Where you are physically determines your sources of Flooded Lead-Acid (FLA) batteries. When your source changes what posts/terminals you can use, you also ought to shop around to know what other battery sources are available and what post/terminal changes they have as well. Where I am in the SF, CA area my pack sources are several.
Years ago when I was driving my Blazer EV, I too was confronted with changes my source imposed on me. They changed to not offer the large round automotive (SAE) post http://www.altestore.com/store/descfiles/trojan/EAP_Terminal.png to what they called a Universal post (it was a semi round post with a horizontal hole through it and two sides were slightly flat, sort of a one post fits many terminals/lugs) http://www.altestore.com/store/descfiles/trojan/EUT_Terminal.png The converter that had made my Blazer used automotive (SAE) lugs. When I would change my pack out, I now had to try to jockey/arrange the automotive lug connection to get the best bite on that Universal post.so I had the best metal to metal contact. The posts and lugs did not overheat, but IMO it was not as good a connection as when I had batteries with real automotive posts. After of dealing with that, I noticed my pack cables could due with a rework. I did some research and found the battery source did offer the L post (a flat vertical connection, optimum metal to metal contact) http://www.altestore.com/store/descfiles/trojan/L_Terminal.png I built all new cables with flat terminals ahead of time so as to minimize my EV down-time. And at the next pack change, I ordered them with L posts. They went in swimmingly/just-fine. They tightened OK, and after either a long drive at highway speeds or a climb to the top of my local 2k ft mountain, the posts were not that hot to cause a melted post. Later, my pack sources changed again, and was making it tough to get the L posts, and easier to just go with their Universal post. I decided to try a pack using the Universal post and my flat lugs. I did have good metal to metal contact. And after those same tests (above), the connections were not that hot to cause damage to my posts. From that point on, I used my flat lugs with the Universal post with no problems. As was posted, in either case (L or the Universal post) I had to be careful when tightening: only to a point that did not mash the soft lead too much. After the initial pack break in and connection tightening (check connections after a week, and again after two weeks of driving), I did not find any loose connections to cause problems. Perhaps you can look at what your local options are and make the best choice possible. Here are some links on posts to explore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_terminal#Automotive_battery_terminals http://danbritas.dk/upload/teknisk%20information/trojan%20pol%20betegnelser.jpg http://www.brass-components-india.com/copper_battery_connectors/copper_battery_connectors_1.jpg My EV configuration was: 22 6V 125 minute@75A US125 batteries, 600A controller (max battery current draw was 300+ Amps), 9" AdvancedDC motor, moving a 2 ton 1985 S10 Blazer EV http://brucedp.150m.com/blazer/ {brucedp.150m.com} On Tue, May 27, 2014, at 07:16 PM, KenA via EV wrote: ... > the preferred terminal was SAE post style.... > 15 - 8v GC batteries; 4/0 cables. > > By the time I needed to replace the battery pack (and since) the market > had > changed and SAE terminals were a special order item ... > My question is: will the lugs provide enough surface contact to carry the > amperage? I only run a maximum of 500 amps, most of the time in the 200 > amp > range. Any special precautions I need to take? ... - -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Choose from over 50 domains or use your own _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
