When it comes to insulating busbars, there are a number of options available, including plastic-sheathing, mylar, and epoxy insulation. While each option has its own advantages, epoxy powder-coating is the best choice for ensuring the safety, longevity, and cost-effectiveness of your electrical installation. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of choosing epoxy insulation for your busbars and why it’s the ideal choice for your next project.
Cost Savings
One of the biggest advantages of epoxy insulation is the cost savings it offers. Epoxy is 67% cheaper per linear meter compared to plastic-sheathing and mylar insulation. It also has a much higher maximum operating temperature of 180°C compared to plastic at 93°C. This makes epoxy a great choice when considering life-cycle costing for your electrical installation.
Quality and Durability
Another key benefit of epoxy insulation is its quality and durability. Epoxy has great dielectric strength and perfect uniform adhesion, making it great for covering complex and odd-shaped busbars. Its chemically bonded conformal coating eliminates voids and prevents moisture penetration, making it scratch-resistant and able to handle thermal expansion and flex stresses. This ensures your installation will last for many years, with minimal maintenance required.
Future-proofing Your Installation
With trends showing a rise in the average operating temperature of power distribution installations, it’s essential to choose an insulation option that can handle the increased heat. Epoxy’s higher maximum operating temperature ensures your installation is ready for the future, providing you peace of mind and protection against potential damage.
Thermally Conductive Epoxy – The Best Choice
material is needed to have the same current-carrying capacity.
At CAPLINQ, our engineers and product development team have taken the best qualities of epoxy and made it even better. We’ve developed a new thermally conductive epoxy coating that has over 300% the standard thermal conductivity (1.0 W/mK) compared to standard epoxy (0.3 W/mK). This increased thermal conductivity allows for faster heat loss, which can save on material weight and cost, and increase efficiency and overall longevity of your installation.
Resistance increases running and maintenance costs.
Faster heat loss also means you can get the same current-carrying capacity for less material. Busbars can be thinner, longer, lighter, and even made of a less conductive material when working at lower temperatures. Saving initial installation costs and long-term maintenance costs.
In Conclusion:
When it comes to insulating busbars, epoxy powder coating is the best choice for ensuring the safety, longevity, and cost-effectiveness of your electrical installation. With its cost savings, quality and durability, future-proofing capabilities, and thermally conductive options, epoxy insulation is the ideal choice for your next project. At CAPLINQ, we’re committed to providing the best solution for your busbar insulation needs, and we’re confident that our epoxy coating is the only real design decision you can make to minimize life-cycle costs and ensure your installation is safe, durable, and cost-effective.
Please be sure to explore our whole range of epoxy coating powders including our halogen-free LINQSOL BCP-1504 which is developed specifically for busbar epoxy coating applications including both low voltage (<600V) busbars as well as medium voltage (up to 38kV) busbar applications.
We have also introduced powders such as LINQSOL BCP1507 and LINQSOL BCP1509 have been proven to coat thick under various temperatures.
Do you have a busbar that needs coating or do you need to select an electrically insulating powder for your busbar application? Contact us with your process and application requirements and we’ll make sure to find something that fits your needs.
To whom it may concern,
We are currently looking to enhance our design and would like to know if painting the MSB busbar can improve efficiency. Could you please advise if this practice enhances efficiency and safety? Additionally, are there any specific terms and conditions required? What would be the cost for this painting?
Your urgent advice and immediate response would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, and Best Regards
Hi Josephine,
Could you please advise if this practice enhances efficiency and safety?
-Epoxy coating for bus bars is a great way to increase efficiency and safety. In terms of efficiency, heat accumulation inside the bus bar reduces efficiency. The strong adhesion of epoxy eliminates the air gap between the bar and any mylar sheet or tape, which allows for the dissipation of more heat since ECP is 10 times more thermally conductive than air. ECP is also in itself more thermally conductive than other types of fillers such as Mylar.
-Epoxy coating powders enhance safety by allowing the bus bar to be touched while operational. Additionally, these coatings allow safe contact between bus bars, minimizing the risk of electrical hazards and the distance between them.
Additionally, are there any specific terms and conditions required?
-Selecting a powder depends on the application requirements. There are epoxy coating powders for low voltage, medium voltage, different types of thickness build, and different application methods.
What would be the cost for this painting?
-The cost of the material depends on the application, since there are different formulations based on voltage, thickness, color, etc. requirements. A member of our sales team will be contacting you directly.