Plated Bus Bars for Lithium Batteries?

[ThreeCW]

I ran across an article from a hybrid car battery re-manufacturer that indicated "Copper-plated bus bars corrode over time, which causes corrosion and resistance in the battery". They are now using nickel-plated bus bars to address this problem (since July 2015).

I see that in most (?) Lithium builds on BGW that members are using solid copper bus bars. Has anyone using solid copper bus bars experienced any corrosion issues over time?

It there any merit in using a type of nickel-plated bus bar in Lithium golf cart battery installations? They don't state the parent material of the bus bar that is "nickel-plated" ... I can only assume that it is copper.

As a comparison, high quality battery lug connectors (like Ancor brand) are made from 100% tin plated copper to "resist corrosion from salt and moisture" often seen in marine applications.

Perhaps "coated copper bus bars" are something to consider in a Lithium golf cart application?

Here is a link to the "Anti-Corrosion Nickel-Plated Bus Bars" which includes some photos of corrosion examples: https://greentecauto.com/greentec-au...lated-bus-bars

[PingEye3]

Can you supply us with a link to that 'article'. I am curious. Right now, this is just another 'news' story from an unnamed source. We have enough of that in our daily network news.

IMHO I see no reason to use anything other than copper bus bars, unless maybe you lived very near the ocean and the cart and pack sat outside a lot or cruised the beaches.

Otherwise, the last thing I would ever do is toss the bus bars that come with the leaf modules just to turn around and purchase over priced plated replacements, that frankly might be worse than the plain copper.

[ThreeCW]

No "fake news" here ... as far as I can tell.

Link is in the last line of my original post. The photo shows corrosion when plain copper bus bars were used in a hybrid auto application. Hybrid auto applications may be totally different than golf cart Lithium applications (or not?), hence my question to members with Lithium experience if they have seen any evidence of corrosion over time. Using coated bus bars could be a possible solution ... if the problem exists at all.

PingEye3 - It sounds like you have NOT seen any evidence of corrosion in your Lithium cart?

[cgtech]

I use solid copper buss bars on most of my lithium builds with no issues. If I did have a problem, I would just start nickel plating them myself. Been nickel plating for a while, it's easy. If you're interested, see www.instructables.com and search "nickel plating" (or search just about anything else on Earth you want to do).

[E36Racer]

I think a key term in the article, easily not noticed, is they are talking about corrosion with “copper plated” bars. This is very different than “solid copper” bars. I’m willing to bet it’s a metallurgy issue with the underlying material more so than a problem with the copper itself. Why not just use solid copper and then you don’t have to plate it at all? How much savings could there possibly be in taking whatever cheaper metal and coating it in copper (or nickel for that matter)?

There is a reason copper has been used extensively with electrical applications for over a century. I’m calling marketing propaganda BS on this one.


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[PingEye3]

Originally Posted by ThreeCW

No "fake news" here ... as far as I can tell.

Link is in the last line of my original post. The photo shows corrosion when plain copper bus bars were used in a hybrid auto application. Hybrid auto applications may be totally different than golf cart Lithium applications (or not?), hence my question to members with Lithium experience if they have seen any evidence of corrosion over time. Using coated bus bars could be a possible solution ... if the problem exists at all.

PingEye3 - It sounds like you have NOT seen any evidence of corrosion in your Lithium cart?

No, I have not seen any evidence of corrosion on the 8 packs I have assembled. I have checked them all at around a year in service. Each one checked for balance, corrosion, tightness, although I knew that was not an issue as each bolt has blue loctite on the threads. The carts are all accessible as they are all at my club, so the packs have been easy to keep an eye on. One of the members has moved to Merritt Island and is right on the Indian River. Though he is garaged, I will check on it more often to see if any corrosion appears.

I went back and looked at the corroded bars. That pack looks like it was submerged in water and then the corrosion came along. The picture is being used to sell plated copper bars. IMHO

And I concur with E36Racer, no better conductor than clean copper.

[ThreeCW]

Thank you for everyone's comments ... it sounds like solid copper bus bars are working well for the BGW members