The plastic around the cables in the worst

[wscott]

I just installed on a 400 amp service with 2 200amp panels. So I instead 2 VUEs both with expansion units. 20 probes total.

Removing that plastic wrap is a complete pain. On only about half of those 20 cables did I find the end of the plastic to unwrap them, on the rest I ended up trying to cut them off with a pocket knife and avoid damaging the wire.  I did see a post where it was suggested to leave the plastic (after I finished), but I don’t think leaving metal twisty ties around the cables and then shoving them in an electric panel is a great idea.

I would suggest skipping the plastic wrap to reduce frustration.  I know I am not the only one who was really annoyed by it.  If the tie isn’t’ enough maybe a square cardboard sleeve?

[Marty @Emporia]

@wscott we hear you!   We realize the cable length  in many cases is overkill.  We are making changes in length as well as wrapping in our future manufacturing.    Thanks for the feedback!

[Chuck]

While this thread is pretty old, I’d like to add my 2 cents.  I don’t mind the length of the cables, it’s always better to have extra than come up short.  In my case my main panel is a Solar ready panel and the side with the breakers is very skinny and space is at a premium.  What I ended up doing is adding an 8″ x 8″ box next to my panel and connected it using 3/4″ conduit.  My Vue (I’m now using the Vue Gen2) is housed in the external box and I feed all the sensor wires and power back to the panel via the 3/4″ conduit.  Before I installed the sensors I removed the plastic wrap with a knife and discarded the twist tie.  Then I snaked the cables through the conduit and any excess were bundled up and I used a couple of nylon cable ties to secure them.  Even if you have room in your panel and mount the Vue inside it you can easily wrap the cables up and use a cable tie to keep them neat.

However, I would like to mention the new sensors included with the Gen 2 product have right angle 2.5mm ends.  This makes it impossible to pull them through conduit (unless the conduit is over 1″).  Keep that in mind if you are using the Gen 2 product and plan on doing what I did in mounting the Vue in an external box.  I was able to get mine installed because I upgraded from a Vue Gen 1 that has compatible sensors, but  the ends are straight.  All that is needed are a few 3.5mm to 2.5mm adaptors because the Gen 1 uses 3.5mm plugs and the Gen 2 uses 2.5mm plugs.

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