Topband: aluminium welding wire

[Bill Tippett]

At 03:42 PM 4/5/07, VE2RYY wrote:

>Will that aluminium electric fence wire be better than the aluminium welding
>wire...
>Very hard to say...I never made experience with electric fence wire.

         I don't know what other metals might be
in either, which could cause some differences.

>It also was offered to me galvanized electric fence wire 16 ga....
>I think this galvanized wire will last longer than aluminium wire ????
>This this the question...

         Galvanized might last longer than Al, but some
galvanized welded wire mesh I installed ~10 years ago
is now very rusty.  If kept in salt-free air, galvanized
should last longer than you live, but it will definitely
rust if it contacts the ground for an extended time.

         If you plan this to be a permanent in-ground
installation, you really need copper.  If you go to elevated
radials, either Al or galvanized should be OK.

                         73,  Bill  W4ZV

P.S.  K1FK just sent me the following comment:

"I used #19 aluminum fence wire back in MO to
supplement my copper radial system, all of which were
laid into zoysia sod.  The heavy doses of 34-0-0 fertilizer
4 times a season took out the aluminum in two years time!