Steve is right in his suggestion that a bronze bolt and washers would be a more suitable configuration for the Battery Terminals. But these Stainless Studs are cast in. In this case the Stainless Steel Capscrew is CAST RIGHT IN to the terminal tab at the factory. It seems that perhaps the diesign is intended for low amp slow draw loads. I have had good response from Trojan Technical Support already, and will send them some photos and sketches along with peak inrush amp measurement in the circuit on hitting the starter, and starter running amps, as well as resistances in each leg of the series circuit. As i have had this terminal meltdown happen three times now, it has got me concerned. This time, fortunately, the melted lead did not melt through the top of the Battery Case. Last one did, and the resulting blast opened the case and showered the inside of the Battery Box with acid. Fortunately the box is well ventilated so it did not set off hydrogen laying around. Corrosion could certainly be a factor, i do keep my terminals clean and my powder dry too, but if you look at the total conductor area availble passing current from the lead casting into the 1/2inch hex head of a stainless bolt, its not much area (ie circular mils in another measure) to transfer current. Also, I wonder about the physical bond of lead to SS. I think this stud arrangement is a poor design and not capable of reliably handling starting current loads. I just dont want to be pushed back into using Locomotive batteries as they are very expensive ($2000 for a bank of 4x8) compared to about $600 for four of these nice 8 volt trojans. It just not the kind of thing you want to be worried about... Anyone interested in more can contact me offlist. Particularly people with D333 experience. Thanks Jim Donnelly Troller Fan Isle Powell River BC

On 3/5/2012 9:27 PM, Jim Donnelly wrote: > > Steve is right in his suggestion that a bronze bolt and washers would > be a more suitable configuration for the Battery Terminals. But > these Stainless Studs are cast in. In this case the Stainless Steel > Capscrew is CAST RIGHT IN to the terminal tab at the factory. It > seems that perhaps the diesign is intended for low amp slow draw > loads. I have had good response from Trojan Technical Support > already, and will send them some photos and sketches along with > peak inrush amp measurement in the circuit on hitting the starter, > and starter running amps, as well as resistances in each leg of the > series circuit. As i have had this terminal meltdown happen three > times now, it has got me concerned. This time, fortunately, the > melted lead did not melt through the top of the Battery Case. Last > one did, and the resulting blast opened the case and showered the > inside of the Battery Box with acid. Fortunately the box is well > ventilated so it did not set off hydrogen laying around. > > Corrosion could certainly be a factor, i do keep my terminals clean > and my powder dry too, but if you look at the total conductor area > availble passing current from the lead casting into the 1/2inch hex > head of a stainless bolt, its not much area (ie circular mils in > another measure) to transfer current. Also, I wonder about the > physical bond of lead to SS. The stainless bolt should not be the primary current path - there should be a direct contact between the lug on the cable and the lead battery lug as the primary current path. The stainless bolt is just there to hold the two lugs together. There should not be any washer (especially a stainless steel washer) between the cable lug and battery lug. -- Peter Bennett, VE7CEI Vancouver, B.C., Canada GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vpsboat.com