Heavy gauge aluminum wire as battery cable? Pros and cons please?

[ebinmaine 70,742]

I got some aluminum cable from a construction site today.

I don't have it in front of me but it would be used to run service into the house for a 200 amp breaker. Pretty thick stuff.

I looked around on line a little bit and it seems as though there is every opinion you could find about whether you could use this stuff for battery cables.

 

Some people, both homeowners and auto people alike, wouldn't touch it to save themselves but it looks like the Auto industry is trying to switch over to it because of weight and cost savings.

 

I understand that aluminum and copper don't necessarily get along very well but it seems there are lubricants and specific types of connectors to alleviate that.

 

Just curious to see what everybody thinks about this subject.

[Skipper 1,789]

Is it single core or multi core?

 

Problem with aluminium wire is that aluminium gets metal fatigue rather quick, so it is no good where wires move all the time. In a fixed installation, like in a homes internal wiring, nothing moves, and it is just fine. Put this stuff in your car, from frame to door, and it will live very shortly, especially if it is single core. The more cores, the better it is at withstanding flexing.

[ebinmaine 70,742]

3 minutes ago, Skipper said:

single core or multi core?

 

I guess I would call it course strand multiple core.

 

It's still pretty stiff stuff but it does have probably half a dozen small strands to make up the one big piece

 

[Skipper 1,789]

No harm in doing it, I'm sure you will be just fine with it. It's not like the battery cable if bending and bouncing away. Try to fixate it as much as possible, without ruining the function of it. 

[953 nut 57,904]

I wouldn't use aluminum cables.   You would have to buy aluminum specific terminal ends and use noalox to prevent corrosion. All of your savings have already gone away and you have an inferior product.

[Digger 66 3,488]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

I wouldn't use aluminum cables.   You would have to buy aluminum specific terminal ends and use noalox to prevent corrosion. All of your savings have already gone away and you have an inferior product.

 

 

I'm with 953 nut .

Sounds like it's more aggravation than it's worth .

[squonk 42,534]

Aluminium wire also tends to loosen up at connections over time.

[BOB ELLISON 2,981]

Since the resistivity of copper is 0.6 times that of aluminium, the cross-section of the aluminium conductor needs to be 1.66 times larger than that of the copper conductor for the same resistance. ... In particular, the current distribution is more uniform with copper conductors due to the higher conductivity. 

[Marv 966]

23 minutes ago, squonk said:

Aluminium wire also tends to loosen up at connections over time.

 

9 minutes ago, BOB ELLISON said:

Since the resistivity of copper is 0.6 times that of aluminium, the cross-section of the aluminium conductor needs to be 1.66 times larger than that of the copper conductor for the same resistance. ... In particular, the current distribution is more uniform with copper conductors due to the higher conductivity. 

Marv

[squonk 42,534]

They built a housing project in my village in the 50's for soldiers stationed at the nearby bases. They were designed to last 20 yrs. They are still there. My B-I-L  bought 2 of them as rentals a few yrs. ago. I had to yank a lot of shot Al wire out of them. How some of them didn't burn down I have no idea.

[ebinmaine 70,742]

9 hours ago, BOB ELLISON said:

Since the resistivity of copper is 0.6 times that of aluminium, the cross-section of the aluminium conductor needs to be 1.66 times larger than that of the copper conductor for the same resistance. ... In particular, the current distribution is more uniform with copper conductors due to the higher conductivity. 

The stuff I have is plenty big enough but....

This is my concern:

9 hours ago, squonk said:

Aluminium wire also tends to loosen up at connections over time.

 

Seems as though as stated by @953 nut it might not be worth the money spent on the connections.

 

[Racinbob 11,726]

Eric, there's a reason it's no longer used in home branch wiring. Between corrosion and connections loosening due to the heat/cool cycling it's just trouble and a true fire hazard. It's still typically used for the service entrance but, if my memory serves me correctly, a 200 amp service calls for a 4/0 conductor. Now that there is a physically big conductor and would be unwieldy for a battery cable. Granted, the issues using it for home branch circuit wiring don't pertain to your battery cables it just doesn't make sense to me. When we were looking for a house for our move back here we ran across a couple with aluminum branch circuit wiring. I could do the "code correct" remedies but I just nixed them regardless of what the rest of the house was like. 

[pfrederi 18,333]

Aluminum in the large size you need to offset reduced conductivity become darn hard to bend and route.  Battery cables on WHs are not that long and aren't that expensive why frustrate your self.

[JoeM 7,928]

No, not a good idea.

Scrap it and buy copper leads at the auto parts store?

[ebinmaine 70,742]

20 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

Battery cables on WHs are not that long and aren't that expensive

Only reason I even processed the thought was I got about 15 feet of black covered cable from an electrician that was my favorite four-letter word.

 

 

Free.

 

 

[squonk 42,534]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Only reason I even processed the thought was I got about 15 feet of black covered cable from an electrician that was my favorite four-letter word.

 

 

Free.

 

 

Clamp a couple of hooks on it and make a tow cable 

[ebinmaine 70,742]

Just now, squonk said:

Clamp a couple of hooks on it and make a tow cable 

a lovely idea and I appreciate it but I already have several of those that we use during the logging and skidding process

 

 

Perhaps I'll coil it up and make a nice hula hoop

[squonk 42,534]

You could place an ad in "Uncle Henry's"  some one will "Have to have it "  and trade you either a piece of land they don't actually own yet or a five gallon bucket of 65 deg Maine air. Might be handy come January. 

Edited October 3, 2018 by squonk

[ebinmaine 70,742]

27 minutes ago, squonk said:

You could place an ad in "Uncle Henry's"  some one will "Have to have it "  and trade you either a piece of land they don't actually own yet or a five gallon bucket of 65 deg Maine air. Might be handy come January. 

you know? I wouldn't mind having that  5-gallon bucket. That would come in handy.

[Pullstart 64,533]

On 10/3/2018 at 11:00 AM, ebinmaine said:

 

 

Perhaps I'll coil it up and make a nice hula hoop

 

That would remind me of the circus bear in a tutu riding a tricycle!

[ebinmaine 70,742]

1 minute ago, pullstart said:

 

That would remind me of the circus bear in a tutu riding a tricycle!

Well Trina calls me bear.

 

But I don't have a tricycle.....

 

[Tractorhead 9,093]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Well Trina calls me bear.

 

But I don't have a tricycle.....

 

Maybe not yet ....  

 

 

... but after few tries... 😂👯

[Tractorhead 9,093]

- in case of using Aluminum for wireing it isn't a good idea,

it has serveral reasons, why Car manufacturer don't uses Aluminum.

 

I know, i made my Frontloader based on Aluminum, but it was Aircraft Aluminum, what is much more Stronger

than plain Aluminum.

I still want to use the less Weakness of it, because it will be much more weaker than the Frame itself.

That causes, the Aluminum will bend, before the Frame breaks, that was my issue to choose Aluminum.

This issue i choosen as Security purpose.

On the other Hand i think, because it was Aircraft Aluminum, it shall be strong enough to Carry the Issues i need it for.

Sure, it was a try, but a calculated one.

 

use it as Heat remover or so on, thats the way Aluminum best can do !

 

 

but i think your question is allready answered.

 

 

Regards

Stefan

[ebinmaine 70,742]

19 hours ago, Tractorhead said:

why Car manufacturer don't uses Aluminum.

They didn't used to but now American and Asian models are using it again for light weight and cost savings reasons.

 

[Tractorhead 9,093]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

They didn't used to but now American and Asian models are using it again for light weight and cost savings reasons.

 

You are right, they use it, but not in any Wire Harness.

They use it in Drivetrain parts (Gear boxes, Engine Blocks, mounting parts, coolers - and as Cover for i.eg. power steering, pumps...)

mostly they has begun, to change now several Parts to plastics to save more weight (horrible to me).

 - i know, they working with reinforced plastic with carbon fibers or other inforcements, to save weight and fuel, but the lasting of that Products - hmmm i have my own experiences.

 

i work for a German Manufacturer for RV's and I am responsible for the whole electricity in this Vehicles.

everything has to work every day and last as long as the RV exists.

Trust me, the Only way Aluminum i used in electricity, is in Rails to interconnect Batterybanks together because of the weight

and temperature purposes.

 

Copperrails there will gonna be too heavy for my use.

But i have to take care nothing ca be loosen while the Car or Truck is moving, rattling or shaking. 

The dimensions are very huge in this case to Connect batterybanks but the disadvantge of aluminum in Electricity are a lot.

 

Copper in cabeling and wireing instead has a lot of advantages, and dependend of the usability, there are different sort of cables available. Multirails for High Power ( i talk about few hundret Amps on 12V i.eg. Coupling 2x 12 V Inverter with 5000W to give you an idea of what i am talking about. Here i have a possible max. Current of 600 until 2500 Amps in case of a short - the hugest installation i did, can handle up to 5000 Amps in short on 12V.

No Fun an absolute accurate workmanship must be done. - Horrible scenario, if there was any fail anytime.

 

Also on the first Run (i call it Burn in) i be extremly careful, not to make any mistake.

Additionally I be responsible in this case for the life of all our Customers, and that is not a joke to me.

Fuses and circuit breakers are not "just for fun" built in, they have their reason.

 

And don't mind, just a simple car Battery or tractor Battery has less Power, because it is just 12V...

Even a smaller tractor battery has the ability to melt an wrench within seconds, because the short current can be up to few hundrets of Amps. A blasted battery is also no Fun.

Please don't mess with Electricity.

I wanna read all you buddies as long, as it be possible.

 

i hope you don't missunderstood me, i like to take care of you.

and i hope, you can read and understood my worse english.

 

Best Regards

Stefan