Leaking Batterys

[Al Skierkiewicz]

There was one additional item I forgot to include. All teams will at one point or another read less than 7 volts on their battery under load. This is not an indication that your producing any damage to your battery. It is just an indication that you are drawing enough current from the battery to cause a voltage drop across the internal resistance of the battery and the resistance of the wiring between the Crio and the battery. The battery internal resistance is the normally the greater of these at 11 mohms. However, loose electrical connections and improper crimps can also account for high resistance. I have seen several teams who lost the hardware for their Power Distribution Panel and substituted 1/4-20 hardware. The PD uses metric hardware so substituting the 1/4-20 prevents you from making a tight connection to the PD. 100 amps across 10 mohm=1 volt.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

I have seen several teams who lost the hardware for their Power Distribution Panel and substituted 1/4-20 hardware. The PD uses metric hardware so substituting the 1/4-20 prevents you from making a tight connection to the PD. 100 amps across 10 mohm=1 volt.

Entirely apart from the electrical problems that substitution causes, if you manage to tighten a 1/4-20 nut on an M6 stud, you'll ruin it, probably by snapping the stud off. Don't do that; the studs can't be repaired—not even by replacing them entirely.