T1 Terry wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:14 pm
bagmaker wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 5:55 pm
whoa! SS fasteners on electrical?? Surely not!! I thought only brass or aluminium is recommended due to the pathetic ability of stainless to transfer electrons (heat).
I have failed here in the past, a stainless bolt and nut earthing a hell cable. Got super hot. Changed to brass, not a problem.
(
Cleaned the actual contact points -even less of a problem.)
The stainless fastener only acts as the clamping device, not as part of the conductor path. Can you picture the result of Wayne's example where a brass bolt was used
T1 Terry
In suppose that you have just nailed it T1. IF the contact surfaces are perfectly clean , and IF there is no heat generated because everything was prepared correctly, then you shouldn't have a problem, as you correctly state, the bolt is only the clamping device.
But, something did go wrong as in Wayne's OP. And he seems to have gone missing, so we still don't know whether it was bad preparation or just a loose bolt that hadn't had a spanner over it for a few years.
The most important point here, I think, is to highlight the value of a thermal temp gun or something similar, so people can detect a problem before it gets too serious. We do a thermographic imaging scan on all our equipment at work every 6 months. It helps to show any hot joints or potential overheating issues before they can cause a system failure. Just a little bit expensive for the average bloke though.
