Rigid busbars
Flat copper or aluminium bar, cut, punched, tapped and deburred to your drawing.
For straight runs in switchboards, panels and busway
Custom busbars, made to your drawing.
Rigid, flexible, laminated and coated busbars in copper and aluminium. Manufactured in India, finished and inspected against your drawing, and delivered to your Incoterm.
- Copper or aluminium
- Plating or coating
- Measured records
Busbar, 6 mm, ASTM B545 tinDWG REV. C
- Material
- ETP copper C11000
- Plating
- ASTM B545 tin, 10 µm
- Critical dimension
- 228.00 ±0.10 mm
- Inspection
- Against the drawing
What we make
Bent and formed busbars
Flatwise, edgewise, offset and twisted bends, formed to your angles and inside radii.
For routing current around other parts in the enclosure
Flexible busbars
Stacked thin tinned copper strips in an insulating sleeve, bent by hand during installation.
For tight panels and connections that see vibration
Laminated busbars
Layers of copper joined at the ends, so the bar flexes between fixed terminations.
For joints that must take up movement and thermal expansion
Coated and insulated busbars
Epoxy powder coating, PVC dip coating or sleeving, heat-shrink sleeving or nylon coating, with the contact faces left bare.
For compact assemblies where bars sit close together
Plated busbars
Tin, nickel or silver at the thickness your drawing names, on the whole bar or only the contact faces.
For bolted joints that must hold contact resistance
Choosing a finish
Plating protects the contact faces. Coating insulates the body of the bar. Many busbars carry both.
Plating for contact faces
- Tin (ASTM B545)
- The most common busbar finish. Protects copper from oxidation at bolted joints.Watch for: Lower temperature limit than silver.
- Silver
- Lowest contact resistance, for high-current and high-temperature joints.Watch for: Tarnishes in air that carries sulphur.
- Nickel
- Hard, corrosion resistant and stable at temperature.Watch for: Higher contact resistance than tin or silver.
Coating for the body of the bar
- Epoxy powder
- A thin, hard, even layer that follows bends and holes, with good insulation for its thickness.Watch for: Contact faces must be masked.
- PVC dip or sleeve
- A thicker, flexible, low-cost layer, common on flexible busbars.Watch for: Lower temperature rating than epoxy.
- Heat-shrink sleeving
- Quick to apply on straight runs and simple bends.Watch for: Hard to fit closely over complex shapes.
- Nylon
- Tough and abrasion resistant.Watch for: Specify thickness and colour on the drawing.
Specifications
- Types
- Rigid, bent and formed, flexible, laminated, coated and insulated, plated
- Materials
- ETP copper C11000 / CW004A; Cu-OF C10200; Cu-OFE C10100; aluminium 1350 and 6101-T6
- Thickness
- 2–20 mm standard; up to 30 mm on review
- Width
- 10–200 mm standard; up to 300 mm on review
- Length
- Cut to drawing; up to 3000 mm standard; longer on review
- Flexible busbars
- 2–20 strips, 0.1–0.5 mm strip thickness, 10–120 mm width; PVC or heat-shrink sleeve
- Processes
- Cutting, CNC punching, bending, tapping, countersinking, deburring
- Plating
- Tin (ASTM B545), nickel or silver; whole bar or contact faces only
- Coating
- Epoxy powder, PVC dip or sleeve, heat-shrink sleeving or nylon; bare zones to your drawing
- Standards
- IEC 61439 where the assembly applies. Dimensions, plating and coating thickness to your drawing
- Quantities
- Prototype builds to mass production
Copper or aluminium
Copper conducts better, so the bar is smaller. Aluminium needs more cross-section for the same resistance, but weighs about half as much.
Copper values: Copper Development Association, Copper for Busbars. Compare both in the busbar weight calculator.
Copper, ETP C11000Aluminium, EC grade 1350
Conductivity
100% IACS
61% IACS
Cross-section for the same resistance
1×
about 1.6×
Weight for the same resistance
1×
about 0.5×
- Density
- 8.89 g/cm³ copper, 2.70 g/cm³ aluminium
- Bolted joints
- Copper is straightforward and usually plated. Aluminium contact faces need preparing or plating, because of the oxide layer.
Questions buyers ask
What is a busbar?+
A busbar is a rigid or flexible strip of copper or aluminium that carries current between components inside switchgear, panels, UPS systems, busway and battery cabinets. It replaces cables where current is high or space is tight.
What is the difference between a flexible and a laminated busbar?+
A flexible busbar is a stack of thin tinned copper strips in an insulating sleeve, bent by hand during installation. A laminated busbar has its layers joined at the ends, so it flexes between fixed terminations to take up movement and expansion.
Which coating should I choose: epoxy, PVC or heat-shrink?+
Epoxy powder coating gives a thin, even layer that follows bends and holes, and suits compact assemblies. PVC is thicker and more flexible, and is common on flexible busbars. Heat-shrink sleeving is quick on straight runs. Name the coating, thickness and bare zones on your drawing, and we review it with the quotation.
Can you match an existing busbar from another supplier?+
Yes. Send the drawing, and a sample if the drawing is incomplete. We tell you what can be held and where a feature is tight before we quote, then build a prototype for your approval.
How is the copper price handled?+
The quotation states the metal price and the date it is based on, so you can see exactly how much of the price is metal and how much is the work.
Can you take a small order?+
Yes. Small, engineering-heavy batches are work we take, from prototype quantities upwards.
Send the drawing
Email us your enquiry at contact@qumek.com. We respond within 12 hrs.
Your enquiries are confidential with us and we proceed with manufacturing only after signing a NDA.
Need a DFM review or a prototype before production? See the services.
Plan your busbar
Busbar drawing generatorSet the bar, holes, bends and finish. Download a DXF and PDF drawing.Open the tool →Busbar weight calculatorWeight, metal cost and resistance, in copper or aluminium.Open the tool →ISO 2768 tolerance calculatorGeneral tolerances for every dimension on your drawing.Open the tool →
Often on the same drawing