Reversing Entropy · video

What this video covers

Stainless steel fasteners used as electrical pass-through connectors on a busbar act as resistors, generating dangerous heat under load — a fire risk most sailors never recognize.▶ 1:04 The channel's 1980s ketch, refitted on a tight budget, runs the experiment at 90 amps using a LiFePo4 battery, a short cable, and a 1200-watt space heater fed through an inverter.▶ 3:55 A direct connector-to-busbar connection draws 90 amps for 10 minutes and reaches only 40°C — barely warm to the touch.▶ 5:32 The same load routed through a stainless steel washer and nut stack reaches 33°C after just one minute, 40°C at five minutes, and 42.2°C at ten — and continues climbing after the load disconnects as heat saturates the cable and busbar.▶ 6:45 The fix is straightforward: remove the nuts, stack ring terminals directly on the same stud one on top of the other, so current flows metal-to-metal through the connectors without passing through any stainless hardware.▶ 7:33 Stacking a new terminal on top of existing stainless hardware — a common shortcut when adding a circuit — is the specific mistake to avoid.▶ 5:52

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