New old ideas
N24YW said:
I used a piece of copper tubing. I put it in a press between to piece of steel. 10 tons of pressure and I had a nice flat buss strip. It has been working great for 150 hours - Jim, RV-6, Burlington Iowa
Nice to have equip.
Contactors: Master, Starter solenoid or relay.
Look Van can be cheap and there is always a gold plated solution, but these contactors are as good as it gets. The ones Van sells are Cole-Hersee have been around a long long long time; these contactors have been made by them and others almost identically since who knows WWII. Like so many things electrical on light planes they are adapted from the auto/truck industry. These contactors are all car, truck, folklift, farm equip stuff.
To answer my own question about why the B&C unit is better, I seriously doubt there is anything better about what B&C sells in regard to contactors. Now I have found cheaper prices than Van's but not better contactors, because they are all the same inside and made in simular shape and sizes. Yes there are different shapes and terminal arrangment, but inside is a coil, plunger (solinode) and two contacts.
There is a new TYPE or design I find interesting and thought about using it, a Tyco kilovac relay.
http://relays.tycoelectronics.com/datasheets/ev200.pdf
It cost about $120-$150. It would be used for a master. The cool part is its huge volt opening rating, more than the standard we use, is small, about the same weight, and it
only takes 1.7 watts, about 0.10-0.13 amps to hold closed. A standard master contactor takes almost an amp of current (14 watts) to hold closed and gets too hot to touch. It uses some kind of magnetic latching and is failsafe, so if it fails or power is lost it opens the contacts.
Now the above is not to be confused with a true latching solenoid, which have been around for a long time as well and do not cost much more than what we currently have. The down side of these types are that can fail closed. "Latching contactors" will use power to switch and than require no power at all to hold that position, closed or open. There used in boats, large trucks and industrial equip typically. They would work in a RV and save the extra heat and current to hold it closed, but are not good choices because you can end up with it closed and unable to open under some possible concevable conditions.
The problem with true latching contactors is not the case with the kilovac unit I mention above, which is held in closed position with linkage and a magnet and is ready to "spring" open at all times, requiring very little current to keep it close. The down side is cost and it really does nothing more than save an amp of current. The kilovac is made to high standards of operating conditions, vibration, G's, temps and so on. Still for 6 times or more money its not value added.
I guess I'll stick to the plans. The ones Van sells have long studs and can accommodate several lugs plus a thick strap, washer and nut.