Steel Bar as a Bus Bar

[chemist308]

So I’m using a steel bar as a bus bar on the negative side of my batteries. It’s probably about an inch and a quarter—maybe inch and a half—wide and I would guess 3/16 thick. I sanded it for a nice bright finish. Question is, how many roughly amps will it carry?

[Redapple63]

I am sure it will be fine, especially since 3/16 thick. Most bus bars are copper brass or aluminum, and usually have nickel, or tinned coatings to aid conductivity and oxidation.

Just keep an eye on it for oxidation, other than that great job!

Bill

[xrated]

Here is a list, from best to worst of common metals as far as their conductivity of electrical current. As you can see, steel is no where near the top of the list.

1. Silver
2. Copper
3. Gold
4. Aluminum
5. Zinc
6. Nickel
7. Brass
8. Bronze
9. Iron
10. Platinum
11. Steel
12. Lead
13. Stainless Steel

Can anyone say a serious case of voltage drop when carrying current?

[traveldawg]

Considering this will carry 250 amps I think yours might get the job done without worry.

[Butcher]

Of course, we won't mention that one of the largest rolling buss bar is a car chassis. Sometimes the mass of an object trumps everything else.

Before you go asking questions and getting a bunch of opinions, just perform a voltage drop test and see what you got. That test result prove if you are good or not.

[xrated]

Considering this will carry 250 amps I think yours might get the job done without worry.

The description of that buss is Nickel Plated Copper buss bar. The small screw terminals are stainless, but that's just the screws.....not relative to current carrying in the circuit. All they do is hold down the wire terminal/lug to the Nickel plated Copper buss bar to keep the contact between the terminal and the buss tight. The screws really do not carry any current. So in reality, steel, stainless steel and a few other metals are simply poor conductors of electricity.

[chemist308]

Here is a list, from best to worst of common metals as far as their conductivity of electrical current. As you can see, steel is no where near the top of the list.
...Can anyone say a serious case of voltage drop when carrying current?

Yeah, I wouldn't have even considered doing it on the positive side. But my thought was if anything is going through the negative side, there will be multiple fuses and breakers popping long before my choice of metal presents an issue.
That said, is this still likely to cause a problem? Also does anyone know how many amps this might carry?

[Redapple63]

Yeah, I wouldn't have even considered doing it on the positive side. But my thought was if anything is going through the negative side, there will be multiple fuses and breakers popping long before my choice of metal presents an issue.
That said, is this still likely to cause a problem? Also does anyone know how many amps this might carry?

It’s installed and working, yes?

If it is working, just watch under heavy load. If it works, peace…

Bill

[chemist308]

Actually I measured and did the amp calculations on it. About 120 amps (1.5 x 1/8") given the 0.6 multiplier for steel and iron. Given that my battery bank can produce 300 amps at once, I'm in the process of tripling it's thickness so I'm not installing a bus instead of an open fuse