Anybody sell custom bus bars?

[629658]

I build my busses to fit my projects. Amazon sells great quality copper bars, posts and tinning solution. You could use a post every forth position and bolts for the others. I use 1/8” x 2” or 1/4” thick. The posts are available in different sizes and if the bolt is too short or long it’s easy to swap out a different stainless bolt ( it’s not molded in). The tinning solution is actually a lot more effective and resistant to wear than anticipated. Just buff with 3M cloth to remove oxidation and dobb on solution (shake well) and rinse in warm water. Looks professional. To work the copper all you need is a square, scribe, jigsaw, center punch, drill, sketch and imagination.
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Perfect example the materials for this buss system is $153.00 plus that 1/8” copper wouldn’t handle anything near 1000A. No covers so if anything falls against it?? Nothing for the time expended. Ok if you want to experiment and DIY but no way id put it in my system. For the price of materials you can buy a Victron buss system. The amount of stored energy we are dealing with is no joke. If it gets away from you bad things are guaranteed to happen.

 

[629658]

I guess, but it's an expensive (for what it is) round hole and there's lots of multishaped pegs out there.

In other words it's yet another thing to design *around*, and personally for 48V it puts way to much exposed + and - too close :-/ . I see lots of systems where the Victron power doesn't (to me) help keep the DC wiring clean, easy, or sane; and often requires using way more wire.

Most confounding to me are people using such expensive and limiting busbars for battery banks.

Wire management is a thing for sure. But I think I did an acceptable job of it.

 

[Skypower]

Never said mine was 1000 amps and this is DIY to fit my needs, which for me is overkill. And all my terminals are completely covered. OP wants custom, not necessarily blue.

 

[rhino]

There has also been a lot of discussions how th

Perfect example the materials for this buss system is $153.00 plus that 1/8” copper wouldn’t handle anything near 1000A. No covers so if anything falls against it?? Nothing for the time expended. Ok if you want to experiment and DIY but no way id put it in my system. For the price of materials you can buy a Victron buss system. The amount of stored energy we are dealing with is no joke. If it gets away from you bad things are guaranteed to happen.

It is somewhat ironic however that many people have stated even on the Victron Community forum that the cross section of the copper used in the Victron buss system is nowhere near large enough to handle 1000A rating without it heating up significantly.

 

[ADK Homer]

There has also been a lot of discussions how th

It is somewhat ironic however that many people have stated even on the Victron Community forum that the cross section of the copper used in the Victron buss system is nowhere near large enough to handle 1000A rating without it heating up significantly.

Was wondering that myself. I have the 1000 distributor for my 12v utility trailer. But have never run anywhere close to that.

 

[ADK Homer]

Is the power in unit, in fact same bars?

 

[629658]

There has also been a lot of discussions how th

It is somewhat ironic however that many people have stated even on the Victron Community forum that the cross section of the copper used in the Victron buss system is nowhere near large enough to handle 1000A rating without it heating up significantly.

Well perhaps but that is their specification and if it fails they would be responsible and I do not need 1000A I need 275A. I’m all for saving money but not in this area. That is why I wired everything with UL 4/0 wire and lugs. The best I could find. We are putting a tremendous amount of stored energy into our homes with our loved ones. No place to put cheap homemade stuff IMO. I also think you should put some thought into what we will do if something bad happens I.e. Fire protection and suppression. Proper extinguishers and fire blankets available at least.

 

[629658]

Is the power in unit, in fact same bars?

Yes

 

[Nobodybusiness]

It is NOT a big market

I was being facetious..

 

[ADK Homer]

Well perhaps but that is their specification and if it fails they would be responsible and I do not need 1000A I need 275A. I’m all for saving money but not in this area. That is why I wired everything with UL 4/0 wire and lugs. The best I could find. We are putting a tremendous amount of stored energy into our homes with our loved ones. No place to put cheap homemade stuff IMO. I also think you should put some thought into what we will do if something bad happens I.e. Fire protection and suppression. Proper extinguishers and fire blankets available at least.

I believe Zwy built his custom box, with fire suppression, fully insulated, enclosed and wired to his house detectors. I'll have to find the link. Im in the process of building my set up right now and all these points are priceless.

 

[Mithril]

Well first off Victron is top shelf stuff that has been professionally engineered to do the job which is a far cry from the homemade buss bars I have seen recently. They are tested and engineered for 1000A. Any testing on yours? Third if something goes wrong you have Victron standing by their product and their accompanying product liability insurance. I would trust Victron over any homemade buss anyday. Secondly, I challenge you to put together a 1000A engineered buss system of equal quality and materials for less than $160.00 with a cover for protection. I don’t think you can do it personally especially if you consider your time worth anything.

So it’s certainly your choice but I have over 90 kWh of storage consisting of 8 batteries. No way unless I’m flat broke I am trusting anything I can fabricate with that amount of energy. My family and my home are certainly worth the expense. And finally the Victron Buss system is expandable so I can add batteries until I’m done.

Goodness gracious. I never said I built my own lol. It's more about it is a very specific product that offers very specific shapes that DO NOT ALWAYS MAKE SENSE. This is really no different than saying the same Inverter/AIO doesn't work for everyone. This is a DIY forum for crying out loud.

As to their warrenty, I shall quote right from their site:

This limited warranty does not cover damage, deterioration or malfunction resulting from alteration, modification, improper or unreasonable use or misuse, neglect, exposure to excess moisture, fire, improper packing, lightning, power surges, or other acts of nature. This limited warranty does not cover damage, deterioration or malfunction resulting from repairs attempted by anyone unauthorized by Victron Energy to make such repairs. Non-compliance with the instructions in this manual will render the warranty void. Victron Energy is not liable for any consequential damages arising from the use of this product. The maximum liability of Victron Energy under this limited warranty shall not exceed the actual purchase price of the product.

So they cover, at most, the item itself and if you modify it (such as by adding a hole to cram 3 T class fuses in there) it is void. For the price and given that it only allows for 4 connections a lynx power in is definitely a tradeoff. If the design fits in with what you are doing, especially using other lynx products, great! I certainly wouldn't use it to connect unfused battery or battery banks (even with the hack to add fuses) since positive and negative MUST enter close to eachother.

I'm also not a huge fan of the "lets put caps on the exposed ends and call it a day" (Unless theres specifically a designed product to cover them more securely).

They are a quality product, I never said otherwise. But they are not the answer to every busbar shaped problem. And 4 connections at 1000A means nothing if you have a 200A system and need 10 connections

I personally would NEVER use a lynx on the battery bank side, seems entirely the wrong kind of product for a battery bank. Short cables running to busbars that span the array (positives fused/OCP of course) would be my vote. If someone is going to use it for a battery bank I hope they fused BEFORE the positives get all friendly with the negatives.

If we are talking about my ideal "money is not the concern" option then I am NOT having positive and negative that close anywhere except entering into devices where it is all properly fused and OCP

 

[ADK Homer]

Yes

Damn, thats a nice savings for a few bolts and a couple megas.

 

[629658]

Look I know we are all DIYers at heart but use your head. This ESS stuff is amazing and it works great as long as it’s properly controlled. If that genie gets out of its box it could be deadly. I would suggest it’s more dangerous than anything AC. What’s worse is there are few standards, rules or regulations. So you have people that make lugs out of copper tubing, inadequate wire size etc. sitting on a time bomb IMO. Also I see uncovered buss bars all the time that’s crazy dangerous. Your choice we are all adults here but I respect DC and my family.

 

[Mithril]

I build my busses to fit my projects. Amazon sells great quality copper bars, posts and tinning solution. You could use a post every forth position and bolts for the others. I use 1/8” x 2” or 1/4” thick. The posts are available in different sizes and if the bolt is too short or long it’s easy to swap out a different stainless bolt ( it’s not molded in). The tinning solution is actually a lot more effective and resistant to wear than anticipated. Just buff with 3M cloth to remove oxidation and dobb on solution (shake well) and rinse in warm water. Looks professional. To work the copper all you need is a square, scribe, jigsaw, center punch, drill, sketch and imagination.
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Have you tested the quality of the copper? Amazon has a lot of faked items (and due to how they do inventory even things "sold by Samsung" (for example) get mixed in with fakes/low quality. I've has ROMEX sold by a name brand from amazon be counterfeit (CCA, rather than solid coper).
Also does chemical tinning act the same way electrically?

 

[629658]

Goodness gracious. I never said I built my own lol. It's more about it is a very specific product that offers very specific shapes that DO NOT ALWAYS MAKE SENSE. This is really no different than saying the same Inverter/AIO doesn't work for everyone. This is a DIY forum for crying out loud.

As to their warrenty, I shall quote right from their site:


So they cover, at most, the item itself and if you modify it (such as by adding a hole to cram 3 T class fuses in there) it is void. For the price and given that it only allows for 4 connections a lynx power in is definitely a tradeoff. If the design fits in with what you are doing, especially using other lynx products, great! I certainly wouldn't use it to connect unfused battery or battery banks (even with the hack to add fuses) since positive and negative MUST enter close to eachother.

I'm also not a huge fan of the "lets put caps on the exposed ends and call it a day" (Unless theres specifically a designed product to cover them more securely).

They are a quality product, I never said otherwise. But they are not the answer to every busbar shaped problem. And 4 connections at 1000A means nothing if you have a 200A system and need 10 connections

I personally would NEVER use a lynx on the battery bank side, seems entirely the wrong kind of product for a battery bank. Short cables running to busbars that span the array (positives fused/OCP of course) would be my vote. If someone is going to use it for a battery bank I hope they fused BEFORE the positives get all friendly with the negatives.

If we are talking about my ideal "money is not the concern" option then I am NOT having positive and negative that close anywhere except entering into devices where it is all properly fused and OCP

I have a 275A system and 8 connections. And I’m not entirely pleased with the one end connection (I power the buss from both ends) but it’s safe and covered at the moment until I find a better solution. And yes each positive battery connection (8) are fused with. Victron 48v 300A mega fuses.

As for the warranty, if Victron misengineered its product or it is being sold below their specifications (I seriously doubt) then that is fraud and legal remedies are available. If they malfunction then it’s product liability time and legal remedies are available. If your buss system flames out who you gonna call?

 

[Mithril]

Wire management is a thing for sure. But I think I did an acceptable job of it.

Thats a whole lot of "no fuses" for how close those positive and negatives get

 

[The Good Package]

I've used these before for some projects. They're 1/4" thick and will handle 1000 amps. I buy the untinned versions to save money and to make sure they're solid copper, then I clean and nickel electroplate them myself with vinegar.

I'm sure someone out there has one with 24 studs...

 

[Mithril]

I have a 275A system and 8 connections. And I’m not entirely pleased with the one end connection (I power the buss from both ends) but it’s safe and covered at the moment until I find a better solution. And yes each positive battery connection (8) are fused with. Victron 48v 300A mega fuses.

As for the warranty, if Victron misengineered its product or it is being sold below their specifications (I seriously doubt) then that is fraud and legal remedies are available. If they malfunction then it’s product liability time and legal remedies are available. If your buss system flames out who you gonna call?

Fused *inside* the lynx? Seems risky to me. IMHO the reason the power in doesn't normally take fuses is that those fuses belong at the current source. I love the hack of turning a power in into a distributor (minus the fancy lights as people put it), but I wouldn't fuse batteries there personally.

Regardless of DIY or buying someone else's, theres no way around that the Lynx system forces you to design around it, everything goes in and out of the bottom (or top if it's all upside down). I don't believe that's the best choice for compact/clean (and safe) runs of the wires in all cases.

 

[629658]

Thats a whole lot of "no fuses" for how close those positive and negatives get

Yea no fuses huh?

 

[629658]

Fused *inside* the lynx? Seems risky to me. IMHO the reason the power in doesn't normally take fuses is that those fuses belong at the current source. I love the hack of turning a power in into a distributor (minus the fancy lights as people put it), but I wouldn't fuse batteries there personaly

Have you looked at the Victron Distributor? Exactly the same everything except the lights. Identical