Any chance 10% Copper Clad Aluminum Enameled magnet wire would perform significantly better in long-term corrosion resistant durability & extended continuity lifespan ? .....As I've never seen any examples of long term solid copper enameled mag wire corrosion or pit opens, would 10% Copper Clad Aluminum magnet wire exhibit significantly Longer corrosion free Lifespan & Reduced pit--open continuity failures long-term performance ??
Jmj
Jmj
Your question is not clearly written, sorry.
In any case, IF you are asking for comparison between copper-clad aluminum and pure copper, the first one will corrode much easier BUT no need to be a problem if you are careful as in: don´t give corrosion a chance.
Meaning enameling, if intact, will insulate complicated metal from oxygen, humidity and salts, acid vapours, etc. and you must protect joints, say soldered ones to external wiring very well.
Maybe some kind of Epoxy, PH neutral silicone, etc.
In any case, IF you are asking for comparison between copper-clad aluminum and pure copper, the first one will corrode much easier BUT no need to be a problem if you are careful as in: don´t give corrosion a chance.
Meaning enameling, if intact, will insulate complicated metal from oxygen, humidity and salts, acid vapours, etc. and you must protect joints, say soldered ones to external wiring very well.
Maybe some kind of Epoxy, PH neutral silicone, etc.
Using solid copper will probably be better for more than just corrosion too, as it's just easier to work with. CCA is rarely better in any case except cost reduction.
Let me clarify....The T-1D's 4 ohm impedance comes primarily from the serpentine pattern (like resistive heating element wire pattern) of Solid Aluminum Enameled round mag wire (25 ga & 35 ga) voice coil's DC Resistance componet, which self corrodes & goes open in as little as 10 yrs...Solid copper wire would be unusable too low DC resistance (2 ohms) .....I need to re-lay the Aluminum VC serpentine wiring with new.....That's over 300 ft of wire per speaker & I'm trying to Significantly Increase it's usable lifespan (way reduce or eliminate the VC's corroded opens)....Assuming copper enameled mag doesn't self corrode & copper clad aluminum enameled wire measures nearly same DCR as solid aluminum wire.....
The DC resistance is dominant part of the total impedance at planars (weak electro-mechanical coupling, relative simple XO and small inductance of the drivers).
I think the question is if the coated wire will still act as reactively than the original wire. Good question. As long as the magnetic field can move it the same distance as the original, it should work. I'd want to prototype it before laying down 300' of wire.
One thing no one brought up yet is the weight of the wire. Looking at some datasheets, it appears that 25 gauge 10% copper clad aluminum is about 23% heavier than plain aluminum. Differences in sensitivity and resonance seem likely. I haven't done it though, so can't predict the magnitude.
As stated above, for weight you might have reduce the wire gauge. I do like the idea of copper clad aluminum if you can work out the weight. It ought to be much more immune to corrosion and pitting, which is what kills most Maggie wires, even tho they are embedded in glue.
However, if copper clad aluminum would work better, wouldn't Magnepan have done it decades ago?
However, if copper clad aluminum would work better, wouldn't Magnepan have done it decades ago?
I could drop a 1/2 ga size (25 1/2 & 35 1/2) if needed to get to original wire weight if necessary.....Appears just like Something other than normal Mid-Atlantic state Air, massively Attacked & killed All my voice coil wiring since there's no apparent steel frame or hardware rust anywhere in these otherwise perfectly intact (no delaminated or melted wire failures or damaged Mylar film diaphragm).....Magnepan apparently still uses the Same type aluminium wire in their re-wire kits & factory rebuilds & Disturbingly, the same primary adhesive (3M FastBond 30NF), a waterbased Polychloroprene adhesive data sheet clearly states "Do not use on metals" !! .....Wouldn't this ex$pensive chemistry disaster likely Repeat itself in my ownership plans ?? ......Just reaching out for help in trying to minimize or avoid the same historic results if one keeps using the same construction componets & adhesives techniques........
Sorry but you have no clue.
CCA is 50 times more expensive than equivalent enamelled copper wire and very hard to find, only a few specialized suppliers carry it, while copper is everywhere.
And the main advange is much reduced weight and mass, compared to equivalent copper, and a most important factor in a lightweight membrane speaker.
I should know, I wind my own voice coils.
I used rubber cement for my rewire and then the blue/green liquid over that. My hope is that the rubber cement will keep at least some of the oxygen and moisture away from the aluminum. Yes, it's same old wire from Magnepan. I did not like their solder at all, so I bought my own.
Hey guys......The Factory speakers Came with enameled solid Aluminum VC wire glued serpentine on the Mylar film diaphragm & Corroded open circuit over time like they all do.....NOT coiled or bobbin wound & has No inductive impedance ohms.....It Must have higher DC resistance of Aluminum wire to get 8 DC ohms (150 ft) & properly fit the diaphragm area.....Solid copper VC wire is too heavy & way too Low DC resistance to use.....The idea is to have the bulk Resitive, but unstable Aluminum wire core Inbedded sealed Beneath the more (hopefully) stable Copper Cladding layer & then the normal Enameled insulation surrounding layer on top for more seperation to Whatever causes the repeated corrosive pit opens.....ECCA mag wire produces > 75 % of required solid Aluminum wire weight & DC resistance Without the reactive, corrosive Aluminum surface....The Factory's continued use of the Greenish waterbased FastBond 30NF liquid Chlorobutyl rubber fixative Deff contains the highly Corrosive to Aluminum metal reactive Clorine !! ....It just needs to slowly leach thru any Enameled coating pinhole thin points & Crusto-crunch,....your Required Aluminum VC wire circuit is full of opens !! ....Trying to get the Max seperation between the required Aluminum wire core & whatever is causing the sure to happen Again....useless speaker corroded VC wire.....
Yes, the weight vs DCR trade off is tricky. I really wanted to use copper wire on my rebuild, but could not make the numbers work. Maybe with copper coated Al you can. I used spray adhesive on the full replacement of the tweeter wire, with the 30NF over it. Does it have to be there? I don't know. On the very small section of woofer coil that needed replacing, I just used DAP rubber cement.
Is the FastBond needed to keep the wires on the Mylar? Could something else be used?
Is the FastBond needed to keep the wires on the Mylar? Could something else be used?
It´s hard to make anything stick to Mylar, very smooth and pore-less surface.
When I bought Mylar in bulk for my own voice coils, straight from the Du Pont representative in Argentina, he wanted me to sign a release stating I wouldn´t sue them for damages derived from "loss of adhesi0n" or some similar nonsense.
A Chemist friend concocted an evil mixture, very aggressive and to be used only in open air, which slightly etched Mylar surface and improved Epoxy adhesion a lot.
But I hadn´t to overdo it because it would weaken the voice coil former.
When I bought Mylar in bulk for my own voice coils, straight from the Du Pont representative in Argentina, he wanted me to sign a release stating I wouldn´t sue them for damages derived from "loss of adhesi0n" or some similar nonsense.
A Chemist friend concocted an evil mixture, very aggressive and to be used only in open air, which slightly etched Mylar surface and improved Epoxy adhesion a lot.
But I hadn´t to overdo it because it would weaken the voice coil former.
Yes and no. The resistive part of the impedance of a speaker does not bring any added value to the speaker but only converts the received energy into heat instead of turning it into mechanical work (sound).
Yes, true enough. Room temperature superconducting voice coils would be nice, right? No more waste heat.
We can suppose that the reason Magnepan uses aluminum wire is to keep the minimum impedance up at a level that won't shot circuit a power amp. For the same weight of copper wire the minimum impedance (DCR) might be too low for most amps.
We can suppose that the reason Magnepan uses aluminum wire is to keep the minimum impedance up at a level that won't shot circuit a power amp. For the same weight of copper wire the minimum impedance (DCR) might be too low for most amps.
Superconducting VC and the electromagnets. The drivers impedance will be dominated by back EMF, or at higher frequency by inductance.