diy solar

diy solar

Bus Bar Temperatures

Maybe masking tape/scotch tape would be best, any thick tape (duct/electrical) maybe a better insulator that heat conductor.

Yep, basically the cheapest most basic tape you can find is plenty fine, no need for duct tape or gorilla tape ^^
 
I would use silver soldering paste like a grease on the threads, and maybe also on the contact surfaces.
As less as needed, but sufficient enough.
Whats your opinion on this?
 
I had just started up new bank and have 2 cells that were way out of line and were heating up some compared to others. These were all torqued to 4Nm using the provided busbars.

Screen Shot 2022-06-07 at 8.05.50 AM.png

I took the connections off of the dark blue one and used deoxidizer to clean off and left the brown one alone to compare. Should know in few hours.
 
I would use silver soldering paste like a grease on the threads, and maybe also on the contact surfaces.
As less as needed, but sufficient enough.
Whats your opinion on this?
A bad idea. The threads should not be carrying any current, the current should flow between the busbar or lug and the terminal face, any other path is not what it is designed for. Adding anything to the threads could also make it difficult to obtain the correct torque, and actually be counter productive.
 
There is a link in my signature about battery melt down.
Your torque wrench will be your new best friend if you read the page.
FYI, the link in your signature is quite informative on the topic.
In particular the description of how to place connections (highest current first) is much clearer than anything I've said.
 
I plan to use this:


between my aluminum busbars and my nickel plated copper terminals.
I've tested extensively these two:

and:

Many people have used:

The only difference I can tell is the price. I'm not going to argue about which is better, I'll just say I did real-life tests, and there is no difference.
 
I picked up some 1000 grit sandpaper and Ox Gaurd in case some of my terminals start to warm up.
 
Update****

As suspected, I didn’t have things tight enough. I torqued everything down to 3nm to start with, and everything is completely cool now.

Now I need to find some good lugs/ring terminals to fit 2ga wire. Would harbor freight have those? I’m going to look in a bit for those and a crimping tool.
 
My local Ace Hardware had a good selection of lugs, but they weren't tinned. Just plain copper. I prefer the tinned copper lugs, but the plain copper had to do for a couple of connections. West Marine also has some lugs. Otherwise, order online.
 
Update****

As suspected, I didn’t have things tight enough. I torqued everything down to 3nm to start with, and everything is completely cool now.

Now I need to find some good lugs/ring terminals to fit 2ga wire. Would harbor freight have those? I’m going to look in a bit for those and a crimping tool.
Edit: Glad you found your problem!

You need 4mm (I think that converts to 3/32 or 0.168 inch) lugs. They are hard to find for 2 gauge.
You might have better luck looking for 4 gauge wire lugs that small.

 
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Update****

As suspected, I didn’t have things tight enough. I torqued everything down to 3nm to start with, and everything is completely cool now.

Now I need to find some good lugs/ring terminals to fit 2ga wire. Would harbor freight have those? I’m going to look in a bit for those and a crimping tool.

thank you for following up.
 
Amazon has been good to me so far picked up 4AWG M6 lugs, 10 pack with heat shrink for around $10.

Another option is windy nation. Although I’m not a fan of their 3/8 lugs as it was just the 5/16 drilled out wider than 3/8 so very little meat on the sides.
 
Hi all, I have a general question about how hot bus bars should typically get. I have built a 16S pack from the EVE 105ah cells. As you know, these have rather small terminals and they came with screws and bus bars. When I put about 20-30amp load on it, some of the terminals get very hot to the touch. I suppose it's more the screw that is getting hot, rather than the bus bar.

I've taken a few terminals and reseated the connectors (BMS) and it helped somewhat. I think I may be too scared to tighten these down too far, as I've heard horror stories about stripping these out.

Any advice? I suppose I need a proper torque measuring tool...


I have ran like 200 AMPS plus for over 30 mins, the buss bars never got warm... What did get warm was my 175 Anderson connector, God, it was toasty and so was the 2 guage wire around it.

But the connector I got was probably some knock off from Amazon.
 
I have ran like 200 AMPS plus for over 30 mins, the buss bars never got warm... What did get warm was my 175 Anderson connector, God, it was toasty and so was the 2 guage wire around it.

But the connector I got was probably some knock off from Amazon.
No, even genuine silver plated Anderson connectors will get very warm at their fully rated capacity. Going over their rated capacity will (I am sure) make you realize that they are accurately rated.
 
Update****

As suspected, I didn’t have things tight enough. I torqued everything down to 3nm to start with, and everything is completely cool now.

Now I need to find some good lugs/ring terminals to fit 2ga wire. Would harbor freight have those? I’m going to look in a bit for those and a crimping tool.
I bought SELTERM from amoron, then looked at what horrible freight had :ROFLMAO: and they were not good.

Are you loving that torque wrench yet?
 
Pittsburg 1/4 torque wrench is also a good deal. If you want to splurge you can find a digital adapter though part is finding one that goes so low.
 
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