazy expensive. Pack of lugs cost about $6. While I was there I picked up a 12V 7AH SLA alarm, more expensive than online but easier. I got the thinner wire, maximum current is likely 2A @ 12V. It wouldn't be good enough for a connection back to the solar panel. So the solar panel is charging two 33AH batteries in parallel, and once the indoor charger brings the other battery up it'll be charging all three. Most of the time it'll be at a low trickle given I currently have the solar panel sitting in a window.

Now I just have to get the right bits to mount the solar panel on the roof. Not even sure it's worth the bother to keep these batteries charged, and in an emergency I'll just lay the panel outside.

nickb800

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#1723700 21-Feb-2017 13:29

Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries don't like to be kept flat and will slowly discharge on their own. You're best to keep them constantly trickle-charged

timmmay

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#1723796 21-Feb-2017 14:58

nickb800:

Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries don't like to be kept flat and will slowly discharge on their own. You're best to keep them constantly trickle-charged

Yep, that's why I've got them all on a solar panel to stay charged.

MikeAqua

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#1723846 21-Feb-2017 16:09

timmmay:

nickb800:

Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries don't like to be kept flat and will slowly discharge on their own. You're best to keep them constantly trickle-charged

Yep, that's why I've got them all on a solar panel to stay charged.

They also don't like to be discharged below 50% of their capacity.

Mike