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To: Red Badger
Aren't electric service wires ALUMINUM?.......

Nope.

Aluminum is used with large diameter long distance wires on really high towers for really high voltages, but lower down, closer to people and homes, they revert back to the safer and more efficient copper.

28 posted on 07/18/2006 11:26:32 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: ElkGroveDan
Aluminum is used with large diameter long distance wires on really high towers for really high voltages, but lower down, closer to people and homes, they revert back to the safer and more efficient copper.

Well, partially true. Virtually all newer overhead line construction is aluminum wire (with steel strands in the center for strength), up to and including the overhead drop from pole to house. Once to the house, copper is used on the entrance conductors and inside. There was a brief time frame when aluminum wire was permissable for indoor wiring, but there were many, many problems with the use of dissimilar metals and the resulting corrosion, bad connections, and the potential for fire.

Older construction of utility lines used copper, and there are several older lines out there that are copper. The change to aluminum came about due to its considerably lighter weight and price. Despite copper's superior electrical characteristics (lower resistance), much larger aluminum wire can be supported by similar-sized poles and structures without needing reinforcement.

Aluminum is safe to use in controlled environments, including those situations where utilities control all the maintenance and construction. Line workers have the proper connectors and coatings needed to prevent the problems that occur with connecting dissimilar metals. The unsafe environment for aluminum wiring occurs mostly in residential construction where there is little control over materials and methods used. There's a lot of hacks out there that know just enough about wiring to get themselves into trouble.

42 posted on 07/18/2006 11:41:52 AM PDT by meyer (A vote for amnesty is a vote against America.)
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To: ElkGroveDan

I don't think so, Tim. Probably not all utilities are the same but in the 18 years I've worked for the REC, never have we installed any overhead copper wire.


74 posted on 07/18/2006 12:37:43 PM PDT by Past Your Eyes (Often wrong but never in doubt.)
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