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Re: fFINAL REPORT Cu COIL vs Al COIL (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:08:25 -0700
From: Ed Phillips <evp@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: fFINAL REPORT Cu COIL vs Al COIL (fwd)
FWIW, I was on the Dodge Magnet Wire site the other day, and they
advertise their various flavors of Thermaleze in *aluminum* as well from 4 Gauge
through 30 Gauge.
_http://www.pdmw.com/Products/ProductSpecificationIndex.htm_
(http://www.pdmw.com/Products/ProductSpecificationIndex.htm)
I just bought 26 lbs of 17ga (copper!) magnet wire from the local rewind
shop. "Inverter" rated wire, ugly imide brown coating, cost ~$280. The
manager said the only things he uses aluminum for is transformers, and some
contracts for rebuilds spec copper even if the original used aluminum (leaves an
empty window, and probably runs a lot cooler!). He also mentioned the only
*motors* that he'd seen use aluminum windings from the factory were some older
Lincoln motors.
Come to think of it, the "windings" of the typical squirrel-cage AC
induction motor's *rotor* are almost invariably aluminum! Must be a great
inertial/weight/cost/ease of fabrication savings in that application. Conversely,
most DC motors use copper commutators, bars, and windings in their armatures.
But they are notorious for their inertial, weight, and cost penalty...
-Phil LaBudde"
Any idea of the relative cost of aluminum and copper wire? Amazed Al is available in Thermaleze - wouldn't have thought there was that much demand?
Ed