funkbastler wrote:
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.

Yes, but I assure you that if Lincoln could get away with it, they would
say just that. Because that's the way marketing works, and marketing sells
products unfortunately.

I don't know about other manufacturers, but the West Penn welding cable is
definitely OFC. It's good stuff.

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.

He's probably using it already. But he might consider using dielectric
grease on the ends which seems to help a lot. The clamp connections are
really not mechanically all that sturdy even though they are electrically
solid, and sometimes some 1" heatshrink can do wonders.

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.

Again, depends on the application. And for hard-drawn copper the issues
are very different than for soft-drawn wire.

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

Romex is one of the places where higher conductivity is important (since
Romex is really lousy at heat dissipation) and flexibility is a total
non-issue (since it should only be flexed a couple times during installation).
Romex is VERY different than an SJ-type cable and is usually made with much
more brittle wire.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."