Aluminium bus bars

[Matty-Lee]

Hello,

I have some flat aluminium plates/rods. Would they be Ok to make bus bars from for a 12v battery?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Lt.Dan]

Just make sure you size your thickness and width correctly, and ensure there is no oxidation on the mating surface. Should be fine.

 

[mike95490]

I vote NO. Aluminun is a poor conductor. Soft material and threads gall quickly. But the worst thing is it oxodized nearly instantly with exposire to oxygen (in Seconds). The oxide is Aluminun Oxide, which is quite tough and used for sandpaper.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Aluminum isn't a poor conductor. Stainless is a poor conductor. Aluminum is roughly 60% what copper is in conductivity. He's not threading the bus bar, so thats moot, and atleast the bus bar material will match what the terminal will be made of, which will prevent galvanic corrosion. As long as he preps the bus bars correctly and then hooks the battery up, he should have no problem.

 

[Boondock Saint]

Just make sure you size your thickness and width correctly, and ensure there is no oxidation on the mating surface. Should be fine.

Aluminum isn't a poor conductor. Stainless is a poor conductor. Aluminum is roughly 60% what copper is in conductivity. He's not threading the bus bar, so thats moot, and atleast the bus bar material will match what the terminal will be made of, which will prevent galvanic corrosion. As long as he preps the bus bars correctly and then hooks the battery up, he should have no problem.

Right said Fred.

@ Matty-Lee, Hows the celeb biz goin? JK!

I mean, do you know what the thickness of your aluminum material is? Can you post a pic of the thickness and surface area?

 

[Matty-Lee]

The celeb biz is not getting me more money or women.

The aluminium plates that I have are literally identical in thickness and width as the bus bars that came with the battery.
2mm x 12mm

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

The aluminium plates that I have are literally identical in thickness and width as the bus bars that came with the battery.

You need to double them up then at least to have the same conductivity as the one that came with the battery.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

I’d be the flyer and stick to copper
Have you seen this https://diysolarforum.com/threads/group-buy-bus-bars.22237/page-2#post-263193

That might be a better and somewhat inexpensive opportunity?

 

[Steve_S]

The typical Bussbar shipped by vendors are tin plated copper, usually 2mm thick by either 15mm or 20mm wide.
You can certainly use Aluminium but you would have to use a minimum of 4mm thick stock with the same widths. Note that differing grades of aluminium does affect the current handling capacity. If using Copper, it is suggested to use Pure 110 Copper for best performance.

 

[Matty-Lee]

Thanks for the answers.
I was considering making a bus bar because of the way I was thinking to configure the cells side by side meant that one was not long enough.
I've re-examined where I'm going to put the battery and decided the usual config is better so I can stick with the bus bars that came with the cells.

 

[JoeHam]

I would scratch the supplied busbar to see it it is plated copper.

 

[Boondock Saint]

Sounds like a plan. If in case you have a one-off and the BB you have will not fit, then ya just double or triple the thickness of your material with lots of contact area. Easy peasy.

 

[cinergi]

What kind of aluminum (what alloy)? 6061 I hope?

 

[Boondock Saint]

6061 - 6062 . . whatever it takes :D

 

[NwCali]

I had aluminum wires ran underground to my barn, the person who built this house did it....

Pulled that out and put in copper. 30+ years had taken its toll on the aluminum wire, some places looked really bad.

After that I'd never go/use aluminum for wiring/plates...

 

[Boondock Saint]

The person who built this house had aluminum wires ran underground to my barn..

I pulled that out and put in copper. 30+ years had taken its toll on the aluminum wire, some places looked really bad.

After that I'd never go/use aluminum for wiring/plates...

No doubt, but in 30 years our celeb will be drinking little sissy drinks w tiny umbrellas on what's left of a white sands beach somewhere and will have long since forgotten about the ill effects wrought by his few poorly considered aluminum bus bars. May the rest of us be so lucky.

 

[HRTKD]

The aluminium plates that I have are literally identical in thickness and width as the bus bars that came with the battery.
2mm x 12mm

That's not going to cut it. As stated above, the aluminum has to be thicker to provide the same amp capacity as copper. The aluminum bar stock I have waiting to be cut up is twice as thick as the bus bar that were included with my batteries.

 

[G8trwood]

What are power lines made of

 

[rfbuehler]

I’m looking at aluminum bus bars 0.625 x 1.75. From the cross section I should be good for 580A.

I can make two bus bars 36” long for around $70 if I used copper for the same capacity same length it would cost me $350.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

What are power lines made of

Scale and weight are power co factors, as well as cost.

In our small-scale diy power systems the percentage cost difference can be way less important than other factors like corrosion, conductivity, and durability over time. A $250 cost difference is a big percentage difference while $250 on essentially a one-time purchase isn’t as dramatic in the big picture of things. Some people spend more than that on tobacco every month with no benefit and they repeat it the following month.

I have no issue if one chooses aluminum for a busbar but comparing powerco lines to a diy busbar isn’t quite apples to apples.