On Tue, 15 Nov 2016 08:39:24 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:


A few months back I ordered some # 10 and # 14 wire off ebay. It was
twin wire one red and one black for low voltage. That stuff was copper
coated aluminum wire. Not sure why they would make wire like that
unless it was less expensive. Looking back if you read the fine print
it tells that.

I know they make some coax cable wiring with copper coated aluminum. As
mose of the radio waves tend to travel on the outside of the conductor
this is fine electriclly. Infact some of the very large cables use a
hollow tube for the center conductor.


Yea, a lot of the trailer homes in the 70s had alum wiring, later
replaced by copper clad aluminum, which was supposed to be a lot safer.
(I always wondered how that did not corrode from dialectric corrosion).
I agree that the movement from transporting those homes added to poor
connections.

A few years ago, I helped a guy demolish a trailer. Besides getting
paid, the guy told em I could have the wiring as a bonus, (to sell for
scrap copper). But I was sure it was alum wire, because the outer
coating was black, and rather than a white and black wire, it had white
and a light brown (or tan). I looked at the printing on the cable and
it's a Phelps Dodge type NM 14-2 W ground. Type PD-X. I cut it and it is
solid copper. I googled it and never found that exact type listed, but
it appears to be some sort of fireproof insulation (I think). Most if it
was in good shape, so I saved the longer pieces to reuse in my sheds or
whatever.
But it really looks goofy without a black wire.... I can only guess they
did that because of the black outer coating, so it's easier to see the
inner wires when stripping it.