Bethlehem Steel gets charge
out of high-capacity connectors

Becoming one of the world’s largest producers of cold and hot rolled steel coils forced Bethlehem Steel to seek new methods to streamline its internal operations and steel production.

One of its principal operations is its Burn Harbor Division, located in Chesterton, Ind. Burn Harbor manufactures hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated steel sheets for the automotive, construction, machinery and infrastructure markets. 

The facility houses a sintering plant, two coke oven batteries and blast furnaces, as well as three basic oxygen furnaces. All of Burn Harbor’s steel is continuously being cast in its two slab casters, allowing the plant to yield an annual production capability of over five million tons of steel. This kind of continuous operation leaves little room for downtime.

Consequently, when Bethlehem Steel was looking to improve its overall operation, they decided to start with Burn Harbor’s massive 60,000 pound electric coil carrying tractors.

“We were seeing a large number of failures on our coil tractors due to excessive amp draw across the 350 amp battery connectors on the tractors,” said Burn Harbor general foreman Richard Jankowicz. “Our operators need to constantly run the tractors hard to keep up with the customer service. The batteries on the tractors would get discharged down to 85 percent or until they were stone dead, generating greater heat and amp draw across the connector and result in melt downs." 

Burn Harbor was going through as many as two hundred 350 amp end connectors a week. This created a tremendous overrun in cost and man hours, as well a potential danger of fire.

So, Bethlehem Steel started looking for a higher rated capacity connector for their tractors. It was this criterion that led the company to their long-time equipment distributor, Voss Equipment, located in Harvey, Ill.

Voss Equipment, a material handling distributor, is Bethlehem Steel’s primary provider of their heavy-duty, 60,000 pound coil tractors. Voss Equipment went in search of a connector manufacturer that offered a power connector that could meet all of Bethlehem Steel’s requirements. They found the ideal solution at Anderson Power Products. Headquartered in Sterling, Mass., Anderson Power Products (APP) designs and manufactures power connectors and electrical accessories. APP had just introduced their new SBE 700 amp power connector for “opportunity charging” applications.

“We discovered that there were a number of companies that manufactured connectors for smaller trucks and tractors, but for high-current truck applications, APP is really the only option for high-quality, high-current connectors,” said Voss Equipment president Peter Voss Sr. “Our company has a very positive relationship with APP. We buy their connectors for our material handling customers and have for some time. We regard them as a high quality company.”

Bethlehem Steel decided to integrate APP’s SBE 700 amp connectors into its Burn Harbor Division.

“Burn Harbor wanted the best connector available, and there is not another power connector on the market comparable to APP’s SBE 700 amp connector,” said Jankowicz.

APP engineers traveled to the Burn Harbor facility, assisted in the installation of the SBE 700 amp connectors, and trained Burn’s Harbor’s personnel to use the product.

“We are fortunate to have such a great working relationship with both APP and Voss Equipment. They provided excellent hands-on support throughout the installation and training process,“ said Jankowicz.

APP designed the SBE 700 amp connector for high current, high speed opportunity charging applications. It’s a genderless connector and is hot-pluggable with space for up to 10 individual auxiliary signal lines. The 700 amp connector is engineered with flame retardant UL94 V-0 material, and is finger proof and self-aligning.

A key element in any power connector is its ability to be connected and disconnected safely. APP designed the connector with a specific keying system that ensures only matching connectors can be mated.

APP’s attention to precision engineering made the 700 amp connector a perfect solution to Bethlehem Steel’s problems. The connector’s amp allowance has significantly decreased Bethlehem Steel’s tractor downtown. With the help of APP’s opportunity charging feature, the facility has been able to modify their tractors to include battery discharge interrupts and indicators. This feature allows operators to recognize when the battery is running low.

Additionally, the 700 amp connectors allow the tractors to utilize a hoist interrupt system. This unique device prevents the tractor’s hoist from operating while the vehicle is in motion, greatly reducing downtime for battery recharging.

“The SBE 700’s amp allowance has granted us the ability to install these additional features,” said Jankowicz. "In doing so we have been able to solve our tractor problems, saving us precious resources like time and money.”

A significant problem that Bethlehem Steel wanted to avoid in integrating the 700 amp connector was fire hazards. The facility needed to split the currency line with two connectors to accommodate the over-amperage. This posed a potential fire hazard.

“Safety for our tractor operators was the primary factor in choosing APP’s connectors, followed by the connectors' reliability,” said Jankowicz.

The flame retardant connector offers integrated cable clamps providing the operator with security against cable pullout under the most adverse conditions, like those found at a steel mill.

“To date, Bethlehem Steel has ordered 48 mated pairs of connectors, and each tractor uses eight connectors. This includes two connectors on the tractor, battery, charger and spare battery. The connectors have exceeded expectations,” said Voss.

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