Electronic – Ampacity of Conductive Tape

ampacitycopper

How do I measure ampacity of conductive tape? I want to replace a wired battery to equipment connection with copper adhesive tape because I need a very low profile on the connection.

The maximum current will be 200mA, max voltage 14V. Would standard copper adhesive tape be capable of carrying this current? Length of connection will be 4cm, width of copper tape track will be 1cm.

Like this one for example: https://ie.farnell.com/3m/1181-12mm/foil-shielding-tape-adhesive/dp/1653450?st=copper%20foil%20tape

Best Answer

Your tape's datasheet mentions a resistance of 5 mOhms per square. This means a square of any dimension will have a resistance of 5 mOhms between its opposite sides.

The way to use this specification is to count how many squares are in the length of your tape. Since it is 12.7mm (half inch) wide, a length of 50mm (2 inches) is 4 squares, each a half inch. Thus the resistance of 50mm of tape is 20 mOhms.

This will be fine for 200mA, the tape will dissipate less than 1mW).

Note you can get this tape for much much cheaper on ebay. Try "slug tape" or "guitar pickup shield tape" or just "adhesive copper tape".

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