Gold Plated Aluminum Wiring

does it go out into space? why would you do that?

Well it seems the aluminum wire is more malleable than copper and therefore more efficient at producing current flow....what holds it back from being used over copper is the tendency to oxidize on the surface it seems to me, but coated with gold or perhaps copper would yield a more efficient generator....thoughts?....now copper coated aluminum wire is nothing new, but I have never seen, to my knowledge, it used in the windings of a generator....?....or am I completely mistaken?

I see no advantage at all.

Maybe at mega or gigahertz.

Ask any expeiranced scrap yard owner or worker. Copper clad aluminum in transformers and large electric motors is a real money losing hassle if they don't catch it when it comes in.

I have several Miller and Lincoln Electric welder power supplies that were built in the late 70's to mid 80's that are all copper clad aluminum. They are worthless for scrap.

A friend of mine has a large scrap yard and he has semi loads of welder power supplies transformers and some large electric motors that are copper clad aluminum wound. They are not worth the time or money to scrap them. The ROI is less than what they would get on the material once it was processed.

I think Lincoln Electric makes (or made) aluminum-wound motors. Copper is a better conductor, but aluminum is cheaper and lighter, with the problem of oxidation.

http://metaldetectingworld.com/conductive_order_metals.shtml I still don't get it. I know AL sucks as wiring, not because it can't carry current or is resistive but its expansion and contraction rates leads to loose connections and contributes to the thread on house fires from poor wiring

Seems counterintuitive (and expensive), maybe it's gold anodized surface treated to look like gold.

Jewelry making, maybe.

Copper clad aluminum wire being passed off as real copper wire has been common for decades so I can see where passing off gold clad aluminum wire could make it to the market.

um... gold is sold by weight and is heavy, while aluminum is really light, the difference would be immediately obvious.

Yes once it's out of the device it's obvious just like comparing copper clad aluminum to real copper wire.

The problem is when to the naked eye the aluminum wire looks just like copper wire. You pay good money for a motor or transformer that looks like it has 300 - 400 pounds of good copper and you pay a guy $1000 for it but when you go to process it all you have is 50 - 70 pounds of useless junk metal worth less than $100 including the iron core and you just spent $200 processing it.

Imagine electronics scrap processors doing a similar thing. They pay some guy $1000 for what the think is circuitry with a few $1000 worth of gold in it only to find out when the process it they have about $50 worth of gold and 1 cents worth of aluminum that just took them $200 in labor and processing costs to find out.

no

Solar Eagle, did you see this somewhere or did someone mention this in a discussion?

As others here have said, there's copper-clad aluminium wire, and one mentioned that it may be gold-anodised, but, electrically, gold-plated aluminium wire in a generator doesn't make a lot of sense. Gold is worse than both copper and aluminium in terms of electrical conductivity, with silver being best. You'd still have to insulate the windings from each other and anodisation is not a reliable insulator (esp. when nicked or scratched - easily done during the winding process).

I know this sounds flippant (and forgive me, please), but it sounds like a bluddy Government (G) Job! :))

No I haven't seen it anyplace, but heard a lot of discussion about the winding's in welders being aluminum, and discussion about the differences.....it certainly would be cheaper and lighter, and I was thinking in the automotive industry, what with all the hybridization and electric drive systems, that any weight saving strategy would be worth considering....Now the plating can be quite thin, and gold doesn't tarnish like other metals,,,,so gold plated aluminum winding's might make sense....It is used in audio....but then also the property of generating current supposedly is enhanced with higher malleability, so I was also wondering if using aluminum winding's vs copper in a generator might be plausible...

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/archive/index.php/t-21318.html

Well I used the gold plating of audio components as an example that it is not unheard of....and I think the idea is longevity of integrity, a clean connection is a good connection, and a metal that doesn't corrode, makes for a good reliable long-lived connection....If wheel motors could be made lighter, it would reduce the unsprung weight associated with this cool tech....although I think I did suggest a workaround....In any case, weight reduction in tomorrows electric-hybrid vehicles is an ongoing push...2015 the year of the aluminum Ford F-150....booyaaah

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/01/13/redesigned-2015-ford-f-series-pickup-f-150-aluminum/4421041/

That pickup is truly UGLY! Reminds me of the 1958 Edsel.

Forget saving 700# in GVW, that front end must add tons of drag at highway speeds.

LOL ...What was he thinkin'..?

American Motors' Pacer and Gremlin were truly The Ugliest Cars Known to Man. Their performance matched their dubious aesthetics.

I was loaned a Pacer when my Toyota was in the shop. Driving the Pacer was a truly unique experience: like driving an inverted, windowed bathtub-on-wheels. The suspension felt like rolling on a waterbed. Ten seconds after changing lanes and the car was still swaying. Unbelievable. Like being on a top-heavy ship with no keel.

Ears may have Tintin noise.

Perhaps Gold capacitors may be using Gold over Aluminum / Mylar.

Gold and aluminum form a diffusion alloy which is quite resistive. Semiconductor manufacturers chasing failures in integrated circuits found ball bonds onto aluminum developed a "purple plague" around the bond, creating failure. A jeweler friend told me that the stuff is very brittle.

Not the best generator windings.

No, but there is insulation used on aluminium which is gold in colour.

It is not common to gold plate directly onto aluminum. Usually it requires a layer of copper or nickel before the gold. This makes little sense from an conductivity stand point in a generator but perhaps in a very corrosive environment this might be feasible. However there are many other metallic components in a generator that would need corrosion protection and if the device in question does not address these concerns then the corrosion protection idea is out. But to actually answer your question, no I have not seen gold plated aluminum wire used in a generator or any where else for that matter.

Yes I would think a primary coat of copper before gold....or possibly silver then gold...

http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/AlumWire/AlumWire.html

Given the thermal expansion coefficient difference between Aluminum and gold and the fact that they form a brittle high resistance alloy at the diffusion bond, I really can't see any benefit of doing this. I suspect it is Lacquered Aluminum

Would the military use it in mobile/battlefield electronics for the weight savings over copper-clad aluminum or straight copper wiring?

Most likely 'anodizing' which puts a ceramic like finish on aluminum. For better conduction properties at high frequency, silver plated copper is used. At higher frequencies electron flow tends to move to the surface, and silver is a better conductor. The only non-military use of gold plating I'm aware of was by Hewlett Packard back in the '70's, they used to use heavy gold plating on the entire boards rather than just on the 'fingers' Most older HP devices are scrapped as a result.

Dear Mr. SolarEagle.

Not Heard. It appears to be an Imagination.

If at all CONDUCTIVITY is considered as the CRITERION, the SILVER is the Best Choice for coating, as it has the HIGHEST CONDUCTIVITY. Cost wise, certanily GOLD is highly expensive, than Silver.

DHAYANANDHAN.S

Dear Mr.SolarEagle.

Pl. refer my posting No.22 above. I forgot to mention, that as for as CONDUCTIVITY is concerned, GOLD is ranking 3rd, next to Copper, which is No.2 in CONDUCTIVITY. First and highest conductivity is possessed by SILVER.

This is also indicated by Mr.Fredski, in his Posting No.9 above.

DHAYANANDHAN.S

Here's a reason why aluminum is not too popular in motors and generators...

That looks like a pretty darn good reason not to use it as a motor/generator, but look on the Bright Side: it *could* double as a self-stirring aluminium crucible.

:)

I think I understand the purpose of your question. And I've considered the very same concept. It seems that 100 volts at a resistance of 2 ohms is 5000 watts to remove the resistance by using gold in the windings would be to double the output wattage. Is that the hypothesis?

Back in the day, a combination of gold and aluminium on ICs caused purple plague, migration of gold under the effect of the high electric field, which ruined the ICs. Can't imagine why you would use it in this application.