Why Copper
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haleem



Joined: 30 Mar 2005
Posts: 1

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:57 am    Post subject: Why Copper Reply with quote

i have a question, why copper is used in stripboard instead of other elements?

thanx Smile

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jim dorey
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:10 am    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 01:07:25 -0600, haleem
<bu_humaid2@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote:

Quote:
i have a question, why copper is used in stripboard instead of other
elements?

thanx :)

cheap, conductive, malleable, solderable. probably others will add
reasons, or change the order, heck aluminum's been used as conductors, but
it corrodes far easier than copper.

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
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Art
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

Probably because it had been discovered years earlier than many of the more
expensive, possible replacements. Also Copper Conductor hard wire cables
have been used many years before Printed Circuitry was even considered,
"just use the available product and make a way of mass producing it".
"jim dorey" <skaar@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:opsof16qimfr5e9h@trebuchet...
Quote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 01:07:25 -0600, haleem
bu_humaid2@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote:

i have a question, why copper is used in stripboard instead of other
elements?

thanx :)

cheap, conductive, malleable, solderable. probably others will add
reasons, or change the order, heck aluminum's been used as conductors, but
it corrodes far easier than copper.

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/


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mc
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:14 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

Well... Gold and silver might be a bit better, but too expensive. You will
occasionally see copper with gold, silver, or tin plating on it. Tin
enhances solderability but by itself melts at too low a temperature.

Aluminum is a good conductor but not solderable. More importantly, aluminum
forms an *invisible* nonconductive coating as it oxidizes in air. With
copper, you can see the tarnishing happen, which is much better; you know
whether it's clean or not.

Iron and steel are harder to solder than copper.
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Ross Herbert
Guest





Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 7:10 am    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 01:07:25 -0600,
bu_humaid2@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (haleem) wrote:

Quote:
i have a question, why copper is used in stripboard instead of other
elements?

thanx :)

If you need to ask this question then I don't see a future for you in
electronics. Have you ever thought of doing some basic research on the
web, or even reading a few books from your library?
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mc
Guest





Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:07 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

"Ross Herbert" <rherber1SPAMEX@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:prvm41d6t1onihhn3u0p5fv4firlj0l3fa@4ax.com...
Quote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 01:07:25 -0600,
bu_humaid2@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (haleem) wrote:

i have a question, why copper is used in stripboard instead of other
elements?

thanx :)

If you need to ask this question then I don't see a future for you in
electronics. Have you ever thought of doing some basic research on the
web, or even reading a few books from your library?

Is this forum only for questions that cannot be answered by library
research? I've been using it sporadically for about a decade and never knew
of that restriction.

If you don't want to answer a basic question, you don't have to.
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:10 am    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

"mc" <mc_no_spam@uga.edu> wrote in message
news:424b9b85$1@mustang.speedfactory.net...
Quote:

"Ross Herbert" <rherber1SPAMEX@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:prvm41d6t1onihhn3u0p5fv4firlj0l3fa@4ax.com...
On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 01:07:25 -0600,
bu_humaid2@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (haleem) wrote:

i have a question, why copper is used in stripboard instead of other
elements?

thanx :)

If you need to ask this question then I don't see a future for you
in
electronics. Have you ever thought of doing some basic research on
the
web, or even reading a few books from your library?

Is this forum only for questions that cannot be answered by library
research? I've been using it sporadically for about a decade and
never knew
of that restriction.

If you don't want to answer a basic question, you don't have to.

Yes, and if you don't like the question the luser asks, because it shows
that he did absolutely no reading up on it using the Web, then you can
rebuke the luser.

So there may not be a restriction, but you can certainly expect a rebuke
from others.
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:10 am    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

"mc" <mc_no_spam@uga.edu> wrote in message
news:424aca3c$1@mustang.speedfactory.net...
Quote:
Well... Gold and silver might be a bit better, but too expensive. You
will
occasionally see copper with gold, silver, or tin plating on it. Tin
enhances solderability but by itself melts at too low a temperature.

Aluminum is a good conductor but not solderable.

Change that to solderable with difficulty. There are fluxes such as
fluoride fluxes that will make soldering to aluminum easy. I soldered a
piece of aluminum by sanding it and covering it with a layer of greasy
flux to prevent it from oxidizing. Then with a soldering iron that puts
out a lot of heat, the solder wets the aluminum like other metals.

Quote:
More importantly, aluminum
forms an *invisible* nonconductive coating as it oxidizes in air.

If that were true, you could not test for conductivity with a DMM for
example. The layer is so thin that it poses little barrier to
electricity. As far as invisible, well, if the aluminum has been
exposed to air then it is a given that it has the oxide layer.

Quote:
With
copper, you can see the tarnishing happen, which is much better; you
know
whether it's clean or not.

With aluminum, it's a given that it has the oxide layer.

Quote:
Iron and steel are harder to solder than copper.

Again, it depends. On how thick the metal is, what lind of flux is
used, and of course, the solder, etc. Remember that the usual soldering
process is optimized for copper, so using it on a different metal may
not give as good a result.
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jim dorey
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:10 am    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 22:04:44 -0800, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

Quote:
Again, it depends. On how thick the metal is, what lind of flux is
used, and of course, the solder, etc. Remember that the usual soldering
process is optimized for copper, so using it on a different metal may
not give as good a result.

and iron and steel are soldered all the time, in industry, in home shops,
no big problem, but it's called brazing, cause brass is used as the solder
i guess. the temps are quite high, so it's not really applicable to
electronics, but i suppose industrial cabling could use it.

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
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Michael A. Terrell
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

jim dorey wrote:
Quote:

and iron and steel are soldered all the time, in industry, in home shops,
no big problem, but it's called brazing, cause brass is used as the solder
i guess. the temps are quite high, so it's not really applicable to
electronics, but i suppose industrial cabling could use it.


I ran into a problem where someone tried to fix a leak in t water
cooled TV transmitter by braising the brass fittings to the 2" copper
pipe. It was a real pain in the ass to salvage the brass fittings which
were long out of production. I had to cut the pipe off flush, then
carefully file away the braised areas before I could heat everything and
pry out the copper stubs. The brass parts were used to split the water
flow for different tubes and had been custom cast in the early '50s

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
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Spehro Pefhany
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 15:00:26 GMT, the renowned "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Quote:
jim dorey wrote:

and iron and steel are soldered all the time, in industry, in home shops,
no big problem, but it's called brazing, cause brass is used as the solder
i guess. the temps are quite high, so it's not really applicable to
electronics, but i suppose industrial cabling could use it.

Brazing is done with "hard" (silver) solder. It doesn't seem to have
anything to do directly with brass- the other meaning of "braze"
(decorate, make of, or make hard like brass) came from a different
word (OE "braes") according to AH4.

Quote:
I ran into a problem where someone tried to fix a leak in t water
cooled TV transmitter by braising the brass fittings to the 2" copper
pipe. It was a real pain in the ass to salvage the brass fittings which
were long out of production. I had to cut the pipe off flush, then
carefully file away the braised areas before I could heat everything and
pry out the copper stubs. The brass parts were used to split the water
flow for different tubes and had been custom cast in the early '50s

BTW, "braising" is a cooking term- browning in fat, then simmering in
a bit of liquid. The root (OF "brese") is thought to be the same for
the two words.

Sounds like a real PITA to salvage the manifold. I imagine it would be
easy to have small leaks if you were not very careful.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

"jim dorey" <skaar@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:opsolkd1icfr5e9h@trebuchet...
Quote:
On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 22:04:44 -0800, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

Again, it depends. On how thick the metal is, what lind of flux is
used, and of course, the solder, etc. Remember that the usual
soldering
process is optimized for copper, so using it on a different metal
may
not give as good a result.

and iron and steel are soldered all the time, in industry, in home
shops,
no big problem, but it's called brazing, cause brass is used as the
solder
i guess. the temps are quite high, so it's not really applicable to
electronics, but i suppose industrial cabling could use it.

Brazing isn't soldering because it doesn't use solder.

Long ago I watched a guy putting in a cathodic protection system. they
dug a 3 or 4 foot deep trench and drilled holes every so often along its
length. The holes each had a carbon cylinder with a large copper
condsuctor coming out of it. The trench had a heavy copper conductor
along its length, and at each cylinder, the copper conductors had to be
joined. So the guy had a firebrick mold that he clamped around the two
conductors. He filled it with a thermite compound that had a lot of
copper in it. When he lit it off, it burned like a very bright
sparkler, and left a casting of copper or some alloy around the two
conductors.

Quote:
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
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Michael A. Terrell
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

Spehro Pefhany wrote:
Quote:

On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 15:00:26 GMT, the renowned "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

jim dorey wrote:

and iron and steel are soldered all the time, in industry, in home shops,
no big problem, but it's called brazing, cause brass is used as the solder
i guess. the temps are quite high, so it's not really applicable to
electronics, but i suppose industrial cabling could use it.

Brazing is done with "hard" (silver) solder. It doesn't seem to have
anything to do directly with brass- the other meaning of "braze"
(decorate, make of, or make hard like brass) came from a different
word (OE "braes") according to AH4.

I ran into a problem where someone tried to fix a leak in t water
cooled TV transmitter by braising the brass fittings to the 2" copper
pipe. It was a real pain in the ass to salvage the brass fittings which
were long out of production. I had to cut the pipe off flush, then
carefully file away the braised areas before I could heat everything and
pry out the copper stubs. The brass parts were used to split the water
flow for different tubes and had been custom cast in the early '50s

BTW, "braising" is a cooking term- browning in fat, then simmering in
a bit of liquid. The root (OF "brese") is thought to be the same for
the two words.


Sorry but my eyes are bothering me today so i just used the spell
checker.

Quote:
Sounds like a real PITA to salvage the manifold. I imagine it would be
easy to have small leaks if you were not very careful.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany


This was a high pressure system with 7000 volts DC on the water and
they had used brass rod in their attempts to repair the plumbing. When
I reassembled the cooling system I pre tinned the pipe and all the
fittings, removed the flux and looked for any area that wasn't tinned
before I soldered everything together with an acetylene torch and a
small tip

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
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jim dorey
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:25:53 -0800, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

Quote:
Brazing isn't soldering because it doesn't use solder.

i believe that even if it doesn't contain lead it can be called solder,
far as i know it refers to any non-fusion weld involving metal as a glue.
or are you refering to another reason it's not soldering?

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest





Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Copper Reply with quote

"jim dorey" <skaar@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:opsomeotb8fr5e9h@trebuchet...
Quote:
On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:25:53 -0800, Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

Brazing isn't soldering because it doesn't use solder.

i believe that even if it doesn't contain lead it can be called
solder,
far as i know it refers to any non-fusion weld involving metal as a
glue.
or are you refering to another reason it's not soldering?

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:brazing

Looks like the consensus is that brazing is higher temp than soldering.
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