Any electricians in the house? ;O)

[Flying Eye]

Hi all,

OK, I need some help; I spotted these things at screwfix http://www.screwfix.com/p/10mm-copper-t ... f-10/97936 They come in a number of different sizes apparently.

Problem is, I'm not an electrician and I'm not wanting to use them for electricity. I want to use them as the ends for bracing rods. I can get 5mm diameter aluminium for fairly cheap I also have in stock an assortment of solid fiberglass rods in those and other sizes, and was going to use it to lightly brace the legs on a sub frame I am making, in a tri-point, criss cross style, similar to the tails on some open tailed helicopters, like SA 315b Lama and Bell 47g, that sort of thing.

Anyway they appear use a language from another planet on that page, can anyone help me decipher it please? I want to use 5mm or maybe 6mm rod, and I also want to use M4, M5 or M6 bolts in the screw hole in the flat end. My intention is to stick them on the rod ends with an epoxy or at a pinch silicon, I'm not intending to crimp them. All I need to figure out is the diameter of cable (or in this case rod) that would fit in them!

Maybe they don't come as big as I need, but I can't properly tell from the photo or the description.

[bruce45]

best check out standard wire gauge sizes
10mm is the cross section area of the cable if i remember correctly

[beteljuice]

Use the second (right-hand side) of this calculator to determine the diameter of a given cable csa.

eg. 10mm2 = 3.57mm

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator ... ection.htm

[sooty]

Copper + Aluminum is a bad combination for electrolytic corrosion, it'll be fine in the dry, but probably not suitable for permanent outdoor installation in the UK.

[Flying Eye]

bruce45

yes, that what I was thinking, made it a bit extra complicated.

beteljuice

the calculator you found was much better than those I found, and I found quite a few! I probably need the 16mm sq.

sooty

good point, I had better stick with the fiberglass rods then.


Thank you all very much indeed.

[pete_c]

Here across the pond electrical code standards vary. There are national codes and state codes. They are somewhat different.

IE: my home in the midwest uses metal conduit for all of the electric. I've added circuits to my fuse panel (200 AMP service) and run separate conduit with specific guage wiring depending on the amperage load of the circuit. So the fuse panel has a range of fuse breakers from about 10 AMP to 30 AMP. Bending conduit and putting it inside of a finished wall is kind of a pain.

Last fuse panel endeavor was to install a commercial transient suppressor adjacent to the fuse panel. It used 8 guage wires. It has a little computer circut that measures transients and trips the security system should one occur. It actually worked this past summer when a lightning strike struck between an adjacent home. Neighbors TV, Computer, Network , washer and dryer burned up. I only had some RS-232 modules which were connected to outside stuff burn up.

In Florida the home is all plastic shielded of various diameter wires just tacked to the inside of walls. Metal cleats are put on the studs over where the wires pass. There are also fire breaks in the walls. This makes it a bit difficult to add new wires.

For the weather station in the Midwest I used a short maybe 1-1.5 meter 1.5 inch plastic PVC pipe connected via clamps to a metal pipe with standoffs. This is all hanging off of the digital satellite mounting bracket on the second store roof chimney. Easy to get to difficult to get down. The pitch of the roof makes for a free fall sliding down the roof to the gutter and the ladder; which I do not like to do. On it right now is just a 1-wire AAG wind instrument, GPS antenna for time sync, Lighting sensor, combo light, humidity and temperature pagoda. I removed the rain bucket and put it more easily accessible and closer to the ground. Testing a GPS / antenna for time sync in the attic and it sees 6 GPS satellites with no issues. I've been told that the lightning sensor will also work in the attic; so will move it there. Today I have a variety of antennas in the attic (large attic) and they work fine. Rules in our subdivision prevent me from putting up too many antennas outside.

[artworksmetal]

One note on the fiberglass rods - After a year outside they look about the same, but the surface deteriorates a bit. You grab it for some reason with your bare hand, and get a thousand glass splinters that are too small to see, but you can feel them for a week.
Been there, done that.

[Flying Eye]

Thanks guys, I decided to go the more usual route now. I know about the splinters having been a kite flyer for many years, and yes, you really won't want that splinter thing going on.

I went with smaller ally l angle section for the bracing, only thing I don't know now is about the mix of ally for the frame and stainless for the bolts. I have no idea if or where one might get ally bolts. I'm guessing they would be more prone to seizing pretty early anyway.



Came out OK for a first go. I'll maybe tweak it a bit further, but for now I'm just keeping an eye on how it goes.

[beteljuice]

All you have to do now is put in your wireless 'wildlife' cam

[Flying Eye]

All you have to do now is put in your wireless 'wildlife' cam

I don't have a wireless one, but oddly something along those lines has been on my mind of late.

I have to say this thing makes one hell of an environment shield for a mic too! Still needs a lightweight pop shield, but that aside.....

I hope to get some great birdsong at some point.