Bus bars: vertically or horizontal

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by Oceanride007

Bus bars should be vertical. All bus bars I have seen on commercial ships are vertical. Vertical is better for heat dissipation, creates own chimney effect, less dust accumulation is another. Ex Chief Engineer here.

If a buss bar gets warm it is undersized for the load. Replace it with a heavier one. You can make your own from copper bar stock rather than making do with some vendor's dimensions.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by stormalong

If a buss bar gets warm it is undersized for the load. Replace it with a heavier one. You can make your own from copper bar stock rather than making do with some vendor's dimensions.

I don’t think it was mentioned that it got warm only that any heat it might create would create a stack effect

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Oceanride007

Bus bars should be vertical. All bus bars I have seen on commercial ships are vertical. Vertical is better for heat dissipation, creates own chimney effect, less dust accumulation is another. Ex Chief Engineer here.

With all due respect to the Ex Chief Engineer, this is nonsense. Except the part about dust accumulating. If that actually happens in your electrical box...

A busbar that is getting warm, much less hot, is SERIOUSLY undersized, AND vertical is worse--not better--for heat dissipation. Why? Because in the case of a hot busbar (which they shouldn't be, right?) the TOP of the bar is surrounded by hot air that is rising form the bottom of the bar. Heat loss is proportional to the temperature difference between the surrounding air and the bar. Hotter air==less heat lost. A horizontal bus bar is essentially all surrounded by air at ambient temperature, and losses heat as fast as possible.

Of course all this is ACTUALLY happening in a closed box of confined size. So in the real world (where engineers should live) air circulation is VERY limited around bus bars, no matter WHICH way you point them.

All that said, it matters not which way you point the bars. It should be consistent with the easiest, neatest wiring.

(Still an actual Engineer, here)

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

All that said, it matters not which way you point the bars. It should be consistent with the easiest, neatest wiring.

(Still an actual Engineer, here)

I completely agree, If there was an issue one way or the other it would show up in at least one of the many marine electrical standards ... it doesn't.

[starcruiser]

Thanks everyone.

[team karst]

Glad we could help. Collectively, all options are covered [emoji41]

[smac999]

what ever is better for the wiring.

I always but my bus bars far enough apart so using a wrench or rachet on one bar will never touch the other one.

[Cynara]

Electricity doesn't care
.do what works for you

[rls8r]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I was kind of joking with 45. Just driving home the point of the wiring is what dictates the orientation. But there might be a case where the wiring is at 45. Maybe. Not likely since the floor and the wall is at 90. Plus it would look odd.

Yes, but when the boat is heeling at, say, 15° the bus bar would be at ±15° (if it was initially installed horizontally) or 75°/105° (if it was initially installed vertically). May consider mounting it on a gyro to keep the electrons from sloshing back and forth.

[RaymondR]

On my previous boat I had a bus bar system where the individual loads and charging sources were wired to horizontal bus bars and the individual battery banks were wired to vertical bus bars. The horizontal bus bars were frilled and threaded where they passed under the vertical bars and the vertical bars were drilled and countersunk to allow a brass screw to be installed to connect the bus bars.