conductive copper strips

Just keep in mind that the conductivity may not be as good as pure soft copper. There may be hardening alloys in bar stock "copper", and cold-working it increases resistance, too.

Aluminum is easier to get and machine, if the numbers work.

John

Pure copper 1.72 u-ohm-cm

Aluminum 2.62 (varies with alloy)

Brass 3.9

Steel 13-22

nichrome 100

Thermal conductivity pretty much tracks electrical, except that brass is relatively good thermally as compared to electrically.

John

Yes. You are right.

I received that strip yesterday. To my disappointment, I realized that I was mistaken and ordered a strip that was too small.

The reason for saying this is that I tested it last night under 200A of current, and it became quite warm to the touch (think 120 F).

I could parallel pieces, but that is a pain. Oh well. Live and learn.

I realized that I have brass pieces that are 0.5 x 0.25 x 6 inches, quite heavy and solid. I will probably make connectors out of those brass pieces simply by drilling holes. The fit the distance between IGBTs perfectly. They were part of a siliconix transistor tester that I took apart.

I once made a 300A shunt from 1/2" copper pipe, flattened the ends to take standard auto battery lugs, and then soldered Kelvin sense leads attached at points determined by applying 300A and moving the leads until I got 300mV ;-)

Use: Hot rod kit for golf carts in Sun City... 29MPH flat out ;-)

Before anyone panics... these were 4-wheel carts.

...Jim Thompson

That burned 100 watts just between the Kelvin points!

John

That was peak acceleration current ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Don't use brass.

It is MUCH more resistive than copper. You would be surprised how much more resistive.

Chris

Thanks. I will just bite the bullet and buy something like 1/8" by

THanks... I think that it is better to be safe than sorry...

McMaster-Carr sells about a dozen different alloys of copper, rated on I think four different properties, and one of them is conductivity.

I wish I knew how to make a link to a specific M-C frame, but their web page writer seems to have overcome that possibility, so you'd have to use their search thing and just browse.

Put "copper" in their search box, and the first link is "about copper", with about a dozen other links (in their navigation panel).

Good Luck! Rich

1. ;-)

Rich

Oh, heavens! Do your own homework!

Start here:

and figure out what cross-section you need at the published conductivity to give you a tolerable temperature rise, and pick a copper strip!

Good Luck! Rich

Every item that they have for sale has a unique number, maybe you can publish that. These numbers are quite prominent. I will basically buy whatever you tell me to.