Terminals on studs: Four and no more

Salvo wrote:
You have a reading comprehension problem. I said the resistance between the lug edge and the stud is orders of magnitude greater than the resistance between the compressed stack of lugs. So yes, some fraction of current will flow from stud to lug.

When you consider the stud has V-shaped threads, there's very little contact between the stud and a small part of the inside edge of the lug.

You're making a mountain out of a molehill.

OnaQuest wrote:

Salvo wrote:
Who pushed your button? There's a good chance the wire lugs make no contact with the stud. Current flows through the stack of lugs. The resistance between lug and stud is orders of magnitude greater than the resistance between lugs. There is no compressive force between lug and stud, that's why this resistance is high.

OnaQuest wrote:
I don't need to read it again. I agree, the stud in the first case IS NOT DESIGNED to carry the current, but if you think there is no current flow through the stud, especially if there is any resistance in that tall stack of terminals, you're wrong.

No one ever said, or even implied, that the edge of any terminal against the stud was a reliable current path. Some of you folks are just too narrow minded to consider the facts. Current can very easily pass (and would probably be impossible to stop) through the terminal contact with the nut, through the tightened threads, and on down the stud.

This is a fact, and is expected and depended upon in many grounding lug situations for otherwise insulated chassis configurations. Accept it, and get over yourself.

And you, sir, are missing my point entirely. When one tightens the top nut (down against the terminal flat surface), it makes contact via compression. That creates a solid path for current to flow into the nut, through the considerable thread surface area of nut/stud connection, thus into and through the stud, if required. There's no reason why this phenomenon can't, or shouldn't, be utilized when necessary. The resultant path is at least as reliable as that stack of 7 or 8 lugs (or even the recommended 4) in the examples.

I'm not sure where you got the idea that my described connection was dependent on thread and/or terminal edge contact. Possibly a reading comprehension problem?

Until current only flows where and when some of you guys seem to think, I would suggest that you keep one hand in your pocket at all times.