I think Aluminum is fine though it does need special handling to be safe and reliable. But if your motivation is economic... that may point to a very unsafe plan of cutting corners at every aspect of the design and construction. When dealing with electricity, don't go cheap. It never works out.
sean On Thu, Apr 14, 2016 at 6:05 PM, Cor van de Water via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > I have seen volume produced cheap motors and transformers wound with Alu > wire, it resembled the usual copper "magnet wire" but once I scratched > off the insulating Enamel layer, I could not solder it and it was white, > not the copper-yellow color and stiffer than I expected, so then I > realized it was Alu. > At my home, the electric supply is coming into my service panel using > Alu wires, but all house wiring is copper. I still need to re-do the > attachment of the Alu wire into the service panel as the insulation on > one wire is discolored right next to the attachment point, so apparently > it does not make good contact and will fail when we draw high currents. > Luckily I have disabled both Airco and electric dryer, the two top power > users, so before that I re-dedicate one (or both) of them for Electrical > Vehicle fast charging, I will redo the wire and make sure it is clean, > gooped and tight. > > Seeing this wire in the service panel tells me that probably all of the > underground wiring in our park is Alu (there are several concrete > pad-mounted transformers spread around the park, each receiving power > and feeding some 100 homes at a time via underground wiring) > > Also the high voltage overhead power lines in the distribution network > between substations uses Alu for the wires, often wound around a steel > core for strength. I hear the overhead wires wiggle and making sound in > a nearby line, but PG&E confirms that this is of no concern - even > though the movement is occasionally so strong that it vibrates the > towers. Note that this is not wind-movement. I suspect that purely the > magnetic field of the lines causes them to vibrate at a resonant > frequency because I hear it on wind still days. That is also a reason > that cables are stranded: to resist the flexing due to movement of the > cable. > > Another place where I have seen solid alu wire with a thin copper > coating is in Coax cables, where the high frequent energy is only > penetrating the "skin" of the conductor anyways, so even if the core was > made from plastic with a copper coating, it would be electrically > equivalent. Though it also has mechanical properties, so that is why it > is made from Alu instead. > The shielding outside layer of a coax cable typically has an alu foil > and thin copper wires woven cross-wise. > > Cor van de Water > Chief Scientist > Proxim Wireless > > office +1 408 383 7626 Skype: cor_van_de_water > XoIP +31 87 784 1130 private: cvandewater.info > > http://www.proxim.com > > This email message (including any attachments) contains confidential and > proprietary information of Proxim Wireless Corporation. If you received > this message in error, please delete it and notify the sender. Any > unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, or copying of any part of > this message is prohibited. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: EV [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of EVDL > Administrator via EV > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2016 1:58 PM > To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List > Subject: Re: [EVDL] Aluminum: EVLN: Miners pin hopes on Electric > copper-cars > > On 14 Apr 2016 at 13:15, brucedp5 via EV wrote: > > > So is aluminum that such a good idea for power line/wiring use of any > kind? > > Aluminum wire has been used for larger (stranded) power cables for many > decades, and it's given good service. You do have to size it larger > because > of its higher resistance, and use Noalox or other goop on the > connections to > prevent oxidation from raising the resistance at the connection. > > For a while, IIRC something over 4 decades ago, solid AL building wire > in > #12 and #14 was used in place of #14 and #14 for residential branch > circuits. It proved to be unreliable and hazardous. I think that was > because the solid (vs stranded) wire deformed too much under receptacle > and > switch terminal screws. With thermal cycling the connections loosened, > developed oxidation, and heated up. There were some home fires as a > result. > But AL is fine in larger sizes and in stranded type. > > I don't think I'd use it for an EV where it had to withstand constant > flexing. It might be usable in motors, but I think (though I'm not an > engineer) that efficiency would suffer somewhat. > > One thing to consider about the long term use of AL over CU is that > reducing > bauxite to aluminum uses a lot of energy. AL wire is currently cheaper > than > CU for a given power capacity, but if energy costs increase > substantially, I > wonder if that could change the equation. > > Again, though, I don't see AL wire finding much use in EV wiring. David > > Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA > EVDL Administrator > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not > reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my > email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -- Sean Korb [email protected] http://www.spkorb.org '65,'68 Mustangs,'68 Cougar,'78 R100/7,'60 Metro,'59 A35,'71 Pantera #1382 "The more you drive, the less intelligent you get" --Miller "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." -P. 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