[TowerTalk] Long Wire Sag

[jimlux]

On 3/11/19 3:38 AM, Rob Atkinson wrote:
> I've been told a lot of the copperweld problems today are due to
> modern copperweld plating being cheap and no where near the thickness
> of your dad's copperweld.  The wire from say, 70 years ago is
> nonexistent now and what you buy today has minimal copper.  It's kind
> of like the difference between steel hardware from the store that's
> been zinc electroplated, and the good hot dip galvanized hardware from
> manufacturers like Rohn.





That's hard to believe since Copper Clad Steel is rated by the 
resistance compared to pure copper, and if the copper were thinner, the 
resistance would be different.

They make 30% and 40% Copperweld - 30% and 40% of the conductivity of 
pure copper in the same size, respectively. (3.3 and 2.5 ohms/1000 ft 
for AWG 10)

The cladding on AWG 10 40% is probably about 6 mils, which is 
substantially thicker than you can electroplate conveniently. The whole 
process of making clad wire is a fascinating.