On Sat, 04 Jun 2005 09:30:13 -0400, Chuck Harris
wrote:


Ever seen the stuff used on arc welders? Big bundles of very fine
strands, with a soft rubber (or rubber-like material) jacket. Lasts
a long, long time, doesn't break with flexing, and it's not low-
oxygen.


Really? How would you know that? Given that all of the copper wire
manufacturers these days have switched over to oxygen-free manufacturing
techniques for their copper products.

Could be - but I don't see welding cable being hyped as "low-oxygen" or
"oxygen-free" in an effort to convince the welding community that its
use will produce better welds or make the cables last longer.


OBTW, my welding cables fray like the dickens on the connector ends. I have
had to reattach the connectors on the stinger side twice now. But then,
I actually use them.

Maybe you should switch to oxygen-free cable. It won't fray or break or
corrode. Ever.

Only problem I've had with mine (only 12 years old) was due to an
unfortunate incident with the lawn mower :-(


All "no oxygen" means is the copper was smelted in a way that prevents
the inclusion of oxides in the copper. It is a pure, soft copper. It
makes a slightly lower resistance wire than the earlier copper smelting
precesses. Being softer, oxygen-free copper can be worked more, and doesn't
wear out tooling as quickly as ordinary copper.

Interesting article he
http://www.copper.org/innovations/19...etallurgy.html

Looks like having at least a little bit of oxygen is a *good* thing.


Or did you think that it took a highly spiritual audiophool to hold his
breath while blessing the wire?

No, but if that was a public event, I'd sure buy a ticket.

Here are some definitely non audiophool companies that make oxygen free
copper products:

http://www.shanghaimetal.com/Copper_tube_terminal.htm
http://www.tatung.com/wire/e-copper.html

-Chuck

I'm headed for the store now to see if they have any oxygen-free Romex...
Need to rewire the house.

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