So I just received
some PowerPoles which I had ordered in the mail, when I noticed a problem: the connectors I ordered are rated for 30 amps, but I had wanted to use these to supply motor power to CIMS which are wired off the 45 amp PDP slots.
Now I was kinda bummed, since these took a while to ship and were pretty expensive. I checked out the info on the PowerPoles I ordered, and found a paragraph which suggests that using the 12- gauge powerpoles for 45-amp current would be fine- it reads as follows
"The size of the wire a Powerpole contact will accept is the primary limitation of their ability to carry a load. The size of the flat contact area is actually the same for all 15, 30 & 45 amp contacts. Powerpoles will safely handle higher loads or surges, please read the PP30 data sheet (PDF) for additional information"
I went to check out
the datasheet and I've looked through the entire thing- the only reference to current I can find is an entry called "UL Current Rating," which just seems to be restating the 30-amp recommendation, and some graphs. I couldn't find any references to "max current" or "surge current" or anything. The graphs don't do much to clarify the situation- I went through and compared them to the
45-amp PowerPole datasheet, and if you compare the two it looks like the 30-amp PowerPoles actually have a
lower temperature rise for any (shown) applied amperage.
Anyways, what this boils down to is I would like an affirmation that using the "30 amp" (In quotations because their actual safe load is unclear to me) PowerPoles are safe to be used in 45-amp circuits (with 12 gauge wire). Anyone have enough experience with these to enlighten me?