Hello Wrenches,
Thanks for the information on
the use of welding cable for connections to batteries. The ability to
amass data so rapidly clearly demonstrates the power of the Wrench
network.
I agree with Bob-O and Bob
Ellison that the acid test won't necessarily show if welding cable is
effective. At this point we can already say that it is effective as
battery cable, as evidenced by the thousands of installations that have
functioned without a hitch, with no reports of cable failure.
The logic of the experiment is
to expose cable insulation to a chemical environment far more acidic than
it would experience in operation. If a battery box were filled with
battery acid, I imagine that battery jumper failure would be the least of
one's worries. But exposure to battery acid is the one difference, that
I can think of, that would have an effect on cables in the vicinity of battery
banks. Since the majority of listed cables (and unlisted) are of pure
copper, the insulation would be the only variable.
Bob-O's idea of
doing an electrical test on the insulation after exposure to the acid is an
excellent one. Would a Megar be the right tool for the
job? It would certainly be overkill when trying to determine if
the cable is adequate for a low voltage system.
I don't know what will happen
to the insulation either, but I'd be surprised it the acid had much effect on
any of the cable. Battery acid comes in a plastic bag inside of a
cardboard box. But it will be interesting to see if any cables are
affected and to what degree.
Even if the insulation were
degraded by the acid, that might not matter much. Lineage 2000 batteries
that were purchased for one installation came with bare copper bus bars to
connect the batteries. They worked fine.
The idea of the experiment is
to see if there is any rational whatever for the prohibition of welding cable
use, or the use of any other readily available cable. If we can be
certain that we have thought of and tested all the parameters, we can proceed
to make proposals for changes in the code.
If anyone has cable they think
should be tested, contact us to see if we already have a specimen.
If not, send it in and we will put it to the test.
Thanks again for the
help.
Drake Chamberlin
Don Wallingford