| Author |
Message |
bruce knee (Bruceknee)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 7:31 am: | |
I am planning on using 6 100ah gel batteries for my battery bank, has anyone used a solid copper bar to connect batteries? Pros or cons please.
Sure would be a clean and clutter-free installation |
Abajaba
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 8:32 am: | |
Cables
As the batteries bounce in their tray, the cables will flex. As the battery tray flexes, the cables will flex. As the temperature of the battery tray and batteries change the cable will flex.
With a bar the connection on the battery will have to flex. As time goes on this will eventually lead to something breaking. If it is an internal break at one of the terminals on a battery breaking you can get arcing and sparking.
Arcing and sparking inside a battery can be explosive if the battery is putting out hydrogen gas at the time that this is going on.
I would personally want to use cables for this reason and if one of the batteries has to be removed from the system, you don't have to take all the connections loose from the batteries to get the bar out of the way. |
Marc Bourget
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 9:55 am: | |
It's also easier, with cables, to equalize lengths of connectors between batts. An important point in equalizing loads upon/use of your batteries |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 9:58 am: | |
Bruce, to avoid buying a crimping tool you could possibly borrow one from one of the nuts here that have one, just for the cost of shipping. (and maybe a deposit to assure return, LOL) Just decide on the gauge of wire you are going to use, then ask. In fact I think I have one that will handle 2 or maybe 0.
Richard |
Jim Stewart (H3jim)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 10:37 am: | |
Because I am a regular / good customer of Dick Wright's, he sold me the 4 0 cable at cost, and let me use his crimpers to make my own. He is in Eugene Oregon. Less than $4 a ft, great buy.
You may not need 4 0, but probably should go at least 2 0. I have 6, 200 amp hour batteries, hooked to a 4000 watt inverter. you can never really go too big. It reduces losses.
The way my batteries were laid out, I could have only used bar on a few connections anyway, so while you're doing cable, you might as well do them all. |
Ed Jewett (Kristinsgrandpa)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 12:35 pm: | |
You also might want to consider making them a little longer than necessary for flex and the possibility that the next set of batteries might be a little bigger, then you can use the ones you have.
Use a good grade of battery grease/no-oxide on all the connections. Battery grease from auto parts store or no-oxide from electrical supply house. No-oxide will probably be expen$ive.
Ed |
David Hartley (Drdave)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 4:39 pm: | |
I just went to the local truck parts dealer and for $5.00 each bought battery interconnect cables used on grouping truck batteries together.
No cutting, crimping, cuts, Cussing and bruising.
I am getting lazy.... |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 5:11 pm: | |
Great idea. Why didn't I think of that! It would probably cost more than that to just buy the crimp on connectors.
Richard |
Jim Stewart (H3jim)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 5:44 pm: | |
Although I wonder what guage they are. If you are running a big inverter, you might need the 4 0 stuff. They might be as little as 2. |
Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 12:17 am: | |
Well either way (size that is) Bruce I'd stay with cables as said above for the flex reasons, ya sure the batteries are fastened down but there is still gonna be flex and the weakest point will be the post if you used the bar (sounds great though!) will be the battery posts and ya don't wanna cause them to break! Bryce aka Busted Knuckle
PS. As also mentioned above the bigger the better as the larger the cable the more current it can handle and won't get as hot under a load! |
Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 12:31 am: | |
Should you be tempted to go the solid bar route, put two nearly 90 degree bends in each end to give a place to absorb the flex and shock. Bars should be thin enough to flex some. I have done that for my equalizer connections.
I have thought about using very heavy flat ground cable covered with several layers of 3:1 adhesive heat shrink tubing. labels can be put under clear heat shrink and ende can be color coded to indicate of they are for parallel or series connection. The propblem with 2/0 to 4/0 cable is that is is sooo stiff.
Thef flat cable with heat shrink assumes that the cables are not able to touch and short.
I notixce that fork lift batteries, which have multiple connections between individually replaceable cells use a rigid container to stop any movement between cells. They use external lead connections. |