Aluminum ground cables?

Just throwing in my 2 cent.

I wonder how well aluminum conducts compared to burnt copper wires??? I can’t say I’ve ever seen a burnt aluminum anything? Corroded but not burnt.

I also wonder how well the cable assemblies will handle heat expansion and cold shrinkage? Will there be a bigger problem with breakage inside the insulation.

I’m split on this one, could be better could be worse. Only time will tell.

 

You can solder aluminum, it takes a special cleaner/ acid and solder. I bought some from a salesman once. It worked, it wasn’t pretty, but it worked. So I’d like to ask them, what makes them not serviceable??

 

It's not so much about connectivity than it is about melting point. When you get a loose wire and we all know how the wires on batteries loosen up over time from hitting all the cracks in the road, that aluminum will not take heat like copper.

Aluminum will melt at 1221f and copper at 1984f. If you get a loose wire copper will hold up better than aluminum.

 

In 1976 a fuel tanker where I lived caught fire, it was aluminum, the wheels were aluminum, the KW pulling it had an aluminum frame, the cab was aluminum and fiberglass.
When the fire was out, if yoI guess technically it didn't burn, but it sure melted, it looked like an alittle aluminum river melted in the asphalt out of the parking lot and across the highway. lolu started at the front of the tuck, there was a notor laying on a set of springs and a steer axle still hooked to the steering gearbox, but minus the wheels.
Walking on back, the driveline was still hooked to the trannyy and it was the only thing all the way to the rearends, that had a fifth wheel and some metal from out from the kingpin area or
f the trailer laying on them, then there was nothing back to the trailer tandems and substructure that held the suspension.
I

 

I have my doubts about the longevity, compared to copper. Battery cables will eventually corrode, but most of the other wires on a truck doesn't and stays some what flexible. I have my doubts the aluminum will take years of vibration and not get hard and start breaking.

 

How does that make it any different from a steel bodied truck that would have been a total loss just the same?

 

The steel bodied truck would not be aluminum, so would have nothing to do with aluminum burning.