[Tfug] Copper Clad Aluminum CAT-5e wire outdoor/waterproof

[Adrian]

On Wednesday 02 July 2014 12:16:21 Louis Taber wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I purchased some Aurum CAT-5e wire off of eBay.  No mention of the Copper
> Clad Aluminum in the description -- or on the box.  The only reason I
> noticed it was I checked the resistance, looking to see if I had been
> shorted, for example less than 500 feet.
> 
> The resistance measured 3 times what I was expecting.   300 Ohms for 500
> feet end-to-end on all 8 conductors in series vs calculated for copper at
> about 120 Ohms.
> 
> Has any one on the list used/purchased CCA intentionally or
> unintentionally?  Any problems with it?  Data rate?  Electrical
> connectivity at the terminations?  How out-of-spec is it for the data
> communications spec?  I have no personal interest or plans at this time in
> doing POE with it.
> 
>   - Louis
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/161314178639
> 


I have never heard of copper clad aluminum being used for network cable 
(Cat5/6). Tinned copper, yes. Copper-clad steel wire used as fake copper wire, 
yes. Undersized copper wire used in cheap/knock-off cable, yes (should be 22 or 
24ga, some cheaper cable is 26ga, knock-off is sometimes 28 or even 30ga). No 
direct experience, but it seems to me aluminum wire that small would be pretty 
fragile and subject to fracture under bending.


Adrian