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Know the difference between copper and aluminum

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Know the difference between copper and aluminum

With the availability of different cable types, you might give a thought of which cable to choose. In this article, you can get information about the difference between Aluminum and Copper.

Both Aluminum and copper are used for manufacturing the wires for the conductivity of electricity. The major difference lies in the copper wire is heavier with a red-orange appearance, while the aluminum wire is on the lighter side and is silvery gray in appearance.


What is the difference between Aluminum wires and Copper wires?


There are a few key differences between aluminum wires and copper wires. For one, aluminum is a much lighter metal than copper.

This means that aluminum wires are easier to work with and transport than copper wires. Additionally, aluminum has a lower conductivity than copper.

This means that aluminum wires are not as efficient at conducting electricity as copper wires.

However, aluminum wires are much cheaper to produce than copper wires, which makes them a popular choice for many applications. Furthermore, Aluminum wires are corrosive and can cause fire, they are specially coated with grease and wiring devices to prevent any accidents.

Copper wires can resist more than aluminum wires and are soldered, whereas, aluminum wires are lighter than copper wires making large spans possible. The contractions and expansions can be seen in the case of aluminum wires where they expand at High temperatures and contract at low temperatures, while in the case of copper wires withstand thermal changes.



Which wires are most commonly used?


There is a debate among electricians and engineers as to which type of wire is better for electrical applications, copper or aluminum. Copper is a more expensive metal, but it is also a more conductive metal. This means that it can carry more current than aluminum. However, aluminum is less likely to overheat than copper, so it is sometimes preferred for applications where heat dissipation is a concern.

In earlier times, Aluminum wires were most commonly used for the transmission of electricity. The older aluminum was considered to have more advantages over the old copper wires in terms of weight, cost, and flexibility.

But in the current times, copper wires have taken the place of aluminum wires considering the risk factor. Aluminum wire's connectivity with the oxygen in the air would cause overheating and failure, which would possibly cause a fire. This risk decreases the usage of aluminum wires, even if their cost is lower than copper wires.



Types of copper tubular plugs

There are many different types of copper tubular lugs on the market, each designed for a specific purpose. The most common type is the standard copper lug, which is used for general electrical applications. These lugs are available in a variety of sizes and designs and can be either crimped or soldered.

For more specific applications, there are also lugs designed for use with specific types of wire. For example, there are lugs designed for use with stranded wire, which have a different design than those for use with solid wire. There are also lugs designed for use in wet or corrosive environments, which are made from a special type of copper that is resistant to corrosion.

There are a variety of copper tubular lugs that pioneer powers supply these includes copper lugs with a regular barrel, long barrel, and terminal ends of copper lugs having a heavy-duty or light duty. There are several types of copper lugs we supply to our customers. We also have a range of aluminum lugs too. You can visit our website https://www.pioneerpowers.com/ and check for different lugs we provide according to your needs.

There are two types of copper cables, one is coaxial and the other one is a shielded twisted pair.
The coaxial copper cables are used for more superior performance than other copper wires. They consist of 4 layers of which the core is made of copper or other conductive material. The second layer is usually made up of plastic. The third layer again is made up of copper and the fourth and foremost layer is generally a plastic coating for protecting the internal layers from damage.

The Shielded twisted pair consists of wire pairs twisted around each other to reduce crosstalk. To decrease EMI, the pairs are each wrapped in foil and the wires in the pairs are individually insulated with color-coded plastic. Similar to Coax, the foil-covered wire pairs have braided copper mesh surrounding them to lower EMI, and this braided copper mesh is encased in plastic wire insulation.



Can aluminum and copper be used together?

The potentials of copper and aluminum are distinct. Due to the galvanic reaction, the contact point between copper and aluminum will hasten the oxidation of the aluminum wire. Additionally, the copper and aluminum joints will eventually have inadequate contact.

Otherwise, you must link the copper wire to the aluminum wire using a copper-aluminum transition clamp or transition tube.
Till now you would have got enough information about copper cables vs aluminum cables. We hope the above information will lead you to make the right choices.



Get customer satisfaction with power phoenix

The emphasis of power phoenix is on manufacturing excellence, technological innovation, and customer satisfaction. It aims to meet and exceed global quality standards while also providing entire cabling solutions to its customers.

We assure you to get best and affordable prices products with a variety of ranges from house wiring, high voltage and low voltage cables, control cables, instrumentation cables, etc. For more assistance you can visit our site https://www.pioneerpowers.com/ and get the help and information about the cables you need.