I would be hard pressed to answer the concern of the building maintenance crew
based on that information.
There are several things to consider when using aluminum wire. They have both
current ratings and heat ratings just like copper so they would need to follow
code you can't just install whatever you want.
Although properly maintained aluminum wiring is acceptable, aluminum will
become defective faster than copper due to certain qualities inherent in the
metal. Connections containing aluminum wiring loosen and become increasingly
dangerous over time. Poor connections cause wiring to overheat, creating a
potential fire hazard.
My comment was directed at which is a better conductor. Aluminum is equal to
copper for the same weight wire i.e. you can use a bigger gauge wire. They use
aluminum for in overhead wiring because of the weight in addition to other
factors (cost, availability, etc.). You can get the same resistance for a lower
weight than either copper or silver. Weight is an important factor for cables
installed on poles and other structures since someone has to string them up
there.
I am not a utility worker but I do know these cable are mostly aluminum.
From: brucedp5 via EV <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2016 3:15 PM
Subject: [EVDL] Aluminum: EVLN: Miners pin hopes on Electric copper-cars
(Paul wrote)>Aluminum has the lowest mass and that is why they use it for
power lines<
I am not an Electrician, so some corrections are requested.
Way back in the late 1980's when at the time I was supporting the then
Sunnyvale hp site (the 3 bldgs were then on lease until Carley's inept
reign). These were the days when XT PCs running lotus(dos) were
hot-spit(exciting), see the three bldgs (U shape-arranged site)
https://goo.gl/maps/hrJTd8EbPjB2
Each had raised floor computer rooms of their own for the servers, and each
manager's desk had a PC with the new inkjet and laser networked printers out
in the isle (these were the days of 10-based-T thinlan, and Ethernet had yet
to be installed, etc.). So, if there was a power failure in the bldgs, I had
to drop what I was doing and try to shut down all the equipment for the
entire site, because of the possible (spike) damage when the power came back
on.
This was normally not a big deal at other hp sites, but (as I was told by
the site Electricians) the owner of the leased bldgs went cheap and
installed aluminum power lines for all three buildings. This included, the
step down transformer to Bldg 101 which fed bldgs 100 and 102. It was a
constant headache for the Electricians and HVAC team to stay on top of all
the maintenance to reduce power fail occurrences, and of course when they
happened, I had my headaches to deal with.
I can not tell you of how many Fridays I had with a planned evening, just to
have them dashed/spoiled with me staying late to handle a late afternoon
power fail at that site (all the while the Electricians and HVAC guys are
cursing "cheap aluminum wiring ....").
So is aluminum that such a good idea for power line/wiring use of any kind?
For EVLN EV-newswire posts use:
http://evdl.org/evln/
{brucedp.150m.com}
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