Aluminium search coil

[Jester]

Hi everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has any info on aluminium search coils?
Will they perform roughly the same as copper if the resistance and inductance is the same?
Any insight would be great.
Thanks.

[6666]

Hi everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has any info on aluminium search coils?
Will they perform roughly the same as copper if the resistance and inductance is the same?
Any insight would be great.
Thanks.

Trying to connect the lead is the hardest part

[Nandor]

Whites 950 coils for IDX has aluminium TX, I had to change it to copper.

[AK48]

" I had to change it to copper " tell me why

[Nandor]

I have bought it from ebay, from England for 20 pounds. It was faulty, I thought that the cable is broken but I had to take it apart than I saw that the Tx coil joint was oxidized. I couldnt belive my eyes, it's 0.71mm alu coil joint together with a metalic clip to the Tx bucking coil. So I changed it with a 0.45mm copper coil than changed some caps and now it works. Its still not finished, I have to put some more glue but it works really good.

There is no way to solder alu to copper with amateur tools.

Happy new year, regards

[Carl-NC]

White's used aluminum wire in the 950 for a number of years to make it lighter, but then had coils failing exactly as Nandor described. They switched back to copper. There is "aluminum grease" used for aluminum feeder cables in home wiring that helps prevent oxidation problems, but I don't think aluminum wire is worth the trouble.

[AK48]

I noticed that the transport of electricity on very high voltage lines was done with aluminum cables, for what reason knowing that aluminum is less good conductor than copper?

[Carl-NC]

Much cheaper.

[kt315]

I did read that copper was returned into the electric nets because aluminum has a bad property - some fluidity in the joints.
why contact is lost over time and leads to fires.

[lamoiz]

I noticed that the transport of electricity on very high voltage lines was done with aluminum cables, for what reason knowing that aluminum is less good conductor than copper?

because it is cheaper than copper, lighter, and because at more than 60kv, the electrons run on the skin of the cable, and whether it is in aluminum or copper it does not change anything.

[Qiaozhi]

Garrett also used aluminium wire for the TX loop in their Crossfire coils, probably because it weighs less than copper. However, the aluminium to copper connection is a point of failure. I repaired one of their 12" diameter Crossfire coils using aluminium solder.

[dbanner]

White's used aluminum wire in the 950 for a number of years to make it lighter, but then had coils failing exactly as Nandor described. They switched back to copper. There is "aluminum grease" used for aluminum feeder cables in home wiring that helps prevent oxidation problems, but I don't think aluminum wire is worth the trouble.

Making the coil lighter yes, and also more inexpensive when scaled up to produce thousands of search coils.
I take it that aluminum magnet wire requires more turns or larger cross section for a given inductance because it has less conductivity. I wonder what would be the q factor comparison for a given inductance at a particular frequency between a coil wound from aluminum and another wound from copper wire. There respective dynamic electrical characteristics are bound to diverge.
Seems the greatest hurdle was connecting the ends to the circuit.

[profesor]

Aluminum supports the outer area due to its paramagnetic effect.
That's why garret crossfire coils and whites bluemax deepscan 950 coils are very performance.

[AK48]

an engineer told me that in the event of a lightning thunderbolt on the wire the damage would be less with aluminum than with copper it is also for this reason that the television antennas are made of aluminum

[Tinkerer]

Garrett also used aluminium wire for the TX loop in their Crossfire coils, probably because it weighs less than copper. However, the aluminium to copper connection is a point of failure. I repaired one of their 12" diameter Crossfire coils using aluminium solder.

Looking on Alibaba, one finds copper coated aluminum magnet wire.
Supose the copper coating helps for the soldering.
The higher conductivity outside might also have an influence on skin effect.