Copper vs. Aluminum booster cables

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DrRoughneck

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It seems most booster cables out there use "copper-clad aluminum (CCA)" wiring.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper-clad_aluminium_wire

This makes them lighter, more flexible and cheaper than if the wiring was made of pure copper of the same gauge.
As for as resistivity, CCA with 10% copper has a resistivity of 2.74 Ohms cm 10-6
This is slightly better than aluminum's own resistivity of 2.65 Ohms cm 10-6
But this is nowhere close to copper's 1.68 Ohms cm 10-6

I can make 100% some 16 feet stranded copper jumper cables using 6 ga stranded copper wiring for the same price that I can buy pre-made 2 ga CCA jumper cables.

Am I better off with the copper ones using a smaller gauge wire?
 
I seen everstart jumper cables at Walmart, 4 gauge, 20 foot for $20. I did not look any farther to see if they were clad or not
 
Originally Posted By: bioburner
I seen everstart jumper cables at Walmart, 4 gauge, 20 foot for $20. I did not look any farther to see if they were clad or not

These are CCA
 
This one's easy. Aluminum wire is bunk. Copper Clad Aluminum is the original "Lipstick on a Pig". High Currents and DC currents don't travel on the outside of the wire, the copper coating does exactly nothing except fool consumers, which is the intent in the first place.

You want your cables to be 24 feet, so that you could park behind a full size truck on a limited access highway (freeway, interstate) and still reach it's battery. You park behind because you have the running vehicle with the working hazard lighting.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
This one's easy. Aluminum wire is bunk.

Correct, but not so fast. These are copper-coated aluminum wires I'm talking about. Remember electricity travels on the surface of conductors. Copper-clad aluminum wires make enough of a difference over aluminum for them the exist and be used in plenty of applications.
 
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
Correct, but not so fast. These are copper-coated aluminum wires I'm talking about. Remember electricity travels on the surface of conductors. Copper-clad aluminum wires make enough of a difference over aluminum for them the exist and be used in plenty of applications.


Only for AC and is most pronounced at high frequencies. For jumper cables that copper cladding does nothing in terms of resistance.

Back in the '70s when such wire was used in homes it was for corrosion resistance at terminations.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
Correct, but not so fast. These are copper-coated aluminum wires I'm talking about. Remember electricity travels on the surface of conductors. Copper-clad aluminum wires make enough of a difference over aluminum for them the exist and be used in plenty of applications.


Only for AC and is most pronounced at high frequencies. For jumper cables that copper cladding does nothing.

What's the reasoning behind this?
 
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
This one's easy. Aluminum wire is bunk.

Correct, but not so fast. These are copper-coated aluminum wires I'm talking about. Remember electricity travels on the surface of conductors. Copper-clad aluminum wires make enough of a difference over aluminum for them the exist and be used in plenty of applications.


"Electricity" does not travel on the outside of conductors. High Frequency Alternating Current moves toward the outside of the conductors as the frequency increases. However, even at audio frequencies of 20,000 Hz the skin effect is not yet in play; you need near radio-frequency AC to have any appreciable percentage of the current to carry on the skin of the conductor. Your booster cables are carrying DC .. a frequency of zero Hertz. It's all in the core of the conductor.

Even if it were true that "Electricity" is carried on the outside of a conductor at DC, there is not enough copper on a copper clad aluminum conductor ... we're talking layers measured in microns ... to carry even 1% of the current a typical boost operation involves. So it's still all in the core of the conductor.

If that weren't enough, aluminum wire is brittle and tends to break whereas copper is amongst the most flexible metals for any application. Your copper cables will outlast any aluminum equivalent. Cables are not cheap ... proper ones fall into the "invest in tools" category. Why buy something you will have to replace, assuming you actually use them? Paying twice and you still have junk cables? Not for me, thanks. Only the wealthy can afford to throw money away like that.

The Scottish ... notoriously stingy peoples and proud of it ... have a saying: "Penny wise and Pound foolish". Think about it.
 
And does the OP need the cables for a commercial application jumping or attempting to start lot of vehicles or trucks. Or just and occasional boost or 2 per year and having a set is a nice winter survival kit item?
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
This one's easy. Aluminum wire is bunk.

Correct, but not so fast. These are copper-coated aluminum wires I'm talking about. Remember electricity travels on the surface of conductors. Copper-clad aluminum wires make enough of a difference over aluminum for them the exist and be used in plenty of applications.


"Electricity" does not travel on the outside of conductors. High Frequency Alternating Current moves toward the outside of the conductors as the frequency increases. However, even at audio frequencies of 20,000 Hz the skin effect is not yet in play; you need near radio-frequency AC to have any appreciable percentage of the current to carry on the skin of the conductor. Your booster cables are carrying DC .. a frequency of zero Hertz. It's all in the core of the conductor.

Even if it were true that "Electricity" is carried on the outside of a conductor at DC, there is not enough copper on a copper clad aluminum conductor ... we're talking layers measured in microns ... to carry even 1% of the current a typical boost operation involves. So it's still all in the core of the conductor.

If that weren't enough, aluminum wire is brittle and tends to break whereas copper is amongst the most flexible metals for any application. Your copper cables will outlast any aluminum equivalent. Cables are not cheap ... proper ones fall into the "invest in tools" category. Why buy something you will have to replace, assuming you actually use them? Paying twice and you still have junk cables? Not for me, thanks. Only the wealthy can afford to throw money away like that.

The Scottish ... notoriously stingy peoples and proud of it ... have a saying: "Penny wise and Pound foolish". Think about it.


Thanks for the clarification and also the great explanation.
Do you think then that 6ga copper outperforms 2ga CCA for the occasional car/SUV jump?
 
I have bought cheap junk cables and very expensive set of cables,,,since I might use them once a year,more like every 5 years,,,,cheap is good,,,if your starting cars and trucks daily like a wrecker service, get the good ones and yes 20 ft or 24 ft is good,,none of that 5 or 6 foot stuff,,,get the 20 or 24 ft,,,life is short.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
This one's easy. Aluminum wire is bunk. Copper Clad Aluminum is the original "Lipstick on a Pig". High Currents and DC currents don't travel on the outside of the wire, the copper coating does exactly nothing except fool consumers, which is the intent in the first place.

You want your cables to be 24 feet, so that you could park behind a full size truck on a limited access highway (freeway, interstate) and still reach it's battery. You park behind because you have the running vehicle with the working hazard lighting.


THIS!!!
 
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Dad has some jumper cables made out of some 1/0 welding cable, that someone was stupid enough to throw away. He then bought the clamps and made a set of his own jumper cables.

We've used those cables to start literally *everything*.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Here's a table from the NEC that gives you an understanding of how the ampacity for copper vs aluminum conductors lines up...

http://www.usawire-cable.com/pdfs/nec ampacities.pdf

Not a direct solution for 12VDC jumper cables, but you get the point...

Awesome, just what I needed. So 2 ga aluminum wire has nearly the same ampacity (75) as 4 ga copper (70) but better than 6 ga copper (55).

Does anyone disagree with any of these three statements:
1. Although aluminum is not as good a conductor, one can with thicker gauge (2 ga Al) obtain aluminum wire with equal or better ampacity than a thinner (4 ga Cu) wire.
2. Aluminum is so much cheaper than copper that one may be able to use a thicker gauge of aluminum wire than copper wire with equal or better ampacity for less money.
3. For the purpose of jumper cables where mostly DC current and some transient current is conducted, 2 ga aluminum wire can rival the performance of 4 ga copper wire.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck

Do you think then that 6ga copper outperforms 2ga CCA for the occasional car/SUV jump?


15ft 6AWG copper at 100 amps drops 1.19 volts
15ft 2AWG aluminum at 100 amps drops .74 volts

Better yet, you can get 30ft of 4AWG welding cable delivered for $31 on ebay. 15ft will drop .75 volts at 100 amps. It will have essentially the same voltage drop as the 2AWG aluminum, but it will be much more flexible and durable. You will have to buy clamps which will add another $20 or so, but these cables should last forever as long as you don't loose them.
 
Originally Posted By: rustypigeon
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck

Do you think then that 6ga copper outperforms 2ga CCA for the occasional car/SUV jump?


15ft 6AWG copper at 100 amps drops 1.19 volts
15ft 2AWG aluminum at 100 amps drops .74 volts

Better yet, you can get 30ft of 4AWG welding cable delivered for $31 on ebay. 15ft will drop .75 volts at 100 amps. It will have essentially the same voltage drop as the 2AWG aluminum, but it will be much more flexible and durable. You will have to buy clamps which will add another $20 or so, but these cables should last forever as long as you don't loose them.



Sounds like a great plan. What do you think of the "parrot" style vs. conventional clamp jaws?
 
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck

Sounds like a great plan. What do you think of the "parrot" style vs. conventional clamp jaws?


I used parrot style for the two sets that I made. I used Coleman 08904 about $10 per pair on Amazon. They have good clamping strength.

Here is the thread I started a couple of weeks ago. If you go to page 2 you will see that two sets that I made. I made a 15ft 4AWG set and a 20ft 2AWG set...
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4289157/1

I used the Coleman clamps and the welding cable came from Temco on ebay. They have good USA made cable and delivered across the country in 2 days both times that I ordered from them. You can buy your cable in both red and black. If you want 15ft cables, choose the 30ft option with 50% red 50% black.

The 4AWG copper cables should allow you to start many vehicles with a completely dead battery, as opposed to thinner cables that are more like charging cables than jumper cables.
 
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