Need help understanding the drawing process of copper clad aluminum wire - from 8 gauge to 40 gauge - as well as the differences between drawing equipment.

Help me please!

Hello goldman6827,

1) As I understand it, draw and anneal as you would with ETP (regular) copper wire. Remember however that just as with the aluminum, the volume of the copper remains constant so make sure you don't draw it too thin.

2) There is also a 1971 technical paper you can purchase with details as follows:

Title:
Paper No. 2538 Copper clad aluminum wire: material system for the electrical industry

Description:
The qualities of copper clad aluminum wire which make it an excellent substitute for pure copper wire for electrical conductor use are described. Some of the problems with developing suitable connectors and results of circuit reliability tests are presented. The processing of copper clad aluminum wire is also described. www.wirenet.org/technical/abstract/Abs_Detail.cfm?ID=2538

3) Finally, talk with your supplier of copper clad aluminum to get their drawing and annealing recommendations.

Regards
Peter J. Stewart-Hay
Principal
Stewart-Hay Associates
www.Stewart-Hay.com
519 641-3212

Obviously copperclad aluminum should present no problems because the core is aluminum. If drawing a clad product (copper or aluminum) if the core is a higer tensile strength material you may find that you will be drawing at a slower speed than with plain copper or aluminum. I remember at an aluminum plant (starting up a K-B coiler years ago) drawing aluminum clad, not only could we not draw at the same speed as the "plain aluminum" we were operating the rod machine at over voltage just to get the speed we could get.
Again copper over aluminum would not present this problem.