I don't know if contact area is the same, but contact resistance is higher with the PP30s over the PP45s. Per spec on a 12AWG wire, the PP30s will rise 30C at 30A while the PP45s will rise ~17 in a single pole configuration. In multipole, the charts don't go up that high for the PP30.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwhite
We did have one of the 30 amp / 14 gauge wires melt the powerpole housing. I'm not sure if it was because we were over spec, or if it had been badly wired. But it was a clear cautionary tale, and made me examine what the students had done, and so figured this out.
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I'd like to know how that happened. By any chance was it in a block of 4 or otherwise covered/insulated?
In general, we've stopped using the PP30s & 14 AWG for FRC. I gave all those supplies to our FTC team. We never used it as we just spec'd 12AWG and never revisited if we could get away with 14AWG.
Side note, I've got a around a thousand PP45s and access to a post office.