battery wiring or copper straps

[tecnodave]

Want scary electrical,  I have done electrical in Mexico and if they have a standard I sure did not see it!  Automotive wire on utility poles as house feeder!  Wowee who approved that!  Only 120/240 volts on 32 volt wire but right up next to the transformer you can short circuit 30,000 amps from a typical 25 kW 8,000 volt to 120/240 transformer!  It's not the voltage that will get you, that kind of current can vaporize the copper , aluminum and PVC insulation into a cloud at over 3000 degrees moving at you at 350+ mph. When I see that kind of work I walk away from it. Too scary for me. I saw that from 100 feet and I have never ran that fast getting out of there.  And no I did not do that! Witnessing it was enough!

David

So what does the other parts of the world use as a standard?

Yes AWG is the standard for building wire here but we also use SAE for some stuff !  On a 500 kW generator I was required to use SAE on the engine side and AWG on the generator side! Engineer required it but the inspector had a real hard time accepting that installation! Standby power for a hospital. Diesel engine was 24 volt but the inspector was not willing to pass it even when engineer recertified that what was required!   Mind scramble!

[CDN-VT]

[quot

So what does the other parts of the world use as a standard?


[/quote]

CE is the standard , From SI
System International ISO 9006
France

VT

[ClassicCrazy]

Take a look at Photonic Induction"s  ride through India to look at the wiring there . The standards there look like extention cords everywhere ! The guy up on the ladder installing a hookup - that looks a bit scary .
https://youtu.be/aPITN7huTEo?t=8m47s

Larry

[CDN-VT]

IN China or Russia , they said my licence was not good to drive ETC. I flew in 

SO I biked in China , I hit a 230Vac lines (open  cables) from store front to curb .
I didn't get this , but was kicked !!
600 VDC is in upper cable in Vid !!
1200 Vdc out of station !! JFI

https://youtu.be/kKZqAh9bdyc?t=24s

VT

[RossW]

My new batteries came with a load of copper jumpers.
There were two kinds: a short one (3 strips) and a longer one (5 strips).
The short one is clearly designed to fit between adjacent cells, the longer are meant for "turn-around" where cells are  end-to-end rather than side-to-side. (about 1/2" longer spacing).

Each jumper is made of a number of thinner, laminated copper sheets. The sheets look to be about 0.5mm each. So 3 sheets = 1.5mm, 5 sheets = 2.5mm (thick).

The number of cells, jumpers etc, was clear that I should use 3 of the thin ones between parallel cells, and 2 of the thicker ones between groups-of-cells.

The combination of thinner strips, in bundles, makes a composite that's actually a lot easier to work with than solid bars.

[russ_drinkwater]

The power lines and the like in the phillipines are super scary and I do have some photos some wheres.
They look like eagles nests on poles! ( stick nests with pieces of various diameters poking out everywhere!

[ClassicCrazy]

My new batteries came with a load of copper jumpers.
There were two kinds: a short one (3 strips) and a longer one (5 strips).
The short one is clearly designed to fit between adjacent cells, the longer are meant for "turn-around" where cells are  end-to-end rather than side-to-side. (about 1/2" longer spacing).

Each jumper is made of a number of thinner, laminated copper sheets. The sheets look to be about 0.5mm each. So 3 sheets = 1.5mm, 5 sheets = 2.5mm (thick).

The number of cells, jumpers etc, was clear that I should use 3 of the thin ones between parallel cells, and 2 of the thicker ones between groups-of-cells.

The combination of thinner strips, in bundles, makes a composite that's actually a lot easier to work with than solid bars.

Isn't new shiny copper beautiful ?  Nice that those straps won't be around any acid to mess them up.
What is the design amp rating of those three laminated straps ?

Larry

[RossW]

Isn't new shiny copper beautiful ?  Nice that those straps won't be around any acid to mess them up.

Yes, very!

What is the design amp rating of those three laminated straps ?

Wasn't specified, but they're 22.5mm wide, so that makes the 3-strip laminates 33.75sq mm CSA and the 5-strip ones 56.25sq mm, so as I have them stacked 3*3 and 2*5 that's 101.25sq mm for the parallel jumpers and 112.5sq mm for the inter-cell series jumpers.

Basically 4/0 (at 107sq mm).

[ClassicCrazy]

My battery supplier made straps out of lead antimony stock

[Robin]

Lead is a bad idea to use as battery to battery straps. Too much resistance!
The other straps I see look good except for one comment. It is always advisable to use tine plating over bare copper to reduce corrosion. That is difficult to achieve when making straps yourself.
All of these straps including water pipe are potentially superior to cables in my mind. Factory made cables are generally good since they can be made by a hydraulic press. That makes sure you have a gas tight joint. The lugs are typically tin plated and the joints are covered in heatshrink that has adhesive to insure no moisture gets into the joint. Anything will work fine, just use your best judgement.

[ClassicCrazy]

Got me thinking about those lead antimony straps the battery supplier gave me.
I couldn't find resistance tables for lead antimony but did find out lead antimony is mostly lead so I looked up lead .
And as Robin says it is not very good compared to copper. I used the info and tables on this page
https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/which-metals-conduct-electricity/

Guess I may be looking into making new interconnects soon.
I did come across this place but will have to see how pricey their products are.
https://stormpowercomponents.com/custom-components/fabricated-parts/battery-posts

Larry