> From: John Lussmyer <[email protected]> > > The 2 mile steep hill from the ferry will probably be more like 400A > (possibly more.) > Would 3/16"x3/4" be big enough?
A commercial electric bus used 9" of #2/0 cable for bussing 180AH NiCd batteries. #2/0 has a cross-sectional area of 67.4 mm2. 3/16"x3/4" copper would have a cross-sectional area of 90.7 mm2. So, with 9" lengths, you should have better ampacity than that which designers chose for a commercial electric bus! If you're "rolling your own," you might save a lot of money by using flattened copper pipe. 3/4" "Schedule M" pipe will have a cross-sectional area of 76.0 mm2 — greater than that of #2/0 wire, but less than your proposed bus bars. That's what I plan to use in my Vanagon conversion. I'll need no more than 4" sections, and you can generally pick those up at a scrap yard for $3-$4 a pound. Note that copper pipe comes in three different wall thicknesses. Thickest is Schedule K, but it is rare. Do not use Schedule M, which has a cross-section of 53.8 mm2 for 3/4" pipe, about the same as #0 wire — too small for 400A. Also, keep your busses as short as possible to reduce voltage drop. One foot of #4/0 (107 mm2) will have the same resistance as six inches of #0 (53.5 mm2). :::: Private enterprise... makes OK private action which would be considered dishonest in public action. -- John F. Kennedy :::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op :::: _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
