Aluminium Busbars vs Copper Busbar

Busbar? Is this for lots and lots of controls?

hey friends, sb is improper word? cause i donot know who is replying ? i know who replied only after reading reply. Looks like I've hurt sb's sentiment......!! Sorry if I did so.

regards,

sks

I've never seen anyone in this forum with the handle or initials "sb", so I doubt you hurt their feeings.

I have no idea what you mean by Al bus being used for control wiring. Bus bar is not wiring, it is bus bar and is used for POWER distribution within an enclosure.

Al bus is used over Cu because it is cheaper and in some cases because it is lighter. But in general Cu is superior because it has much less temperature expansion and contraction, which in bus bars tends to affect the integrety of connections over time. That means mainenance of Al bus systems is much more critical, Cu is more forgiving of being ignored for decades, as is usually the case.

But at some level Cu bus can become impractical again because of the extra weight (and cost), as in very high current applications for things like smelters and arc furnaces. 10,000A Cu busbar needs a much different bracing and support structure than 10,000A Al bus.

normal MCC and PMCC which have contactor type feeders, usually have control power busbars (small one) for supplying 240 V ac auxilliary supply for contactors.

These lower size bus bars (2.5 sq mm with square type surface area) is made of Cu.

Copper busbar is best preferred for power distribution in the MCC board . Al busbar has to be bigger in size for the same current carrying capacity ..this is my opinion .

But Al busbar for control wiring ? .. Not clear to me.