Tuesday 28 July 2015

An insight into copper and main kinds of Copper Wires

Copper wires have emerged as one of the most reliable and best conductors of electric energy. It is the reason that you will see them in almost everything from wiring in buildings to kitchen appliance; from telecommunication devices to ground electrical system.  It is tough to come across a device where copper wires are not used. These wires come in a variety of forms, each having its own unique properties. The famous of the lot being Tinned copper wires and Bare Copper Wires. Both these are used extensively in ground electric circuits. Let us take a look at top three kind of copper wires used in various industries.

Bare Solid Copper:
Solid Bare Copper wires are non flexible. They come up an ideal choice for ground wire. It is preferably used where not much bending and moving is required. The solid bare copper wires comes in variety of sizes, you can easily get one that suits your need from 2 AWG to 28 AWG. These wires become tough to bend with increase in size. They are perfect where flexibility doesn’t matter but toughness is the priority. It is one of the reasons that it is also used in humid environment where the wires are constantly exposed to moisture.

Stranded Bare Copper:
These wires are made from mechanically twisting small gauge wires and combining it to form large conductors.  These are durable and flexible when compared to similar wires available in the market. It is flexible because of the use of small strings for making it. The other notable quality of the wire is its sturdiness and durability which is due to the presence of thin conductors in the wires.  These are widely used in construction materials.

Tinned Copper Wire:
Tinned copper wires are generally made from stranded copper. It has thin plating of tin which makes it easy to solder during assembling. The non-insulated tin wires are good conductor of electricity. The tin coating boosts its properties.  The durability is another key feature of tin copper wires. When compared to normal 14 gauge copper wire, the tin coated copper lasts almost ten times longer. Moreover, the tin shielding protects it from rusting and increases the life of the copper. It gives value for money to the homeowner with steady performance and less maintenance.

Should we use non-insulated copper wires?
Safety should be always the first priority. The copper wires without any insulation should not be used. It doesn’t matter if you are planning to use it for a very low voltage because there is always a threat of the person coming in contact getting electrified. The places where you can use non-insulated copper wires should be the places where your hand cannot reach like the overhead power sources.

It is advised not to use these wires without insulation as it may lead to shock. A wire with insulation saves the person from being electrified who accidental touches or comes in contact with the cables.