Hard , Medium, Soft drawn copper?

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JJWalecka

JJWalecka

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New England
What is the difference between Hard, Medium and Soft drawn copper? I would presume it has different applications in the field. Could someone state examples? What type of copper is used with M.C. and Non-metallic sheathed cable? Thank you.

Justin
 
Re: Hard , Medium, Soft drawn copper?

The power company around the inner City of Minneapolis / St. Paul has a bazillion miles of hard drawn running pole to pole.

The #4 solid that I occasionally run exposed is soft drawn (as is the #6 & #8) that I use for hooking up parts of a dwelling grounding electrode system.
 
Re: Hard , Medium, Soft drawn copper?

Part of the process of making the copper conductor is the "heating" of it, which is called Annealing.
They heat it, then cool it in such a fashion so it will become less brittle, hence we can twist and bend it the way we do.
 
Re: Hard , Medium, Soft drawn copper?

HD Cu. is much stronger under tension and was used by electric utilities before Al. We do not put it in the air any more except as maintenance. :D
 
Re: Hard , Medium, Soft drawn copper?

Charlie thank you, again.
What type of drawn copper is the copper wire in M.C. and N.M.S.

Justin
 
Re: Hard , Medium, Soft drawn copper?

Assuming M.C. is MC cable and N.M.S. is NM-S cable, the wire would be soft drawn. In fact, almost all wire use for building wire is soft drawn if it is copper. :D
 
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