Re: [TCML] primary tubing

[Yurtle Turtle <yurtle_t@xxxxxxxxx>]

Almost all residential houses use aluminum wire to run from the meter base to the breaker panel. That's a 200 amp circuit with nothing more than a mechanical connection and an anti oxidant grease.

Adam

--- On Sun, 11/8/09, G Hunter <dogbrain_39560@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: G Hunter <dogbrain_39560@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [TCML] primary tubing
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 4:06 PM
> > The only discrepancy I have is
> that I thought Al simply
> > oxidized in air, maybe you could also call it
> anodization
> > but I thought that was adding pigment to the outside
> oxide
> > layer.
> > 
> > Drake
> > 
> 
> That's what I keep coming back to.  What about the
> Aluminum Oxide layer?  Aluminum Oxide is an electrical
> insulator, and it is so hard it is used as an abrasive for
> sandpaper and the like.  A rock-hard layer of
> insulation would seem to make good electrical contact
> problematic.  Shining the Al with steel wool won't
> help, as the oxide layer instantly forms again.  Also,
> the usual hardware store-grade primary terminations and taps
> (alligator clips, fuse clips, ground lugs, etc.) are
> typically made of copper, brass, or copper-plated
> steel.  Not only are they too soft to cut the oxide
> layer, but contact between dissimilar metals only aggravates
> the formation of a high resistance connection.
> 
> Seriously though, I wonder how much these theoretical
> concerns really affect actual coil performance.  I've
> used solid aluminum wire as the primary for a very small
> coil, and it worked fine.  I suspect Al is probably OK
> for the small stuff, but becomes a bigger issue as the coil
> gets bigger and the kva goes up.
> 
> As far as the compactness issue of fat Al tube -vs- skinny
> Cu tube, that could sidestepped by using flat aluminum
> strap. 
> 
> Greg
> 
> 
>       
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