Voltage drop on inverter
I have a Samlex 3012 inverter charger that is powered by 4 x 100 ah LIFEPo4 batteries. Each of the batteries is wired separately to a bus bar using 00 welding cable, this bus bar feeds another one tha...
Forum Discussion
Those people do not have to LIVE with their work for decades. I do. And being I hold degrees in both electrical and chemistry disciplines I can afford to tell you why nothing known to manufacturing can equal the integrity of a proper soldering joint. When each of the thousands of strands of copper gets an oxidizing layer they insulate from themselves as well as from the wall of the termination, tin-plated or not.
Aggravation such as salt air or acids accelerates the degradation process.
In this interface between copper, tin-plated or not it is impossible to seal out corrosion on an atomic level. Not difficult, not hard but impossible.
When conductors are bonded via metallic cohesion (that would be solder)solid metal (tin-lead) is an IMPERMEABLE barrier including right down the atomic level. Oxygen, nor sulfur analogs can penetrate lead at the atomic level. Simple proof. inside the battery and exposed lead.
Contamination can penetrate a wire's insulation, turn the copper purple or green and if solder was used on the terminations, current will still flow unimpeded except by degradation to the actual circular mil degradation of the conductor by corrosion.
STRIP the insulation off of an Anchor brand wire cable after ten years. Crimped to the limit, adhesive lined heat shrink tubing used, everything is tinned.
You will find BLACKENED tarnished tin inside the squeezed terminal. Between the coated copper strands and the lug. The Kelley II, and every other commercial vessel I outfitted has the ORIGINAL battery terminals. The lugs have been scraped and sandpapered and they are butt ugly but they work like they are brand new. 59,000 feet of wire and 5 thousand terminals are still in service. Saltwater took its toll on the flying bridge console terminals but the owner failed to keep them greased. Almost 40 years old, fishing in the Aleutians for hake with Soviet processing ships, it has one of the best uptime records of any trawler.
My lessons are not some salesmanship hypothesis. Soldering is so superior it is almost embarrassing to argue against it. In an effort to make the wiring inside Quicksilver a forever icon, I used brand new excess wire from the space shuttle Endeavor / Discovery refit. Teflon, Silicone, Kapton insulated wire. The Kapton wire is 10AWG 3 conductor and its conductor finish is not tinned. The conductors are 100% AG plated with 24 Kt AU. I found out later someone at Lockheed caught hell because the company paid seventeen dollars per INCH for that wire and I purchased a spool wrapped with 400 plus feet. Pat Tuminaro, the local Snap-On tool dealer whined so loudly I gave him 100+ feet for his Cessna airplane. It is shielded with tin, then stainless steel armor then with DuPont Kapton. I immersed all of the spade terminals in 100% lead. Saltwater cannot touch it.
I am building a 150-amp Continuous duty battery charger for a friend. Every termination is soldered except for the HiRose plug and socket for external controls. The parts that must have screw connections are given a 2 coat 3M treatment followed by silicone grease. The interior of panel meters is given 2 coats of Boeshield T10, and switches are Electroswitch Mil-Spec gold plated covered with DeOxit 10. The unit has 11 voltage selections to use from -40F/c to 104F and a 12-hour timer. The charger has a complete suite of AC protection devices, MOV, avalanche, and gas tube discharge, voltage and temperature protection devices. It's the best I can manage.
I despise retrofit failures and limited life compromises. His grandkids will have a ball with it.
Aggravation such as salt air or acids accelerates the degradation process.
In this interface between copper, tin-plated or not it is impossible to seal out corrosion on an atomic level. Not difficult, not hard but impossible.
When conductors are bonded via metallic cohesion (that would be solder)solid metal (tin-lead) is an IMPERMEABLE barrier including right down the atomic level. Oxygen, nor sulfur analogs can penetrate lead at the atomic level. Simple proof. inside the battery and exposed lead.
Contamination can penetrate a wire's insulation, turn the copper purple or green and if solder was used on the terminations, current will still flow unimpeded except by degradation to the actual circular mil degradation of the conductor by corrosion.
STRIP the insulation off of an Anchor brand wire cable after ten years. Crimped to the limit, adhesive lined heat shrink tubing used, everything is tinned.
You will find BLACKENED tarnished tin inside the squeezed terminal. Between the coated copper strands and the lug. The Kelley II, and every other commercial vessel I outfitted has the ORIGINAL battery terminals. The lugs have been scraped and sandpapered and they are butt ugly but they work like they are brand new. 59,000 feet of wire and 5 thousand terminals are still in service. Saltwater took its toll on the flying bridge console terminals but the owner failed to keep them greased. Almost 40 years old, fishing in the Aleutians for hake with Soviet processing ships, it has one of the best uptime records of any trawler.
My lessons are not some salesmanship hypothesis. Soldering is so superior it is almost embarrassing to argue against it. In an effort to make the wiring inside Quicksilver a forever icon, I used brand new excess wire from the space shuttle Endeavor / Discovery refit. Teflon, Silicone, Kapton insulated wire. The Kapton wire is 10AWG 3 conductor and its conductor finish is not tinned. The conductors are 100% AG plated with 24 Kt AU. I found out later someone at Lockheed caught hell because the company paid seventeen dollars per INCH for that wire and I purchased a spool wrapped with 400 plus feet. Pat Tuminaro, the local Snap-On tool dealer whined so loudly I gave him 100+ feet for his Cessna airplane. It is shielded with tin, then stainless steel armor then with DuPont Kapton. I immersed all of the spade terminals in 100% lead. Saltwater cannot touch it.
I am building a 150-amp Continuous duty battery charger for a friend. Every termination is soldered except for the HiRose plug and socket for external controls. The parts that must have screw connections are given a 2 coat 3M treatment followed by silicone grease. The interior of panel meters is given 2 coats of Boeshield T10, and switches are Electroswitch Mil-Spec gold plated covered with DeOxit 10. The unit has 11 voltage selections to use from -40F/c to 104F and a 12-hour timer. The charger has a complete suite of AC protection devices, MOV, avalanche, and gas tube discharge, voltage and temperature protection devices. It's the best I can manage.
I despise retrofit failures and limited life compromises. His grandkids will have a ball with it.
