Where can I get QUALITY tinned copper buss bars to join cells?

[harpo]

I ordered some of the 280Ah cells from Amy and although I know they come with buss bars I am very leery of the quality. Are they really 100% copper or some sort of Chinese copper alloy. I am thinking the later.
Anyway, does anyone have a reliable source for good, quality tinned buss bars? I will gladly cut and drill long bar stock as long as I know it is 110 tinned copper.
I did a google search and see a lot of bare copper stock but thought tinned would be better for my application. I'd love to source some locally but so far this has not worked out.
Let me know if you have a reliable vendor for them.

 

[John Frum]

Why do you think tinned would be better?
Since the battery terminals are aluminum, why not use aluminum flat stock?

 

[harpo]

I get where you are coming from-----not having two dissimilar metals touching. Andy of Off Grid Garage is using high quality AL busbars from a distributor in Australia. I contacted that vendor but the shipping was prohibitive.
We all know Aluminum is not as efficient a conductor as copper but if sized properly can carry the current required in my situation.
I did some research on what type of Aluminum is the best conductor of electricity. It appears Aluminum Alloy 8000 series is best.
Got a distributor for Aluminum Alloy 8000 series bar stock? How thick and how wide does it need to be to carry 250 Amps? I don't know the answers to these questions but if someone does, I am all ears and will seriously consider Aluminum bar stock to make bussbars.

 

[John Frum]

I get where you are coming from-----not having two dissimilar metals touching. Andy of Off Grid Garage is using high quality AL busbars from a distributor in Australia. I contacted that vendor but the shipping was prohibitive.
We all know Aluminum is not as efficient a conductor as copper but if sized properly can carry the current required in my situation.
I did some research on what type of Aluminum is the best conductor of electricity. It appears Aluminum Alloy 8000 series is best.
Got a distributor for Aluminum Alloy 8000 series bar stock? How thick and how wide does it need to be to carry 250 Amps? I don't know the answers to these questions but if someone does, I am all ears and will seriously consider Aluminum bar stock to make bussbars.

What Country are you in?

 

[John Frum]

https://www.aflglobal.com/productlist/Product-Lines/Conductor-Accessories/Aluminum-rectangular-bar/doc/Aluminum-Ractangular-Bus-Bar-Current-Rating.aspx

 

[John Frum]

Busbar Current Calculator Online | Electrical4u

Enter the breadth and thickness of the busbar; do not enter the length of the busbar. Then press the calculate button, you get the aluminium or copper busbar

www.electrical4u.net

 

[pvdude]

I have found it on ebay, here is an example:

0.250" x 4" x 12", C110 Tin Coated Copper Round Edge Flat (Buss) Bar | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 0.250" x 4" x 12", C110 Tin Coated Copper Round Edge Flat (Buss) Bar at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[harpo]

I am in the USA, Florida 34952

 

[BobR]

Copper and aluminum are better electrical conductors than tin. The best would be silver plated copper (or solid silver). https://www.tibtech.com/conductivite.php?lang=en_US

 

[A.Justice]

I am in the USA, Florida 34952

You should be able to get aluminum bar at pretty much all metal supply shops. I would try AMD Supply LLC and Tri-County Aluminum first.

 

[Steve_S]

I recently tested busbars I have received from Amy Wan @ Lyuan using my YR1035+ tester. The values below are in MilliOhms.
Top two came this summer (June 2021), the longer bar is for Block Packs.,
3rd from top this spring, Bottom last winter

These ARE COPPER with Tin Plating.
Tested from Edge to Edge, those values are in the image.
Tested also inside the holes (on the exposed copper) and all readings (except unplated) we 0.02 lower.

*NOTE: Some Vendors are shipping Plated BRASS ! They are High Resistance ! at least X2, some are worse (depends on grade of brass)

For FUN, I also have some Aluminium Busbars
25mm X 111mm X 4mm Resistance = 0.08 mOhm
25mm X 52mm X 4mm = 0.04 mOhm

 

[MrM1]

And then there's this

 

[John Frum]

I am in the USA, Florida 34952

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[740GLE]

I get where you are coming from-----not having two dissimilar metals touching. Andy of Off Grid Garage is using high quality AL busbars from a distributor in Australia. I contacted that vendor but the shipping was prohibitive.
We all know Aluminum is not as efficient a conductor as copper but if sized properly can carry the current required in my situation.
I did some research on what type of Aluminum is the best conductor of electricity. It appears Aluminum Alloy 8000 series is best.
Got a distributor for Aluminum Alloy 8000 series bar stock? How thick and how wide does it need to be to carry 250 Amps? I don't know the answers to these questions but if someone does, I am all ears and will seriously consider Aluminum bar stock to make bussbars.

What BMS are you planning on using?

Why do you need the bus bars to carry 250a? Shouldn’t you be looking for 140/150a, .5C discharge to match the 280ah cells?

Or are you concerned about surge?

 

[John Frum]

What BMS are you planning on using?

Why do you need the bus bars to carry 250a? Shouldn’t you be looking for 140/150a, .5C discharge to match the 280ah cells?

Or are you concerned about surge?

Technically the big blue cells can handle a 1c(280 amp) discharge rate.

EVE LiFePo4 LF304 (3.2V 304Ah) Product Specification Data Sheet (version B) 2020-06-18

Data sheet for EVE LiFePo4 304AH cells received from Shenzhen Qishou Technology Co., Ltd

diysolarforum.com

It doesn't hurt to size for that current even if you won't be using it.

 

[harpo]

I recently tested busbars I have received from Amy Wan @ Lyuan using my YR1035+ tester. The values below are in MilliOhms.
Top two came this summer (June 2021), the longer bar is for Block Packs.,
3rd from top this spring, Bottom last winter

These ARE COPPER with Tin Plating.
Tested from Edge to Edge, those values are in the image.
Tested also inside the holes (on the exposed copper) and all readings (except unplated) we 0.02 lower.

*NOTE: Some Vendors are shipping Plated BRASS ! They are High Resistance ! at least X2, some are worse (depends on grade of brass)

For FUN, I also have some Aluminium Busbars
25mm X 111mm X 4mm Resistance = 0.08 mOhm
25mm X 52mm X 4mm = 0.04 mOhm

View attachment 72678

Well then, I might have to reconsider using the buss bars that will come with my cells. As stated I did order thru Amy Wan so I imagine I will get the same bars you got.
Really appreciate your entry on this thread. This is objective data!
Thank you, Steve.
I assume you ARE using these with your setup?

 

[John Frum]

Well then, I might have to reconsider using the buss bars that will come with my cells. As stated I did order thru Amy Wan so I imagine I will get the same bars you got.
Really appreciate your entry on this thread. This is objective data!
Thank you, Steve.
I assume you ARE using these with your setup?

Just for reference my battery busbars are...

weight 28 grams
length 90mm
width 20mm
depth 02mm
2x elongated holes ~7mm by 11mm

I'm not sure what metal they are except to say they are not magnetic.

 

[Fast1one]

I ended up going with Storm Power Components: https://stormpowercomponents.com/

I did a lot of shopping around and they were one of the more reasonable ones. They have a $200 minimum order per design so keep that in mind. Double check that is still the case.

I ended up tailoring my design to work both as a series and parallel bus bar. A total of 46 tinned plated copper bus bars (a few extra for my 4P4S pack) came out to $4.34 each for the $200 minimum order. Lead time was around 6-8 weeks and they were dead on.

 

[Steve_S]

Well then, I might have to reconsider using the buss bars that will come with my cells. As stated I did order thru Amy Wan so I imagine I will get the same bars you got.
Really appreciate your entry on this thread. This is objective data!
Thank you, Steve.
I assume you ARE using these with your setup?

I have them in use as well as busbars I made using COPPER C110 FLAT BAR ASTM-B133 0.125" x 0.750" which cost me $4.88 CAD per foot this spring.

If you look in the drilled hole, if it is yellow to yellow orange then it is Brass, The lighter colour the brass, the more recycled it is and less pure = worse as conductor. BRASS IS VERY RECYCLED ! The deeper orange the more copper content. Pure copper we all know what that looks like.