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

[Louis Taber]

Hi Adrian,

The wire is not steel.  I tried a magnet.  Scraped off the copper color and
is looks like aluminium.  But, yes, it is small hand hard to tell.  It is
certainly not copper in the center.

I haven´t come up with a way to measure the gauge her in Pennsylvania.

There is lots of (sometime conflicting) information about CCA Cat-5 if you
do a Google search.  For example:
http://www.fia-online.co.uk/pdf/Whites/wp-IAN002-01.pdf.  And from a seller
of CCA http://sewelldirect.com/articles/cca-facts.aspx  At least Seawell is
up front about what they are selling.  My vendor did not provide a clue,
even when asked.

  - Louis


On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 1:35 PM, Adrian <choprboy at dakotacom.net> wrote:

> 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
>
>
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