My current challenge is to find suitable UV-stable and IP65 or better rated cables.
We have already found some on banggood.com, but they leads are only ~20cm long. I'd much prefer leads approximately 0.5m - 1m long, so that there is ample length for attaching solar panels and battery packs, and general ease of connection.
A bit of hunting on http://alibaba.com yielded an enquiry from Bett Electronic Co. LTD in Shenzhen.
They have exactly the kind of thing we are looking for, and nicely, their cables are thicker (18-AWG instead of 22-AWG and 24-AWG) than the ones we found on BangGood, which means lower resistance. A further bonus, is that they can manufacture in white, which will reduce heat loading a touch. Their cables are also IP67 certified. Also very nice. Here are the pictures that they sent of a sample:
Also, as the manufacturer, their prices are quite good. Given that we are looking for cables that are 87cm long on average (compared with 20cm), and with the heavier-duty wiring, it is pleasing that the price is only about 50% higher. They can also manufacture and ship quite quickly, apparently being able to get 100 units to us within about 10 days, including shipping by DHL.
So the only complication is that they don't have any certification of UV performance that I could use to easily determine whether they would be suitable. However, Leah was very helpful and patient in answering my many, many questions.
What I now know is that the white cables are EPDM with added Titanium Oxide, which should have excellent UV and weathering properties. The connectors themselves are PVC, without any special UV stabilising material. However, according to this document, the main problem with PVC under UV, is that it will discolour (not a problem), and will have reduced impact resistance (only a minor problem).
Otherwise, the only minor issue, is that I can't figure out if the PVC is Lead-free or not. However, given the small mass of the connectors, this is not an immediate concern. Nonetheless, I would love to be able to be sure that there was no Lead in the PVC.
So it looks like we have a good solution, and I think I will place the order with Bett Electronic in the next day or so.
Cables And Wire Manufacturers
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