NATE was Great!

Tower and Antenna Grounding Comments Off
Feb 232010

Sales Manager Charlene Miller and Storm’s OEM Sales representative Joe Radecki are ready to greet customers at the NATE show, held at Disney’s Coronado Convention Center.

Storm Copper Components’ owners and several sales and marketing representatives attended the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) trade show in Orlando, and as far as the staff were concerned, NATE was great!

Traffic to the Storm booth was very strong as attendees discovered they could get a free copper peace sign by stopping by the Storm Copper booth. They were also very enthusiastic about the discount card they received for dropping their business card in the distinctive copper box, made by Storm’s creative shop.

Storm President, Carol Howard and Sales Manager Charlene Miller rated the show a great success based on the feedback they received from talking to many prospective customers. “This was our second year attending NATE. We met a lot of new potential customers and got reacquainted with many existing customers that came by to see what we are doing that’s new,” Miller said.

The hole pattern on Storm's busbars make it easy to position connections at a 45-degree angle.

“We don’t often get feedback from those who are on the front line, installing the components Storm builds, so it was very enlightening to hear what Jeremy Buckles had to say about our busbars,” said Dan Kitts, Storm’s co-owner.

Buckles and a co-worker stopped by after giving his presentation to say how much he liked Storm’s busbars because the hole pattern makes it very simple to comply with specifications of some of the more rigid cell phone companies. According to Buckles, Risk Management Supervisor for Com-Tec, sometimes busbars have to be mounted vertically, and the code requires a 45-degree connection. With the hole pattern on Storm’s busbars the connections line up perfectly and are simple to install due to the generous size and spacing.

The large copper peace sign hanging in the booth was a real traffic stopper, as people who recalled the symbol from the 60’s stopped by to pick up one as a memento. One man asked with a smile, “Will this get me in to Woodstock?”

NATE is an annual event designed to educate industry professionals, update attendees on safety concerns and give the various companies involved in supplying products a chance to display their products and services. While the show moves around the country, attendance this year could have been strong due to the Disney resort location. It gave everyone a chance to take care of business, and spend a little time in the Magic Kingdom. While the weather was a little cooler than normal for February in Florida, Storm staff members enjoyed the work and play before heading back to Tennessee.

Posted by Frank Ross at 2:00 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Copper Specifications

Customer Buying Tips Comments Off
Feb 092010

The variables facing the designer of a copper fabrication are many. The impact these variables will have on the finished copper component range from significant to minimal. The purpose of the following information is to provide an awareness for the designer as to the importance of these copper specifications. However, in many cases the number of options described here are limited dramatically in application because of material availability, manufacturability, minimum raw material orders and cost. Therefore, STORM will be happy to review your specification and provide comments as to cost and availability.

Copper Busbar Efficiency

Busbar systems for industrial and commercial facilities are often designed to minimize first costs, with the Busbar sized to the minimum permitted by safety considerations. In such cases, operating costs are ignored at the design stage and, as a result, large amounts of electrical energy are wasted in service due to heating. Larger cross-sections of Busbar result in more efficient systems with lower operating costs. The optimum system is one that properly balances first costs with operating costs in order to minimize total life-cycle cost.

Energy is wasted in any system because a portion of the electricity flowing through the conductor is converted to heat rather than being delivered as usable electrical energy. The determinants of the rate at which heat is generated by a system are: the amperage of the system and several factors which determine the resistance: the dimensions of the Busbar, the layout of the Busbar and the conductivity of the Busbar metal.

The effect of electrical conductivity on the heat loss of the system is straightforward: there is a proportionally inverse relationship between the two. The effects of the amperage and the dimensions of the Busbar are more subtle and have to be considered together. For a given Busbar size, increasing the amperage of the system will increase the heat loss, while increasing the cross-section of the Busbar will decrease the electrical resistance, and therefore the heat loss. These two effects are nonlinear, however. Thin, wide Busbar systems have better heat-dissipation characteristics, and therefore run cooler, than Busbar systems of equal cross-sectional area, but with less surface area. Since electrical resistivity rises with temperature, the thinner, wider configurations are better conductors.

Copper Alloys

C11000, Electrolytic Tough Pitch Copper (ETP): The most common type of copper used. With a minimum copper content of 99.90%, and an electrical conductivity of 101% IACS, it is used in such diverse applications as electrical conductors, roofing and flashing, heat exchanger fins, tanks and hollowware.

C10100 and C10200, Oxygen Free Coppers: Used where the presence of oxygen in copper is undesirable, as in certain electronic parts, or metal to be welded. These coppers have higher purities than ETP and are cast by the refineries in a controlled atmosphere with oxygen excluded. Cryogenic grades of C10100 copper are also available.

C12200, Phosphorous Deoxidized Copper (DHP): Deoxidized with phosphorous, making it relatively easy to weld and high temperature braze. However, DHP has a much lower electrical conductivity – approximately 85% IACS.

C11400 and C14300 Coppers: Used where it is desired to avoid softening in copper that is soldered at relatively high temperatures, as in automotive heater and radiator fins. The addition of a small percentage of silver, as in C11400 copper, is effective without a significant change in thermal and electrical conductivities. The addition of .07% cadmium to C14300 copper has a similar result, except that the conductivities are reduced by approximately 4%.

The measure by which the electrical conductivity of all materials are compared is known as % IACS (percent International Annealed Copper Standard). A few comparative conductivity ratings follow:

Type of Metal % IACS
110 Electrolytic Tough-Pitch Copper…………………………………………………………….
101
102 Oxygen-Free Copper…………………………………………………………………………..
101
145 Tellurium Copper………………………………………………………………………………..
95
Aluminum EC…………………………………………………………………………………………..
62
Aluminum 6101………………………………………………………………………………………..
56
505 Phosphor Bronze 1.25%………………………………………………………………………..
48
Aluminum 5052………………………………………………………………………………………..
35
Stainless Steel 302…………………………………………………………………………………….
3

Based on the availability and cost, C11000 Electrolytic Tough Pitch (ETP) should be specified when suitable.

Temper

The hardness of the copper or copper alloys are obtained by annealing or cold finishing after the annealing process. Unlike steel and aluminum, copper and copper alloys are not strengthened by heat treating in the final stages of processing. During annealing, air is excluded by flooding the furnaces with protective atmospheres controlled to prevent scaling, staining, or the penetration of the metal by oxygen or hydrogen. Cold finishing is defined as the permanent deformation or strain produced in the metal by external forces that are applied while the metal’s temperature is below its recrystallization point. It can be achieved by rolling, bending, stretching, or hammering the metal while it is cold.

Copper Rod and Bar

Annealed Metal (Soft) – Recrystalized Grains – Produced by Annealing Hard Metal – Special Soft Tempers are used for short radius bending, cold heading and cold swaging. Cold worked surfaces are suitable for most polishing.

1/2 Hard Metal (Cold Worked) – Distorted and Broken-up Grains – Produced by Cold Drawing or Cold Rolling Soft Metal to Finish Size. Common Hard Temper Rectangular and Square Bar. Standard Bus Bar Temper. Used for parts requiring machining, large radius bends, slight cold heading and slight cold swaging.

Full Hard Temper (Cold Worked) – Much Distorted and Broken-up Grains – Produced by Cold Drawing or Cold Rolling Soft Metal to Finish Size. Common Hard Temper for Round Rods. Used for parts requiring machining. Generally not suitable for bending, cold heading and cold swaging. Hard tempers are favorable to blanking, shearing and machining.

Sheet, Strip and Roll Copper

Cold Rolled Annealed Temper (Soft Metal) – Recrystalized Grains – Produced by Annealing Hard Metal – Standard Soft Roll Copper is commonly used for deep drawing and spinning. The surface on drawn parts is suitable for most polishing requirements.

Soft Temper Annealed Metal (Soft Metal) – Recrystalized Grains – Produced by Annealing Hard Metal – Commonly used by sheet metal craftsmen. Used for moderate drawing and cupping. The surface on drawn parts is suitable for most polishing requirements.

1/4 Hard Metal (Cold Worked) - Distorted and Broken-up Grains – Produced by Cold Rolling Soft Metal to the Finish Thickness. Special Hard Temper suitable for shallow forming.

1/2 Hard Metal (Cold Worked) - Distorted and Broken-up Grains – Produced by Cold Rolling Soft Metal to the Finish Thickness. Special Hard Temper suitable for 90 deg. bends.

3/4 Hard Metal (Cold Worked) – Much Distorted and Broken-up grains – Produced by cold Rolling Soft Metal to the Finish Thickness. Suitable for 90 deg. bends. Favorable to blanking, shearing and machining.

Because of the relationship between Temper and the manufacturability of the component, Storm Copper Components will suggest a Temper upon review of drawings.

Posted by Frank Ross at 1:08 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

A Guide to Copper Bus and Electrical Ground Bars

Customer Buying Tips Comments Off
Feb 032010

Electrical engineers and designers face a set of variables that often have a significant impact on a finished copper component. The following information illustrates this design process by listing the importance of key specifications related to producing efficient copper bus and electrical ground bars.

In many cases, the options described may be limited in application because of copper alloy or other metal considerations, manufacturing capabilities, or simply the high cost of copper in today’s market.

Copper Bus Bar Efficiency: Make no mistake, size really matters

Bus bar systems for industrial and commercial facilities are often designed to save costs, with the bus bars sized to the minimum safety requirements permitted by local electrical codes. Often the future operating costs are ignored during the design stage, which can result in large amounts of wasted electrical energy due to the inefficient bus-bar conductivity or heating.

While opting for larger cross-sections of bus bar can result in more efficient power distribution grounding systems – with less heating and lower operating costs – the optimum system is one that properly balances initial costs with operating costs in order to minimize total life-cycle cost.

Energy is most often wasted in power or grounding systems because a portion of the electricity flowing through the conductor (bus or ground bar) is converted to heat rather than being delivered as usable electrical energy. The factors that determine the rate at which heat is generated by a bus bar system include:

• The amperage of the system with several factors that determine the resistance.

• The design of bus bar, the cross-section dimensions and the system layout.

• The conductivity of the bus bar metal, e.g. Copper vs. Aluminum.

While inefficient electrical conductivity leads to heat loss, there is a proportionally inverse relationship between the two that can be solved by increasing the bus bar dimensions. Yet the effects of the amperage and the bus bar dimensions are harder to discern.

Once the bus bar dimensions are set and a system is laid out, any increase in amperage down the line will increase the heat loss. Designing a larger cross-section of bus bar will naturally decrease electrical resistance and heat loss. But when is enough, enough?

Interestingly, the effects of amperage vs. dimensions are nonlinear. Thinner, wider bus bar systems actually have better heat-dissipation characteristics and run cooler than heavier bus bars that have less surface area. Since electrical resistance rises with temperature, the thinner, wider configurations are better conductors. Go figure.

Here’s an illustration:

Click here to view a set of key ampacity tables.

For customers who lack an engineering degree or Einstein’s brain, please be aware that in addition to this design guide, Storm Copper Quality Team members are on hand to review your specification and provide assistance in discerning ways to reduce cost and lead times.

You can reach them by calling Storm’s OEM Hotline: 1-800-394-4804

Here’s what Storm’s co-owner, Dan Kitts, writes about copper bus bar fabrication…

Whenever Storm’s process engineers look at a bus bar print, there are a handful of key design elements they are immediately drawn to. These design elements largely dictate how an OEM’s bus bars will be manufactured. And it also determines the price we must charge to the customer.

When considering the design of a bus bar, several critical points can favorably impact the cost of fabrication. Each falls within a quality process that Storm calls “Value Engineering…”

Read the rest of Dan’s Value Engineering Blog …

Copper Bus Bar Fabrication and Plating – Important Considerations

Storm manufacturers copper bus and electrical ground bars and kits for installations including perimeter grounding, telecommunications centers, towers and antennas. In each of these installations, one of the key factors in producing a cost effective busbar begins with layout of the required holes. From a fabrication standpoint, on copper busbar less than .500” thick, punching holes is much more cost effective than milling holes. The holes in a busbar are always punched in while the stock is flat, and then any required bends are made. When holes are specified too close to a bend, the holes can become distorted slightly. Even a slight distortion can prevent the installation of other components when tolerances are tight, so the only solution is milling holes that are designed too close to a bend. Milling is a slow and expensive process that is easily avoidable by allowing a distance of 1.00” or more from a hole location to a bend in the part.

Another reason that drives up costs, through required milling is tolerance. When hole placement tolerance is less than +/- .005” it is impossible to hold these dimensions on our punch presses. Also, the tolerance of the hole diameter is a concern. When specifications call for +/- .001, we must use a mill to drill the hole. To avoid incurring the additional costs of milling, keep your tolerances to +/- .020”.

It is important to note that punching copper busbar does slightly deform the surface of the part. Occasionally this indenting or rounding of the surface of the busbar can result in a loss of contact area. This minor deformation of the hole is rarely a problem, but worth noting.

Storm’s prototyping capability can also put samples of bus bar connectors in your hands for evaluation in a matter of days. And because Storm offers in-house bus bar electroplating of tin, lead, tin/lead alloys and silver, lead times critical OEM delivery requirements are reduced. Plus internal plating is more cost effective than outsourcing.

Un-plated vs. Tin-plated?

Pure Copper Grounding Bars are the industry standard because of the excellent conductivity of copper. But Storm also offers in-house electroplating of fabricated bus bar. This allows quick response to critical OEM delivery requirements. Moreover, internal plating is more cost effective than outsourcing.

Tin-Plated Grounding Bars can be a better choice for outdoor or other harsh environments, as tin electro-plating reduces the chance of corrosion interfering with the ground connection. Tin plating also disguises the copper color, serving as a secondary theft deterrent, while making the copper unusable for illegal recycling.

Security Ground Bar Kits are also available to prevent theft of copper by replacing the standard hex bolt configuration with Truss Spanner Security Bolts.

For more information on protecting against copper theft, check out our Copper Crime Center

Storm also offers custom stamping for theft prevention. Allow us to stamp your company name, logo, phone number, or a Do Not Recycle message into each ground bar. For more information, link to our live chat center or call toll free: 1-888-334-2177.

Ground Bar Kits were developed by Storm to save time and money, and include the following components:
One .25″ thick grounding bar of solid copper (110 Electrolytic Tough-Pitch).
Standoff Insulators: A
Mounting Brackets: B
Stainless Hex Bolts: C
Stainless Spring-Lock Washers: D
Storm also offers Clear Polycarbonate Ground Bar Cover Kits to protect workers and equipment from accidental contact with live voltage.

Posted by Frank Ross at 12:32 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Busbar Fabrication – Cost effective design

Copper Buying Guide, Customer Buying Tips Comments Off
Jan 202010

By Dan Kitts

On average, 17,000 copper connectors, aka busbars, ship from Storm Copper’s loading dock every day. Thousands of unique designs are included in those 17,000 pieces of copper busbar. Needless to say, we have seen countless prints from many different industries. When our process engineers look at a print, there are a handful of key design elements they are immediately drawn to. These design elements largely dictate how these busbars will be manufactured. It also determines the price we must charge our customer. When considering the design of a busbar, several critical points can favorably impact the cost of fabrication.

Although it may sound obvious, the number one factor in keeping busbar pricing low is often overlooked. Specify only the exact size of copper stock you really need for the job. Whether you are using copper or aluminum for your busbar application, reducing the metal content is your number one opportunity to reduce cost. You will find these ampacity tables very helpful with sizing busbar. To do this properly, you must know the amount of temperature rise you are willing to accept.

One word of caution while we are on this subject; your desire for thickness optimization should not conclude in a special mill run sizes of busbar. Unless you are a very large user of busbar, utilizing readily available busbar thicknesses (these are .062, .094, .125, .250, .312, .375 and .500 inches) permits your fabricator multiple sources of supply and reduced lead times. As of the writing of this article, lead times from the two domestic copper mills in the United States are approximately 8 weeks. Most OEMs we do business with require a lead time of 2 weeks or less on their busbar requirements.

From a fabrication standpoint, punching holes in copper busbar is much more cost effective than milling holes. On busbar less than .500” thick, there generally are two design parameters which force busbar to be routed to the mill. The first is a hole location so close to a formed or bent area of the busbar that the hole becomes deformed. You see, busbar is always punched when it is flat. The only way we can get a hole into a bent busbar is by mounting it on the mill or machining center. This process is slow and therefore expensive. If you can allow a distance of 1.00” or more from a hole location to a bend in the part, we can most often eliminate a stop at the mill.

The next reason a busbar often stops at the mill is tolerance. Once your tolerance gets under +/- .005” on hole placement, we can no long hold these dimensions on our punch presses. Also, the tolerance of the hole diameter is a concern, +/- .001” and we must use a mill to drill the hole. To be sure your part stays off the mill, allow +/- .020” for your tolerance. It is important to note that punching copper busbar does slightly deform the surface of the part.

Occasionally this indenting or rounding of the surface of the busbar can result in a loss of contact area. This minor deformation of the hole is rarely a problem, but worth noting.

To sum up the critical points in reducing busbar cost:

1. Use the smallest possible size to reduce metal content of the busbar.
2. Design in standard thickness busbar to improve availability whenever possible.
3. Review hole placement and tolerance to reduce the chance the busbar would need to be routed to the mill.

Our Busbar Capability Brochure is another source of information that may be of assistance in your design efforts.

If you already have a print of your custom Busbar, simply email it to busbar@stormcopper.com for a fast, reliable quote. If not, good luck on your busbar design efforts, and please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Our OEM HOTLINE is 1-800-394-4804.

Posted by Frank Ross at 3:58 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

FBI: Copper Theft a Threat to National Security

Copper Theft Comments Off
Jan 072010

By Frank Ross

When the number, size and scope of copper thefts become large enough to threaten the nation’s power grid, the seriousness of the crime comes to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For copper thieves that can’t be good news.

Transformers contain approximately 50 lbs. of copper with the potential to yield $200 for copper thieves. In addition, these thefts result in thousands of dollars in damages, replacement costs, and environmental clean-up.

In response to the pervasive nature of copper crime, the FBI Criminal Intelligence Section has completed an intelligence assessment, and reported their findings in an evaluation that speaks to the seriousness of what was once a crime with only local impact. The analysis highlights copper theft and its impact on critical infrastructure within the U.S., perpetrated by individuals and organized groups motivated by quick profits and a wide variety of vulnerable targets.

Their key judgments go beyond the crime itself; expressing concern for the impact these criminals are having upon national security. Although copper thieves routinely target vacant business and homes, when they steal from electrical substations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads and public water wells they have an impact far greater than a simple theft. Copper stolen from these targets disrupt public power distribution, telecommunications, other utilities and transportation, but these outages also have a significant impact on emergency services. When emergency services are disrupted it presents an unacceptable risk to both public safety and national security.

According to an open source article, published on 4 April 2008, five tornado warning sirens in the Jackson, Mississippi, area did not warn residents of an approaching tornado because copper thieves had stripped the sirens of copper wiring, thus rendering them inoperable. In another incident that year, residents in Polk County, Florida found themselves without power following a theft of copper wire that was stripped from an active transformer at a Tampa Electric Company (TECO) power facility. The financial loss in that incident was approximately $500,000 and does not include the losses experienced by customers impacted indirectly.

Farmers in rural areas are also potential victims because of the remoteness of their operations. A copper stealing epidemic in Pinal County, Arizona had a $10 million impact when copper was stripped from irrigation wells and pumps. High replacement costs were insignificant compared to the loss of crops which ultimately impacted the local food market.

Copper thieves vary from enterprising individuals feeding a drug habit to large organized groups who operate in loose association with each other to steal the copper and turn it into easy money through their fencing operations.

This criminal activity is being fueled by the demand for copper in developing nations such as China and India, whose robust industries require ever increasing amounts of copper. But, other supply related incidents have also had an impact. A landslide at the Freeport-McMoran Copper mine in Grasberg, Indonesia in October 2003 and a worker’s strike at the El Abra copper mine in Clama, Chile in November 2004 set the stage for short supply. Following on the heels of short supply, increased demand pushed the price of copper to a 500% increase between January 2001 and March of 2008.

Insulated wire is often transported to remote areas where the insulation is burned off in a steel drum leaving behind just the copper wire.

As the global supply of copper continues to tighten, increasing the market for illegally procured copper that is funneled through recycling operations for high profits. On the positive side, industry officials have taken countermeasures to address national problem of copper theft. These efforts include the installment of physical and technological security measures, increased collaboration among the various industry sectors, and the development of law enforcement partnerships intended to pool and share information on cases and criminals. Also, numerous states are taking the offensive by enacting legislation or enhancing existing laws that regulate the scrap metal industry. Among these changes are requirements for increased record keeping and increased penalties for copper theft and noncompliant scrap dealers.

The challenges law enforcement officers face are limited resources available to investigate and follow leads required to catch the criminals. To date, a very small percentage of perpetrators are arrested and convicted. And even when they are convicted, copper thefts are typically addressed as misdemeanors. Individuals convicted of copper theft generally pay relatively low fines, serve short prison terms and resume their illicit enterprise once released.

It is hoped that the seriousness of the impact these crimes are having on the nation’s infrastructure as well as our national security will have a positive effect on both the laws and those who enforce them. Until that happens, if you see suspicious activity around a vacant business, home or electrical facility -call 911 and report it immediately.

You can also protect the copper you purchase by taking advantage of Storm’s imprinting process. For a small charge you can have your business name and phone number stamped into your electrical components. Another excellent choice is to have your copper tinned, which destroys its value to recyclers in addition to adding a protective coat that will extend the life of your connections.

For a quick quote, call 888-334-2177 or log on to stormgrounding.com.

Posted by Frank Ross at 2:28 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Custom Fabrication, a Storm Copper Specialty

Customer Buying Tips Comments Off
Dec 142009

Storm's highly skilled technicians and craftsmen create custom orders to exacting specifications.

Storm's highly skilled technicians and craftsmen create custom orders to exacting specifications.

Storm Copper Components is one of the largest fabricators of copper busbars, laminated busbars and copper ground busbars in the United States. Literally tons of finished copper products for all types of electrical applications are in their warehouse, but Storm also has the equipment and highly skilled technicians to custom fabricate copper based on a customer’s individual needs, large or small.

Storm’s custom fabricating capabilities fall into several categories, listed below. And sometimes a job may require several of these processes for the same piece. When the process goes from simple to complex, that’s were Storm’s exceptional tooling skills and specialty equipment give them a leg up.

With the advantage of Flex-Tooling equipment, Storm can produce specialty items that would normally require lengthy and expensive Hard Die tooling, in a fraction of the time and cost as some competitive copper suppliers. And, unless there is a very unusual template involved, customers will never be charged a Hard Die setup charge, because they don’t need them.

Storm’s materials, processes, and finished components are engineered to meet, as needed, standards required by ASME, UL, CSA, Bellcore, and other testing/standards bodies. Since virtually every part they make is custom to a particular manufacturer or application, Storm has created a number of new cost effective techniques of producing connectors in both low and high volume production runs.

Punching - This type of copper fabricating is done CNC punches. These punches have multiple tool holders and have the tonnage to punch up to .500″ thick copper bar and plate. The tolerance with this particular copper fabricating equipment is +/- .020″.

Stamping – This method of copper fabricating is performed with high tonnage presses. Even so, the maximum thickness copper typically stamped is .250″. The tolerance on this method of copper fabricating varies depending on the tooling employed.

Turret Punching - This piece of equipment performs punching and cutting the outside perimeter of the copper part. This is the primary method of producing parts with odd shapes, tabs or fingers. Generally, the thickness of the copper is .250″ and less. Tolerances associated with this particular process is +/- .005″.

Machining – This method of fabricating copper, also known as milling, has the greatest versatility and can produce an almost endless array of copper fabrications. Moreover, tolerances as close as .001″ can be achieved with this equipment. Unfortunately, it is also a relatively higher cost method of production because of the significant set-up and tooling costs.

Forming - This is a secondary step in the copper fabricating process and is performed after the part has been cut to length and punched or milled. During this process the part is bent or formed to the specifications of the print.

Plating - This is normally the final step in the copper fabricating process. Storm can electroplate tin, lead, numerous tin/lead alloys, silver and nickel. It is worth noting that the copper parts are deburred prior the electroplating operation.

So, no matter how much punching, stamping, machining, forming or plating your project requires, Storm can do the job better, faster, and more economically.

For a fast, no obligation quote, call 1-800-394-4804.

Posted by Frank Ross at 1:51 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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