[mike s]

It's also worth considering where, and why, silver plating is used in professional kit. It's for a.c. and generally for a.c. at high, often very high, frequencies. The skin effect of conductors has been known for a long time, certainly since the 1930s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

Using silver wire for low frequencies (e.g. audio) is surely just another audiophile affectation.

[Big Bad Bob]

On 05/05/11 09:40, mike s so wittily quipped:
It's also worth considering where, and why, silver plating is used in professional kit. It's for a.c. and generally for a.c. at high, often very high, frequencies. The skin effect of conductors has been known for a long time, certainly since the 1930s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

Using silver wire for low frequencies (e.g. audio) is surely just another audiophile affectation.

in the power industry, high voltage lines are usually pipes rather than
solid wire, because of skin effect. lower weight, lower cost, AND
similar conductivity for high voltage AC current. makes sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electri...r_transmission

(link to preclude trolling)

[mick]

On Thu, 05 May 2011 14:54:03 -0700, Big Bad Bob wrote:

snip


in the power industry, high voltage lines are usually pipes rather than
solid wire, because of skin effect. lower weight, lower cost, AND
similar conductivity for high voltage AC current. makes sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electri...r_transmission

(link to preclude trolling)


Also look for a product called Cuponal. Similar idea to the above, but
smaller. It's copper plated aluminium for making busbars. Similar
conductivity to copper at 50/60Hz because of skin effect but a lot
lighter and cheaper. You can joint it just like copper busbar.

--
Mick (Working in a M$-free zone!)
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Filtering everything posted from googlegroups to kill spam.

[Don Pearce[_3_]]

On 07 May 2011 08:09:25 GMT, mick wrote:

On Thu, 05 May 2011 14:54:03 -0700, Big Bad Bob wrote:

snip


in the power industry, high voltage lines are usually pipes rather than
solid wire, because of skin effect. lower weight, lower cost, AND
similar conductivity for high voltage AC current. makes sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electri...r_transmission

(link to preclude trolling)


Also look for a product called Cuponal. Similar idea to the above, but
smaller. It's copper plated aluminium for making busbars. Similar
conductivity to copper at 50/60Hz because of skin effect but a lot
lighter and cheaper. You can joint it just like copper busbar.

Skin depth at 50Hz is 9.35mm. It increases to nearly 11mm if the
temperature climbs to 100C because of dissipation. You are going to
need something thicker than plating to take advantage of skin depth
with copper over aluminium.

d

[Big Bad Bob]

On 05/07/11 02:59, Don Pearce so wittily quipped:
Also look for a product called Cuponal. Similar idea to the above, but
smaller. It's copper plated aluminium for making busbars. Similar
conductivity to copper at 50/60Hz because of skin effect but a lot
lighter and cheaper. You can joint it just like copper busbar.

Skin depth at 50Hz is 9.35mm. It increases to nearly 11mm if the
temperature climbs to 100C because of dissipation. You are going to
need something thicker than plating to take advantage of skin depth
with copper over aluminium.

you could theoretically 'plate' something that thick, but it would
probably be more like 'cladding' than plating.