I'm sorry I don't know how this happened but this is what I ended up with:
I am using PowerIn's as well. They are a breeze to work with and can connect with the Victron shunt if you ever need/want to.
Just be careful without a fuse per string a cell failure could cause all the other parallel strings on the battery side of the class t to dump into it.
His batteries have a breaker in each one
Since it is so hard to find specs on those breakers I'm dubious the interrupt rating would be high enough.
I hadn't seen him mention what batteries he was using but yeah prob good to go if they do have breakers.
Why not buy the Victron 8-stud you were originally planning and drill out the 5/16” hole to 3/8”? Are your lugs wider than 31mm? If my calculations are correct, that would lose about 18 square mm of contact area. Would that be a fatal loss of carrying capacity?I have 6x100ah Vatrer 48v batteries with M8 5/16" terminals. https://www.vatrerpower.com/products/vatrer-48v-100ah-server-rack-lifepo4-lithium-solar-battery
I currently have them set up daisy chained with one inverter/charge controller on either end. I recently learned that the energy would be better distributed if I had a bus bar system with equal length conductors. I'm having difficulty finding a good bus bar that will have 8+ studs and accommodate 1/0 lugs sized 5/16" . For example this has the count of studs I want but they're not 5/16" size:
Victron 600A Bus Bar 4-Stud/8-Stud
Efficiently distribute high current and connect batteries or DC equipment with the Victron 600A Bus Bar. Durable, reliable, and versatile.www.currentconnected.com
Or this has 5/16" lugs but only 6p:
Victron Bus Bar 250A 4P/6P - Removable ABS Cover
Maximize power distribution with the Victron Bus Bar 250A 6P. Stainless steel terminals, tin-plated copper nuts, and 70 VDC compatibility.
Forgive me as I'm new to this but are any of these solutions proper:
1. Get 2x6p 5/16" bus bar and bridge them with a short 1/0 conductor. 4 bus bars total, but 2 for pos and 2 for neg.
2. Double up the bus bar studs with 2 battery leads each so 3 of the 6 studs will have 2 leads, and then 2 more studs for the two inverter/charger leads.
3. Downgrade to a wire size that accommodates 1/4 lugs (but keeping 5/16 on the battery end) and using one of these:
I wouldn't be pulling any more than 150A of current so this is the ideal amperage rating but the only examples I've seen of this bus bar in use was with much thinner gauge wire.
Victron 150A Bus Bars w/Cover - 10/20 Screws
Efficiently distribute current and connect batteries or DC equipment with Victron 150A Bus Bars. Durable, reliable, and versatile enough for all your needs!
There are many other choices on Amazon but I'm trying to follow Will's advice to only use reputable products.
What are standoffs? Is that the non-metallic spacer between the bus bar and the surface to which the bus bar would be mounted so that surface (in my case a metal shelf) is not energized?Dirt cheep prices on raw bus bar copper
Speedy Metals 1/4" x 4" 110 Copper Flat
Buy 110 Copper Flat from Speedy Metals, America's favorite online metal store with unsurpassed service, highest quality and best selection.www.speedymetals.com
Make sure to put clean plexiglass over it and use some standoffs. You can nickle plate at home if you watch a youtube video or two.
If you decide to do any bends make sure to do they prior to plating, same with holes and threads... and if you bend make sure to re-anneal the bar --- i.e. heat it with a torch to cherry red them put in water to quench it.... this will eliminate any higher resistance areas from the bending.... and remember the 4:1 bend ratio --- i.e. if you get the 1/4" bars and bend a 90 degree, use a 1" pipe as a form so it doesn't get to tight a bend.... Easiest is clamp the bar and the pipe into a vice and use a large pair of wrenches to apply pressure
I probably would have screwed down those bus bars to the rack centered at the first and last quarter of it... i.e. if the rack is 4ft wide center the bus bars at 1ft and 3ft... then make the wires so the round-trip is the same ... Mount them with self-tapping screws in the corners verse all the zipties.... with the zipties as they age they can get brittle and break and if they fall off with all those cables who knows what will short.
Use a fabric tape measure like they use in sewing to measure your distances ... an actual fabric one that is lightly plastic coated verse a pure vinyl one will cost you about $10 but it will hang and droop more like the cables.
And for neatness - either get rack ears on the left two or take them off the right 4 ==
Thank you - this is extremely helpful and if I can buy you a coffee please share details. I was not familiar with the term "standoff" but this is exactly what I need for the bus bars to be attached to the shelf safely. I'm not sure when I'll get to this but stay tuned.
The widest lug I've found that fits that style of terminal is 2 AWG. So I'm using 2 AWG for my smaller 100Ah batteries and then 1/0 for my larger diy 280Ah battery which has an og 200A 2A balancing jk bms.As previously stated I was going to upgrade battery conductors from 1/0 to 4/0 and today I received my lugs only to find that they are too wide for my terminals:
Do 4/0 lugs come in smaller widths or is this standard? If so what are some ways I can make this work? Grind down the sides of the lugs?
I used 1/0As previously stated I was going to upgrade battery conductors from 1/0 to 4/0 and today I received my lugs only to find that they are too wide for my terminals:
Do 4/0 lugs come in smaller widths or is this standard? If so what are some ways I can make this work? Grind down the sides of the lugs?
