Copper coated aluminum vs reg copper wire

[rbkt65]

Need to do some wiring on the Dart. Mostly custom wiring. Homemade inst. cluster, magnum 360 w/factory EFI and O/D automatic trans. Looking at spools of wire on Ebay and Amazon and totally blown away by prices. What do I need to consider between the 2 different types of wiring? CCA or regular copper strand? TIA. Rick.

 

[melcardona]

Need to do some wiring on the Dart. Mostly custom wiring. Homemade inst. cluster, magnum 360 w/factory EFI and O/D automatic trans. Looking at spools of wire on Ebay and Amazon and totally blown away by prices. What do I need to consider between the 2 different types of wiring? CCA or regular copper strand? TIA. Rick.

Need to do some wiring on the Dart. Mostly custom wiring. Homemade inst. cluster, magnum 360 w/factory EFI and O/D automatic trans. Looking at spools of wire on Ebay and Amazon and totally blown away by prices. What do I need to consider between the 2 different types of wiring? CCA or regular copper strand? TIA. Rick.

real copper only......

 

[Bewy]

Copper wire of the same cross sectional area as alum will have lower resistance. It is also much easier to solder. Copper is used for these reasons.

 

[halifaxhops]

Look at wire at the brillman company for wire all colors and custom lengths also. One other thing they have non soy based insulation thar mice wont eat also.

 

[Demonracer]

Stay as far away as possible from copper coated aluminum wire. the two metal expand and contract at different rates, and being they are dissimilar metals oxidation occurs.

 

[halifaxhops]

Ever watch the movie Towering Inferno?

 

[Lefty71]

When aluminum house wire sprung on the usa home market back in the mid? 60s there was a need for an anti-oxidant goop at every joint, splice, terminal and junction. When this was ignored and used dry, the house burned down. Now, i realize you are talking about a bit of a different animal, but if it were mine, I'd steer clear of any possibility of a corrosion issue. Corrosion causes loose joints....loose joints cause heat under load.

 

[MadScientistMat]

Also - you want at least TXL or GXL grade wiring; it's rated for higher temperature than the trailer wiring you often see. The hardcore race cars often use Tefzel, but you don't need to splurge for that on a normal street car.

Cheap wiring will have the insulation melt and shrink back if you solder it - even if you're not soldering, this is a telltale sign you don't want that under your hood. You want a seller you can trust won't sell you low temperature garbage wiring advertised as TXL, even if you have to pay more. Waytek is a good source.

And yes, don't use copper clad aluminum.

 

[4mulas]

Wire rated for automotive use. I forget the ratings but not all wire is created equally.

 

[moparmat2000]

Just as an FYI, CCA or copper clad aluminum is cheap, **** wire. When it corrodes the resistance shoots way up. Copper and brass are close enough metals that it takes a long time for corrosion to develop from dissimilar metals where the ends are crimped with connectors. Aluminum notsomuch. Multistrand copper turns green or black down the length under the shielding, but still conducts. Aluminum wire turns to powder under the copper cladding, then the only thing conducting IS the cladding.

For a time in the 1970s they were wiring homes with aluminum wire, then the fires started. Imagine having to have channels cut in your 10 year old homes sheetrock to pull all that bullshit out and rewire with OFC copper. Plus replace trouble prone Federal Pacific stab lock breaker box. What a mess. Thank God mine has all copper wire, but I did have to ditch the FP breaker box.

When I was building and selling A body battery cable assemblies, I had to really look at the listings for wire. A lot of places wont mention if its CCA or OFC. You WANT OFC wire. It means oxygen free copper. In other words pure copper not clad aluminum. I had to ask suppliers specifically for OFC. One time I returned a whole roll because it was CCA and my invoice said it was OFC.

You want reliability and less chance of a fire through internal wire resistance, now you have the answer you need.

 

[moparmat2000]

Need to do some wiring on the Dart. Mostly custom wiring. Homemade inst. cluster, magnum 360 w/factory EFI and O/D automatic trans. Looking at spools of wire on Ebay and Amazon and totally blown away by prices. What do I need to consider between the 2 different types of wiring? CCA or regular copper strand? TIA. Rick.

Always use OFC copper. Never use CCA junk

 

[Murray]

Aluminum wiring in homes was banned for good reason.

 

[dr dodge]

the stuff for aluminum wires in your main house box is some good stuff

I use a thing film on my HO train tracks and track only needs a dust wipe after months of non-use

also use it on all my flashlights to protect the contacts from cheap AA battery blow up

Plan on cleanup on the darts bulkhead connections and use this. It is conductive, and ant seize, too

link to their sight


Noalox

 

[dr dodge]

the main feeds into your service head (power co) are still alum.

also, surprising the alum. inside service entrances in cheap boxes was alarming when I redid my service.
something to watch, and a reason to inspect the mains into the house from time to time.

vibrating 60 cycles can make things loose, too

 

[moparmat2000]

the stuff for aluminum wires in your main house box is some good stuff

I use a thing film on my HO train tracks and track only needs a dust wipe after months of non-use

also use it on all my flashlights to protect the contacts from cheap AA battery blow up

Plan on cleanup on the darts bulkhead connections and use this. It is conductive, and ant seize, too

View attachment 1716492796
link to their sight


Noalox

Looks like good stuff to pack inside bulkhead connectors. As far as aluminum wires goes, that's no bueno.