[SOLVED] Capacitor bank bus bar copper

[tywaser]

I have 10 63000mfd 30 volt capacitors that will be charged to 28 volts, then discharged by a short circuit creating a shower of sparks or a low resistance such as a small spring which should glow white hot and break when touched to the bas bar. this capacitor bank is not too big but i live in an apartment. I was wondering if I should use copper bus bars instead of steel because of its lower resistance? how much difference would it make on the amount of sparks? (I like sparks

 

[IanP]

I have 10 63000mfd 30 volt capacitors that will be charged to 28 volts, then discharged by a short circuit creating a shower of sparks or a low resistance such as a small spring which should glow white hot and break when touched to the bas bar. this capacitor bank is not too big but i live in an apartment. I was wondering if I should use copper bus bars instead of steel because of its lower resistance? how much difference would it make on the amount of sparks? (I like sparks

The specific resistivity for copper is 1.6 x 10 ^-8 ohm meters and iron is around 9.6 x 10^-8...
That is, iron has six times the resistance of copper, almost exactly.
Steel is somewhat between, at 4.5 x 10^-8 approximately. So its about 3 times copper resistance.

:wink:
IanP