[TowerTalk] aluminum radials was Re: Copper wire prices

[Jim Lux]

At 09:09 PM 11/19/2006, Roger Parsons wrote:
>It is quite while since I visiting a cable
>manufacturing facility. However, BICC certainly made
>the complete cable in house. A single machine would
>produce the copper wire from a large diameter ingot
>and add the insulation. This was done at some hundreds
>of feet per minute and included vats of molten
>polyethylene. This was also true for multi-core cables
>although these had multiple ingots and vats.
>Nevertheless, production of a complete multi-core
>cable was a single operation.


This brings up an interesting idea.  Aluminum wire is cheap. 
insulation is cheap.  Rather than thinking in terms of surface 
passivation, or magnet wire, why not bury something that looks like 
aluminum house wire? (except probably lighter gauge) Is there some 
insulation material (THWN?) suitable for wet locations that is 
abrasion resistant enough to survive the burial? There are things 
like UF (underground feeder) intended for direct burial, so it might 
be possible.

While aluminum house wire isn't used much these days in construction, 
that doesn't mean it's non-existent.  And, you probably wouldn't want 
AWG12 anyway.  (I did a quick google, and it appears that building 
wire in Aluminum is really available only in AWG6 and bigger, for 
applications like service entrance)


I notice, by the way, that companies like Superior Essex (who make a 
lot of wire) have notices saying that the increased price of copper 
is making a lot of buyers move to aluminum, which is resulting in a 
shortage of the aluminum rods used for drawing into wire(!).  They 
make Aluminum magnet wire, by the way. 
http://www.essexgroup.com/Products_Services/Magnet_Wire/