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[EVDL] bus bars vs. cable

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E
I have a question regarding bus bars vs. battery cables.

the EV is an S-10. It was suggested bus bars between the batteries that are
closest to each other was a bad idea under the bed.

I could understand if the batteries were loose in the racks and would move
and end up bending the bus bars till they break but what if the batteries
were secured so they do not move?
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E
If the batteries are secure the Bus Bars work fine. I have used them in my
EV and there were no issues.

I do prefer to use wire however. Welding Wire is much easier to move and
bend so when building EVs, Wire is my first choice.


Sincerely;

Douglas A. Stansfield
President
www.TransAtlanticElectricConversions.com
973-875-6276 (office)
973-670-9208 (cell)
973-440-1619 (fax)

ELECTRIC CAR PRODUCERS




-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of Michael Clark
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 5:38 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [EVDL] bus bars vs. cable

I have a question regarding bus bars vs. battery cables.

the EV is an S-10. It was suggested bus bars between the batteries that are
closest to each other was a bad idea under the bed.

I could understand if the batteries were loose in the racks and would move
and end up bending the bus bars till they break but what if the batteries
were secured so they do not move?
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Even with the batteries secured tightly there will be some vibration
which could put stress on the post seals on the batteries when solid
straight buss bars are used. This can cause the seals to break and
allow acid to creep up the posts and cause corrosion. A buss bar with
a couple of bends in it will allow it to flex a little to reduce the
stress on the posts. As Douglas said, welding wire is much easier to
bend so can make construction easier, in addition, the stress on the
posts is diminished. The same would be true with braided buss "bars."

On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 2:37 PM, Michael Clark
<[email protected]> wrote:
> I have a question regarding bus bars vs. battery cables.
>
> the EV is an S-10. It was suggested bus bars between the batteries tha=
t are
> closest to each other was a bad idea under the bed.
>
> I could understand if the batteries were loose in the racks and would move
> and end up bending the bus bars till they break but what if the batteries
> were secured so they do not move?
> -------------- next part --------------
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>



-- =

David D. Nelson
http://evalbum.com/1328

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E
David Nelson-5 wrote:
>
> Even with the batteries secured tightly there will be some vibration
> which could put stress on the post seals on the batteries when solid
> straight buss bars are used. This can cause the seals to break and
> allow acid to creep up the posts and cause corrosion. A buss bar with
> a couple of bends in it will allow it to flex a little to reduce the
> stress on the posts. As Douglas said, welding wire is much easier to
> bend so can make construction easier, in addition, the stress on the
> posts is diminished. The same would be true with braided buss "bars."
>

This is why I use an intermediate option - flexible copper interconnects
made of several layers of copper sheet, stacked together and wrapped with
heat-shrink. See
http://volt914.blogspot.com/2010/01/battery-interconnects.html for example.

The problem I have with welding cable when the posts are extremely close
together is that it was actually very hard to figure out how to orient the
lugs. Especially with the batteries I used.
--
View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/bus-bars-vs-cable-tp3021529p3021767.html
Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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E
Nice interconnects, Ross. It looks like it took some time, too. That
is basically what TS did to make the straps for my LiFePO4 batteries.
On my Pb battery packs I had some short pieces, too. I was using 1
gauge wire so I probably had an easier time than you did trying to use
2/0. I pre-bent the wire before crimping the lugs. Sometimes this
meant I had to cut the thin wires which stuck out farther than the
others after the bend was made. It looks like it would have been
difficult to do that with your shortest interconnects.

Ross Cunniff <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> David Nelson-5 wrote:
>>
>> Even with the batteries secured tightly there will be some vibration
>> which could put stress on the post seals on the batteries when solid
>> straight buss bars are used. This can cause the seals to break and
>> allow acid to creep up the posts and cause corrosion. A buss bar with
>> a couple of bends in it will allow it to flex a little to reduce the
>> stress on the posts. As Douglas said, welding wire is much easier to
>> bend so can make construction easier, in addition, the stress on the
>> posts is diminished. The same would be true with braided buss "bars."
>>
>
> This is why I use an intermediate option - flexible copper interconnects
> made of several layers of copper sheet, stacked together and wrapped with
> heat-shrink. See
> http://volt914.blogspot.com/2010/01/battery-interconnects.html for exampl=
e.
>
> The problem I have with welding cable when the posts are extremely close
> together is that it was actually very hard to figure out how to orient the
> lugs. Especially with the batteries I used.
> --
> View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413=
529.n4.nabble.com/bus-bars-vs-cable-tp3021529p3021767.html
> Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Na=
bble.com.
>
> _______________________________________________
> | REPLYING: address your message to [email protected] only.
> | Multiple-address or CCed messages may be rejected.
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>



-- =

David D. Nelson
http://evalbum.com/1328

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Ross Cunniff wrote:

>
>
> David Nelson-5 wrote:
>>
>> Even with the batteries secured tightly there will be some vibration
>> which could put stress on the post seals on the batteries when solid
>> straight buss bars are used. This can cause the seals to break and
>> allow acid to creep up the posts and cause corrosion. A buss bar with
>> a couple of bends in it will allow it to flex a little to reduce the
>> stress on the posts. As Douglas said, welding wire is much easier to
>> bend so can make construction easier, in addition, the stress on the
>> posts is diminished. The same would be true with braided buss "bars."
>>
>
> This is why I use an intermediate option - flexible copper interconnects
> made of several layers of copper sheet, stacked together and wrapped with
> heat-shrink. See
> http://volt914.blogspot.com/2010/01/battery-interconnects.html for example.

Ross -- those are great looking interconnects!

Is there any advantage to using solid copper stock as opposed to using the 7 0.020" thick layers?

And speaking of which, does anyone have a good source for solid copper stock that they like to use (online)?

--corbin


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