Cleaning copper wire
Cleaning copper wire
(OP)
Hi. Another off-beat question. Can anyone recommend a material, probably a liquid (acid or base ?), which will effectively remove oxide from a heavy stranded cable. Soldering flux is not an option, as the cable is about 100mm^2/.15in^2, stranded. It is also rubber insulated, so heating is not an option. I want to clean it before clamping a connector, and sleeving with glue-lined heat-shrink.
Thanks-in-advance
Thanks-in-advance





RE: Cleaning copper wire
RE: Cleaning copper wire
Standby for confirmation from others!
RE: Cleaning copper wire
"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington
RE: Cleaning copper wire
RE: Cleaning copper wire
3 step process I learned from the fishing fleet electricians in Seattle:
Step one, dip and swirl the stripped end of the wire in a solution of one tbsp of salt and 2 cups of liquid muratic acid (swimming pool acid) until the green or white crud goes away.
Step two, dip and swirl in a container of 2 tbsp of baking soda and 2 cups of water for about 1 minute to neutralize the acid.
Step three, dip and swirl the wire in distilled water to clean off the baking soda residue.
Allow to thoroughly dry before using, use a blow dryer if necessary. It might oxidize to a dark color quickly after this, but don't worry about that.
Every 10 or so connections, throw out the acid and distilled water and start over with new batches, you can just keep adding baking soda to the other container until it get too thick, then start over.
"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington
RE: Cleaning copper wire
Probably an awful lot of that back in the day, but serious trouble today.
RE: Cleaning copper wire
jraef's cleaning method is interesting - it's similar to the 'pickling' process used by metalworkers to clean and de-scale copper and brass before things got all boring and safe.
RE: Cleaning copper wire
RE: Cleaning copper wire
I'd consider adding one more step: I'd tin the end of the wire after cleaning it and before drying. Don't do this by soldering, assuming this is a THICK cable and you're worried about damaging the insulation. You can buy an "elecroless" tinning solution which is intended for coating the copper on circuit boards. This will keep the oxidation and hence the contact resistance, lower for longer than it would be otherwise. Don't want to tin? There are corrosion protection greases intended for electrical connections that can be used instead. They typically use zinc particles in the grease as a sacrificial anode.
RE: Cleaning copper wire
I was told you can make oxalic acid by boiling rhubarb leaves and use that. Never tried it though. Almighty Google might be able to check the veracity of that, but I'm too lazy now to check.
"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington
RE: Cleaning copper wire
Acid plus base -> salt ... of some sort. I probably scraped more copper (40 year-old anti-fouling) off a square inch of my hull than I would flush in with this job. I may just use copper loaded grease, then seal with heat-shrink.
RE: Cleaning copper wire
Dan - Owner
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RE: Cleaning copper wire
I will reserve it for things (if it ever happens) which will be soldered immediately.