Tin Plated Bus Bar
Tin plating is the most versatile finish for copper bus bars. Tin provides excellent corrosion resistance for components susceptible to tarnish under a wide range of environmental conditions. Tin plating parts allows for exceptional solderability for power electronics.
Benefits:
- Corrosion Resistance
- Excellent Solderability
- Mirror-like appearance when choosing Bright Tin.
- Lowest Cost option that offers corrosion resistance and solderability
Tin Plating can be combined with other metals such as: lead, nickel, and silver for special applications like lead acid batteries(tin-lead) and switchgear contacts (tin-silver).
View our plating video here:
Engineering Notes:
- Tin plated bus bars have a low operating window because of a low melting point (around 450°F). If components operate above these temperatures, then nickel would be suggested.
- Tin plating is susceptible to whiskering (small metal filament growth) which could cause unwanted bridges to electronics. A nickel underplating is recommended for low voltage electronic equipment where the components are closely spaced.
- Bright tin plating can become scratched during the fabrication process, particularly if there is hardware installed into the bus bar after plating has been completed. It is recommended that matte tin or nickel be used if visual aesthetic is of importance.
Tin Plating Specs
- ASTM: B 545-13
- MIL-T-10727
- Class A (.0001) or Class B (.0002)
Tin plating can be applied to the substrates below
- Copper C11000
- Aluminum 6101 T-61