Cleaning Copper
03-10-2004, 12:16 AM
#1
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 410
Ok, so i'm out here in Calgary now and in the bargain finder i see an add for 50' of welding cable for $50
So i go and take a look, it's 1/0ga so a really nice size and there are 2 chunks of it. So anyways I buy it and while loading it grab both chunks and the guy says "Oh... your taking them both? I was thinking just one... ... ah hell why not, take them! i'll never use them"
So i get home and start streching them out, the one i can stand at the doorway in the garage, walk through the garage, down the driveway, across the street and into the neibours driveway. The other one is about 1/2 that length
So needless to say i got ALOT of cable for $50! Now i peeled back the last 6" or so of shielding and noticed there is some corrosion.. it's not BAD but it is there.
How can i clean this? I've tried Acetone, Carb cleaner, paint thinner... nothing seems to get this copper CLEAN.
I was also thinking maybe the corrosion is just at the ends and a couple feet down maybe it's fine... but i don't feel like hacking off chunks of wire just to see if they are good unless need be.
I know there are copper cleaners around... but i've never used any and don't know where they would be. Anyone ever came across this problem and come up with a solution?
So i go and take a look, it's 1/0ga so a really nice size and there are 2 chunks of it. So anyways I buy it and while loading it grab both chunks and the guy says "Oh... your taking them both? I was thinking just one... ... ah hell why not, take them! i'll never use them"
So i get home and start streching them out, the one i can stand at the doorway in the garage, walk through the garage, down the driveway, across the street and into the neibours driveway. The other one is about 1/2 that length
So needless to say i got ALOT of cable for $50! Now i peeled back the last 6" or so of shielding and noticed there is some corrosion.. it's not BAD but it is there.
How can i clean this? I've tried Acetone, Carb cleaner, paint thinner... nothing seems to get this copper CLEAN.
I was also thinking maybe the corrosion is just at the ends and a couple feet down maybe it's fine... but i don't feel like hacking off chunks of wire just to see if they are good unless need be.
I know there are copper cleaners around... but i've never used any and don't know where they would be. Anyone ever came across this problem and come up with a solution?
03-10-2004, 04:10 AM
#2
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 295
Cut a foot of it off and strip it, the corrosion is most likely at the very end, a foot down the cable has not seen neither light nor air since it was wrapped in insulation. If you want to take the corrosion off get out your troche and burn it then hit it with a wire brush. Its easiest just to take it a foot from the end of the cable.
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