Copper Wire Manufacturing for Industrial Applications

Copper is a very useful metal considering its wide scale application. It is used extensively as a manufacturing material in the production of engineering equipment, electrical circuits and medical utilities.

Annealed copper wires are softer and flexible enough to be extruded into even thinner wires. This is when they are best suited to undergo the process of coating. There are different types of coating done on the copper wires.

Coating of wires

Copper wires are covered in a variety of materials like plastics, rubber polymers, resins, and varnishes. Depending on the purpose, the material, thickness and the life of the insulator can be decided. Copper wires are insulated using the following methods.

Single cable

When the copper wire is single and has only one cable running inside the insulation channel, it is called a solid bare copper cable.

Co-axial cables

Two or more copper wires are wrapped in a concentric manner to give rise to a structure called coaxial cable. The two coaxial wires are separated by an insulation medium like resin or paraffin wax.

Taped wires

Two or more strands of the bare copper wires can also be tapped together using preservative materials like lead, aluminium sheaths or steel tapes. The taped wires are precursor model to the heavier stranded copper wires that are manufactured using disks and bobbins to derive huge spools of stranded copper wires.

Stranding of wires

Stranding in bare copper wires is a very important process. The flexible cables are twisted into a pair of coupled wires, much like coaxial wires. There are 10 different insulation codes for industrial applications, which often vary from one country to another. The insulated copper wires can be combined in more than 25 different ways to form the various categories of stranded copper wires.

Use of stranded copper wires

The engineering and metallurgical property of stranded copper wires are definitely better than the other types of copper wires. They are annealed, insulated and paired for better results. They are used in;

• Multi-circuit electrical boards

• High resistance industrial applications

• AC line servicing

• Musical instrument cables

• Machine cables and ropeways

• Control cables

Braiding of wires

Braided copper wires are advanced siblings of the stranded wires. When more than two types of copper wires are combined in the form of multiple strands, it is called as a braid. The Braided Copper wires have higher range of applications than the solid cables as well as the much closer variety, the Stranded ones.
Braided copper wires are flexible as well as sturdier than the stranded copper wires due to their multiple stranding. Braiding of copper wires into a bundle ensures higher break resistance and strength. However, the cost of manufacturing the branded copper wires also increases as the number of strands in it increase.

Testing and transportation

Each strand of copper wires has to be tested for safety and performance. Any failure in a single item could result in the loss of the entire stock. The most common method to test the physical strength of the copper wires is to perform a High-Voltage Test after doing Core-to-Sheath test. The electrical integrity is then checked with random scales measuring the resistance, capacitance, unbalance and electromagnetism.

A look at the Significance of Armoured Cables in Electrical System

You must have come across armoured cables several times in the context of wiring. However, you might not be very familiar with the concept associated with it. At the same time, it is also crucial for you to know its significance in the electrical wiring systems. Therefore, in this article, you will find more information on these cables and the purposes they serve in different applications. Accordingly, you can make your move in the best way. Some of the popular types includes:-

1 Al PVC Strip Armoured Cables
2 Cu PVC Strip Armoured Cables
3 Cu XLPE Wire Armoured Cable

What are these cables?

Armoured cable can be referred to as a power cable, which is usually made by assembling two or more electrical conductors. These electrical conductors hold each other tightly in an overall sheath. It comes with high protective covering so that it can be easily used for the purpose of transmitting electrical power from one point to another. It can greatly serve the purpose of underground needs of wiring. The installation of these cables might be rightly followed as a source of permanent wiring within the buildings. At the same time, they can run overhead or buried in the ground. At times, they can be left unexposed without the threat of any damage from the extremes of weather. These cables are available both as single conductor cables as well as multi-conductor cables.

In a more precise term, it can be said that the armoured cables are electrical cables that do not come with galvanized or stainless steel wrapped over the conductors for carrying out insulation. They are often coated with plastic sheaths in the outward area for supplying the main distribution and buried feeders.

The Significance Of These Cables:

Prior to using them, it is crucial to understand the significance of these cables. These are highly significant because of the immense amount of protection they offer. Consequently, it makes the process of electric transmission less risky. At the same time, it often acts as one of the major circuit protective conductors providing adequate amount of earthing to the equipment that is supplied by the cable.

Things To Know On Its Earthing:

In this context, it is crucial to note that the earthing capability of the wire has been in debate. A single cable does not come with a ground wire and the sheath is used only for the purpose of protection. Hence, it is always recommended to earth either one or both the ends of the cable. If both the ends are grounded, circular current pattern can flow between the armoured cables. Grounding only one end means allowing bleeding of voltage. The voltage might be induced in the sheath without creating any form of circular current.

At the same time, many are not aware that single cored cable does not contain any magnetic field from other two phases. When there are three phases in a cable, the magnetic field is zero. In a single core, there is no need to go for any cancelling effect, and the voltage is induced in the armour by the magnetic field.

Understanding The Difference Between Bare Copper Wire & Tinned Wire

In today’s date, copper is widely used as a metal in wide varieties of applications. However, based on the nature of the application for which copper is used, the nature of the metal used will vary. In some cases, bare copper wire can serve the purpose of the application, while in some others it has to be tinned. Asking which one is good will not gives any specific guarantees regarding the performance. There are good bare coppers and bad tinned wires and vice versa. As mentioned, it will largely depend on the purpose of the application, as a whole.

Bare Versus Tinned:

 

There are several controversies and opinions regarding the nature of the copper wire for different applications. Well, it is true that fresh and new bare wire made of copper can perform excellent, but at the same time, it can even oxidize quickly than the tinned ones. This in turn leads to the degeneration of the electrical performance.

As the metal is thinner, the chances of oxidation are more, and this in turn will create an impact on the application. In such a situation, it is often thought that tinned copper wire is an easy and effective way of keeping the conductor wire from getting oxidized. When copper is oxidized, it turns green, which in turn becomes a semi-conductor. This is definitely bad for good conducting bare copper wire.

There are two ways of preventing the process of oxidation. Something might be put over the metal to prevent air from reaching the surface. After all, air contains moisture, and a slight amount of moisture is enough for oxidation. When there is no air, there is no oxide, and hence no corrosion. Soldering wire can often help in sealing the copper. On the other hand, another way to prevent copper from getting oxidized is putting a layer of tin on the copper. Consequently, even when the insulation is stripped off, air will have a lesser chance to enter and cause the formation of copper oxide.

Problem With Tinned Wire:

However, tin layered copper wire also shows problems in the course of time with the increase in the frequencies of the wire. When the entire conductor is used, the tin layer can protect it. However, as frequencies go high, the amount of conductor used is less. Consequently, the tinned layer becomes prominent and affects the performance of the conductor.

It is important to remember that tin has almost about seven times the resistant capacity of copper. Therefore, if any application at 1MHz or higher should not contain any tinned coating. On the contrary, bare copper wire is ideal for the situation. This implies that video cables, category data cables or digital audio cables should be made of bare copper without any tinned coating on it. This is because they are used for high frequency applications. The tinned copper wires are usually preferable for low frequency applications, and they will tend to last longer.

Hence, understanding the application frequency is crucial in selecting the type of wire.

How To Bend Your Copper Pipe?

There are several reasons for which you might have to bend copper pipes. Even though several types of piping are available today, many people still prefer the traditional pipes made of copper. These can be used in behind walls and are available in the forms of rolls. If you want, you can mount them on the surface of the wall or bend them, as per your needs.

In fact, you might not be aware that there are several ways through which you can bend your copper pipes. Every time you may not require specialized plumbing tools for the same. Here are some of the specialized methods that you can follow in order to bend the pipes. 

The useful tools for this purpose are:

• Blow torch,
• Dry sand and funnel
• A vice
• Bucket of cold water
• Pipe benders
• Pipe bending springs
• A square to check the angle of bend.

Make sure that you always use protective gloves and safety glasses while carrying out this function.

Support During Bending:

Supporting the copper pipes during the bending process is essential in order to prevent them from getting collapsed or pleat. Make sure that regardless the method you follow, you support the pipe in some way or the other.

Using blow torches-

This is required in order to bend the tubing. You will have to solder the pipes so that bending is easily managed up to the desired temperature. However, if you have lots of pipe work to do, going for an oxy-acetylene torch will help in effective heating of the pipes to the point that they will bend the pipes.

Using pipe benders-

 

These are designed as per the sizes of the pipes. If you have different shaped pipes, you will have to invest in an entire set of pipe benders. This in turn will make the work accurate, easy and you will not need any kind of heating.

Using Pipe bending springs-

You can heat the copper pipe until it is red hot and achieves the length of the bend. The pipe can then be slipped into the spring easily so that you can bend the pipe supported by the spring. It is here that you will need to cool the pipes with a bucket of cold water. These springs can be less expensive than the pipe benders. Moreover, they can be stored and transported easily from one place to another. It is one time investment and you can use it whenever required.

Using sand for support-

You can bend copper pipes even with sand. Make sure that the sand is dry and fine. Block one end of the pipe with newspapers and fill it with sand. The sand should be compact. Air or moisture in the pipe will make the pipe fold and collapse. When you cannot put in any more send, block the other end, heat it until red hot and bend it manually.

These things can serve your purpose.

How to Take Care of Braided Copper Wire?

Have you got a lot of braided copper wires at home or in your office? Are you planning to buy braided copper wires in bulk? Do you want to learn how to keep them safe enough to use in future as well?

Then you have landed on the right page – we are here to give you the best tips to keep those braided copper wires good and protected, so that you can use them whenever you want to, even in future. So read below to know about a few tips and adopt them:

Keep them neat and clean: If you really want those braided copper wires to work for you, whenever you want or need them in future, you must keep them neat and tidy. Use a soft dry cloth to clean them after proper time intervals and keep the dust away from them. If the wires are covered or coated with any material, use a rough cloth for cleaning them.

Keep vinegar in hand to remove corrosion from the wire: This may surprise you, but when the help of a little bit of vinegar, you can actually kick off corrosion from the braided copper wires. If you really want to keep the wires working in future as well, vinegar is the best thing that would help you with the same. Dip a side of the cloth in diluted vinegar and clean the wires. Now, see the difference!

Store the remaining wires in a safe and strong box: In order to keep the wires protected and detangled, it is essential for you to buy a huge box that is strong enough for the wires or cables. Place all the wires together, but make sure that they are not tangled together, or else even if a single copper wire breaks from the braided wire, there are lesser chances for the entire thing to work. Therefore, you need to be extremely careful when you take care of those things, which are used in and for electrical purposes.

Do not entangle the wire in any way at all: No matter how your friends or relatives keep the braided copper wire, you better not allow the wires to be entangled or else they would be of no use in future. To get the best out of such wires, it is necessary for you to place them in a nice box. Keep this box safe and in a secured place. Make sure this box is out of reach of little kids.

Do not clean the wires with water: There are some people, who buy braided copper wires in bulk, thinking that they can clean them with water. Before you do anything like that, it is better to know that NO ELECTRICAL appliance or ANY WIRE that is used for electrical purposes can be washed with water. It is okay to clean the braided copper wire with the help of a wet cloth; this should also be done ONLY if needed!

Top 6 Reason that Makes Copper Wire Best Choice for Building Projects

The copper wirings because of its huge benefits are extensively used in electric wirings. It comes up as a popular choice for electric wiring for commercial as well as residential units. If you are planning to have any wiring done to any kind of property then make sure to have the copper wiring in your scheme of things. Let us take a look at the top reason that makes them the unanimous choice for building projects.

1. Best Conductor:

Among all the metals present copper emerges as one of the best conductor of electricity. It renders more power than any other metal. It is the principal reason that it is used in wiring needs starting from simple to complex ones. Braided and Stranded Copper Wires are two highest used varieties of copper wires.

2. Flexibility coupled with sturdiness: 

Flexibility is another remarkable characteristic of Stranded and Braided Copper Wires. Some of you might be thinking why wire needs to be flexible. The answer is simple, the wires need to bended at various places according to the construction. Sometimes the wires need to be passed from places where there is a very little space. Here, flexibility of wires is needed. The copper wires are not only flexible but they don’t lose their sturdiness. It is one of the remarkable features that make them standout.

3. High Melting Point:

Safety is always concern, especially when you are using it for home. It is a place where you live with your loved ones. With copper wires you don’t need to be worried about safety, these wires have high melting point, so if there is a power surge or overload then too it is not going to burn or melt. It significantly reduces probability of a fire break due to power problem.

4. Does Not Loosen:

Another remarkable feature of copper wires is that it doesn’t lose over a period of time. If you are using any other wire than from time-to-time you have to make sure that the wires have not loosened.  A loose wire may lead to serious accidents. The copper wires scores here as it doesn’t lose, means it is going to remain the way you fixed it, making it very safe.

5. Helps in Avoiding Incompatibility Problems:

Most of the electrical appliance manufacturers use copper in their products. They specially mention it. The reason is that the customer should not face a compatibility issue. If your home doesn’t have copper wiring and you brought up an appliance that has copper in it then it may result in galvanic action. It may even destroy your expensive electrical appliance. Hence, keeping the future in mind it is s good decision to go for copper wiring in home project.

6. Easy to Work With:

It is the personal favorite of electricians. Now you must be wondering what makes it there favorite when there are other options available. The answer is easy of working, it can be easily striped. Without much effort the electrician can pull it through tight spots. They don’t have to be concerned about surface oxides. These are the reason that makes it favorite of electricians all over the world.

Copper in Space Probe: NASA Impactor digs into the Comet surface for Research

In July 2005, NASA launched an ambitious project into space. The project was pegged on the performance of mankind’s oldest known metal- Copper. The NASA Project was designed to rip open a comet in the outer space and extract valuable cosmic compounds from its core and bring it back to Earth for studies. The probe deployed high quality copper wire modules and copper-topped body. The armoured probe vehicle blasted into the comet surface and examined the contents.

Do you know about the project and how important it is for mankind? How copper played a vital role in the project?

Let us find out.

Name of the probe:

The mission is carried forward by the barrel-shaped tinned copper body called Deep Imapactor. It is one of the most sophisticated space vehicles ever conceived, designed and built by NASA scientists. The core of the vehicle is run by electronic chips made of copper compounds and aluminium interconnects. The electrical are braided copper wires housed to nano-sized motors driving synchronously with the electronic circuitry. Fibre optic cables- Single mode, have also been extensively used along with bare copper wires in the transmitting signals.

Role of Copper:

Copper is used as the core element in the probe. It is the heavy metal base in the project that gives the Deep Impactor much of its weight. Weighing 816 pounds, Deep Impactor’s weight more or less is entirely contributed by copper and its wire frames. The alloyed copper wires and body plates gave it the aerodynamic suppleness and efficiency. Striking the comet at a speed of 6.6 miles per second, the probe dented a hole into the comet, the size of a big football field.

 Here are some of the salient features of the copper used in the probe mission.

•    Copper wires used in the electronic cluster used 3 percent beryllium for fortification.

•    Molecular structure of copper makes it one of the most prolific space materials. It resists corrosion and highly inflammable space conditions owing to its partial inertness against oxygen. Once it collided with the comet, the electrical parts remained intact. It did not get burned due to the huge amount of energy released from the collision. Success of the mission was majorly based on the quality and performance of the copper wire used.

•    Copper resisted the high temperatures and did not turn into vapours. The scientists in NASA could gather valuable information as the emissions did not interfere with the probe.

Name of the comet it is examining:

The Deep Impactor space probe followed the trail of the comet named, Tempel I. It chased the comet for 175 days before colliding with it on its course. The comet is travelling at a speed of 6.4 miles per second. NASA’s electronically guided navigation system directed the probe on the comet’s trail 2 hours before collision. The comet’s nucleus was the collision point, defined strategically by high-end navigation system. It collided on July 4, 2005.

Copper continues to feature in NASA’s space probe mission due to its resounding success in the past.