Frayed wire on portable solar panel

[DonC]

Went to use my portable solar panel and noticed I was not getting any additional charging. Checked the panel and noticed the wiring has frayed. Any way to fix this or is the panel toast?

Sorry for the poor picture, but the wires coming out of the connection are broken and frayed. Looks like a part of the connection plastic broke off and exposed the wires and also allowed them to bend back and forth, eventually breaking some of the wires.

 

[Wallowa]

Picture is a good one...how/what pulled the cable out of the fixture?....I see matching groves that would seem to indicate that the cable was pressed into the mount but has been twisted out...and there is a missing piece in front..

 

[DonC]

yes, definitely a piece of plastic broke off that was holding the wire in place to keep it from moving around. I think that piece came off at some point and then it just stressed back and forth when I was not careful with it taking it in and out of truck.

Anyway to fix this? I guess I could pull the rest of the plastic piece off and see's what's under it. Not much to lose.

 

[Wallowa]

Perhaps contact Zamp for advice or parts...assuming it is a Zamp panel....mine came with a nice hard case to store it in...

 

[buckland]

I am not an electrical wizard ... but as a temporary fix i would 'tin' the wire. Getting all the wire loose strands as tight as possible with a sharp tool. I would then solder a light coating on the exposed wire to tin it into a more robust condition. (This being a DYI). I then would attempt to electrical tape it to insulate the exposed area.... at that point I'd consider a spray of high density foam to stiffen the area perhaps within a plastic frame.
Good luck

 

[rando]

Pry the lid off that black box and you will find the contacts to which the cable are soldered. You can either unsolder the existing / MC4 solar cable and replace with a new one (cut a cheap amazon MC4 jumper in half to get a pigtail). If this is a portable panel, get rid of the solar cable completely and replace with the some duplex low voltage lighting cable (from Home Depot) it is much more flexible and will avoid these problems in the future.

 

[DonC]

thanks, I'll try a DIY fix. It is my portable that I keep in the extended cab of my truck.