Bi-metal Lugs and Their Advantages
Universal Tools & Terminations have a full range of Bi-metal lugs, made from the highest quality aluminium (99.6%) and copper (99.9%), which are joined using a friction welding process, producing a very strong electrically sound joint, that will not be subject to electrolysis.
The barrels are chemically treated to reduce contact resistance and corrosion and are filled with a jointing compound, which breaks the oxide layers on the aluminium.
Why use Bi-metal lugs?
Bi-metal lugs are commonly used on aluminium cable both XLPE and fine stranded. The aluminium cable is cheaper than copper cables and require the bi-metal lug to terminate the aluminium cable to copper busbar or copper cable, so the lug is the change point between aluminium and copper cables, or copper busbar which will have holes punched in it by using a busbar puncher.
Where are they used and what is the advantage?
They are used when aluminium cables enter a switchboard or substation for termination. Also, where there are long main runs and aluminium cable is a cheaper method to install than copper cable, which is a cost saving to the client.
How to crimp Bi-metal lugs?
Crimping of bi-metal lugs can be done using a hydraulic crimper from Universal Tools. These are designed to be crimped using standard Australian crimp dies and using normal aluminium hexagonal dies. When crimping the bi-metal lugs, they should be crimped from the palm end first, to force the joint compound into the conductor strands.
Universal Tools & Terminations offer a premium range of termination products:
In-house Engineering Service:
Where there is termination of cables into large circuit breakers, often the lug has to be machined to create a narrower palm, this enables it to fit into the circuit breaker tunnels.
As part of the in-house engineering that Universal Tools can offer clients, creating narrow palm circuit breaker lugs is achieved by milling the palm width. Also, a hole punching service in the blank palm allows clients to choose exactly where they require the hole position. This ensures client satisfaction
For any enquiries, call us on (03) 5579 5841 or send an email to sales@uttco.com.au.
