PSA dont use aluminum wire

I accidentally bought aluminum wire off Amazon before I knew that stuff is everywhere and you need to make sure its pure copper that youre buying.

I used this as an adaptor for new speakers because I figured how bad could it be. So I dont know...4 years later maybe and one of my speakers stops working.

This was so corroded the end piece to connect to the speaker just fell right off.

 

Why do manufacturers doe this type of crap.

Glad you diagnosed the issue but s till, Should not be having to worry about this type of issue,

 

Just Chinese companies trying to make a buck on Amazon. Really annoying tho. Ive thrown out a lot of "wire".

What was surprising to me was that conditions could exist for this level of corrosion. So I look down in the door and theres damp dirt. I havent done a water crossing in forever. Doesnt rain here much so the dirt in there makes for the perfect condition to maintain dampness.

Makes me think I should clean it out. Pretty sure you can see what is a water line there.

 

I no longer buy parts off Amazon. Not worth it - too many counterfeit and BS wiring for cheap.

 

Two problems that must be addressed before using aluminum wire.

First, aluminum "cold flows". So when you torque a lug to spec you can come back the next day and it will be below torque spec.

Second, aluminum oxide doesn't conduct. So you have a loose connection with a "hot spot" because of the high resistance of the connection.

There are connectors rated for CU/AL so if using aluminum you must be SURE to use suitable connectors.

High power electrical connections use aluminum conductors coated with conductive grease and suitable connectors to operate safely.

Transmission and distribution lines use aluminum almost exclusively because copper is too expensive and heavy to make it feasible.

For home and automotive use stick with copper... unless you are running a line from the South Texas Nuclear Project...

 

Copper wiring should be used in lieu of copper clad aluminum for better current carrying capacity. However, beware copper also readily corrodes if not protected, forming "green crusties". Exposed conductor should be covered with heat shrink or liquid electrical tape.

 

I do electrical work by trade. I know this is auto, but aluminum to me and what I see is generally is because copper is more expensive… so they save money where they can, and it’s a lot lighter too. But in every home and commercial space where I install stuff we use copper. It’s just more reliable

 

Back in the early '80s apartment houses and homes built in the 70s were having an epidemic of 110 volt outlets catching fire. What happened was that during a severe copper shortage many places were wired with aluminum.

Over the years the connectors, that were unsuitable for aluminum, began to loosen, hot spots formed and those failures caused fires. People would be watching TV and all of a sudden fire would be coming out of the outlet.

So special "pigtails" were developed to connect aluminum to standard copper devices. And "The Great Rewiring" began.

A lot of electricians bought a lot of nice pick up trucks for a few years back then...

 

the 80's??? ....like....last century? did you learn about this in your American History class?

 

LOL! Unfortunately, I'm that old too. Old enough to remember that.

 

lol I was just kidding. Was born in the 80's though.

 

It’s not a 100% solution to aluminum wire, but it helps a lot..

https://www.idealind.com/us/en/category/product.html/Noalox.html#30-030

 

Based on what I’ve seen, the market for aluminum car audio wiring exists because of inexperienced kids wanting to wire up a big sub in the back of the car, and then realizing a run of copper wire to reach the sub, of the correct to gauge, is waaaaaaaay more expensive than they thought it would be (especially when Amazon also gives them the price for aluminum right next to it).

In fact, since Amazon already knows how much money each customer has, how old they are, what they’re like, and what they want, Amazon probably doesn’t even show copper options to the young whippersnappers lol.

 

I think the vendors pay for rank the same as websites for google searches, the same as yelp searches.

I have to include "pure copper" in my Amazon searches and even then need to confirm it.

 

Frankly, their is nothing wrong with aluminum wire... WHEN it is installed correctly...

But there are some drawbacks.

Aluminum wire must be installed with connectors suitable for aluminum wire. Use conductive grease on all connections. Re-tighten connections the next day.

Be aware that you will probably need a bigger AWG wire to carry the same current as copper.

It's a lot of fooling around and takes more time to install, just to save a few cents on wire. The conductive grease you have to buy probably negates the difference in wire cost anyway.

Copper? Better, Cheaper(maybe), and Faster...

 

If you have" copper theives" around, they generally do not steal aluminum.
But any copper wire is fair game.