solid copper wire get stiff when old ?

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I've never heard of copper-clad steel. I've heard of copper-clad aluminum.

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DrSparks said:
I've never heard of copper-clad steel. I've heard of copper-clad aluminum.

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Looks like its used for tracer wire, and also magnets and motors.

I assume it would also be used for overhead cable, where it would act as its own messenger wire.

mwswire.com

Copper Clad Steel Wire | MWS Wire - Magnet Wire, Speciality Wire

Copper clad steel wire (CCS) combines the high tensile strength of steel as its core and the conductivity properties of copper as its outer layer.
mwswire.com
 
I removed overhead copper conductors in 1985, they were installed in about 1930, these were for 480 distribution on poles and not triplexed. It was very hard and had to be cut with bolt cutters
 
DrSparks said:
That I knew. I've never heard of wire as such is what I meant.

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Center conductor of RG-6 coax cable is often copper clad steel.

Small enough conductor it doesn't damage your copper only cutters with just one cut like heavier steel wire does therefore many never really notice.
 
I wonder if someone had tried to use MIG (SMAW) welding wire. All I've seen is copper plated for corrosion resistance. And <big grin> it is intended to carry current and experience series arcs.
 
kwired said:
Center conductor of RG-6 coax cable is often copper clad steel.

Small enough conductor it doesn't damage your copper only cutters with just one cut like heavier steel wire does therefore many never really notice.
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Is that for tensile strength or to save money on copper? I can't imagine the process of coating steel with copper would offset the cost of a tiny solid copper wire.

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DrSparks said:
Is that for tensile strength or to save money on copper? I can't imagine the process of coating steel with copper would offset the cost of a tiny solid copper wire.

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No idea. But don't know much about what it takes to make the product either.
 
DrSparks said:
Is that for tensile strength or to save money on copper? I can't imagine the process of coating steel with copper would offset the cost of a tiny solid copper wire.
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Strength, I believe. RF travels on the surface due to skin effect.
 
210831-2058 EDT

Do some Internet searches. You will find that a steel core with aluminum over the core is common for overhead high voltage and power cables, Steel core provides high strength, and aluminum as an outer layer provides good electrical conductivity, and low weight.

From the 1940s I have some copper clad steel core wire for making a long wire antenna, was common practice.

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gar said:
210831-2058 EDT

Do some Internet searches. You will find that a steel core with aluminum over the core is common for overhead high voltage and power cables, Steel core provides high strength, and aluminum as an outer layer provides good electrical conductivity, and low weight.

From the 1940s I have some copper clad steel core wire for making a long wire antenna, was common practice.

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Those conductors are a steel strand in the center and surrounded by aluminum (or copper) strands and not a solid steel wire with copper or aluminum cladding like we were talking about.

ETA: Unless you were talking about some other conductor type, but that is what is and has been pretty common.
 
kwired said:
Those conductors are a steel strand in the center and surrounded by aluminum (or copper) strands and not a solid steel wire with copper or aluminum cladding like we were talking about.

ETA: Unless you were talking about some other conductor type, but that is what is and has been pretty common.
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Original rural phone lines were solid steel with a copper coating. They were left abandoned when phone lines went underground. I removed a bunch of them from one of my farms. It was very difficult to manage. I’d coil it at about 2’ in diameter and if you didn’t secure it, it would try to straighten, almost like spring steel.
Those runs were really simple. Poles about 15’ high, about a 2’ cross arm and two glass insulators. I wish I’d kept some of that stuff.
 
210831-2157 EDT

kwired:

Whether the original post was about solid wire clad or stranded is really not material when talking about a reason. The reason is strength and conductivity. In my post I also mentioned a solid antenna wire, steel clad with copper.

To get an estimate of how a wire is constructed you would do a cross-section cut and look at the color and crystal structure.

I do not think one would normally call a copper clad steel wire either a compound or a mixture.

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retirede said:
Original rural phone lines were solid steel with a copper coating. They were left abandoned when phone lines went underground. I removed a bunch of them from one of my farms. It was very difficult to manage. I’d coil it at about 2’ in diameter and if you didn’t secure it, it would try to straighten, almost like spring steel.
Those runs were really simple. Poles about 15’ high, about a 2’ cross arm and two glass insulators. I wish I’d kept some of that stuff.
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I still see a few places where some poles are still standing, no conductors on them. glass insulators are usually gone, they often threaded onto a wood stem I believe and if anything that has deteriorated enough the insulator is no longer attached.
 
kwired said:
I still see a few places where some poles are still standing, no conductors on them. glass insulators are usually gone, they often threaded onto a wood stem I believe and if anything that has deteriorated enough the insulator is no longer attached.
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Yes, the insulators were threaded onto a wooden dowel.
 
kwired said:
If the scrap yard holds a magnet to it and it sticks, you will get steel pricing instead of copper pricing.
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I just held a magnet to it, no attraction. sanded its surface = copper color, and inside the cut solid bare wire is copper colored. Irs just night and day different than my modern solid bare copper in flexibility. Thanks.
 
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