Copper Clad: Everything You Should Know

Do you want to learn more about Copper clad and all the things you can make with it? Then, this article is the perfect place to get started.

For years, Copper clad has been the go-to for many wiring applications because of its high conductivity and low resistance.

Unfortunately, understanding and choosing the perfect Copper plating products, especially with heavy copper PCB for your projects, could be pretty tricky.

But thankfully, we created this article to give you an in-depth look into everything you need to know about these heavy copper metals and how to choose the perfect annealed Copper for your project.

1. What is Copper Clad Made Of?

Copper clad is made up of two metals.

How?

There must be a second metal (core material) inside a copper plating to produce a copper-clad. Plus, they are not 100% copper but still offer almost the same properties as Copper and the capability of Copper.

Hence, you can have fusions that consist of:

• Copper and steel
• Copper and aluminium
• And Copper with a few reinforcing materials

2. What Are the Advantages of Copper Clad Products?

Various Copper plating products have different benefits.

So, here are some advantages of these products:

Copper Clad Aluminium Wire (CCA or CCAW)

The Copper coat aluminium wire is a material made with an aluminium core shrouded in Copper for better electrical conductivity.

Thus, you can use CCA for electrical wirings, power cables, and voice coils in earphones.

Advantages

CCA wires are more affordable when compared to copper cable wires. Also, it offers a high resistance similar to a pure copper conductor because of its skin effect.

The skin effect allows the wire to focus the currents on its copper exterior. Also, you can use it for frequency application and frequency coaxial cables application.

Plus, the CCA is lightweight, and it shows remarkable properties of pure copper wire while removing the demerits of pure aluminium.

A roll of pure copper cables.

Copper Clads Steel (CCS)

Copper clad steel is steel covered in Copper. This electrical conductor is quite prominent in the copper wire industry because it combines the high tensile strength of steel with corrosion resistance and conductivity of Copper.

Advantages

You can use CCS products for anything relating to grounding, including connecting ground rods to metal structures, lightning arrestors, and power installations.

Also, you can use Copper for the copper-plated steel to transmit power.

But that's not all. It also has a high resistance to fatigue and tension.

Copper Clads Board/Laminate (CCL)

The copper-clad board comes from a reinforcing material laminated with Copper on both sides after soaking it in resin.

These boards have high heat resistance and can withstand punched holes without breaking.

Advantages

You can use CCL as a base material for printed circuit boards (PCB). Its high conductivity makes it easier for the circuit to carry voltage around the board without overheating, thanks to its "Copper on Steel" feature.

Plus, you can easily etch your circuit designs on the board and use them for your FM transmitter circuit or any other copper plating process.

3. What's the Difference between Copper and Copper Clads?

Since Copper has a 97.6% conductivity, manufacturers used it as the go-to for wiring and circuits.

But as good as Copper was, most manufacturers could not handle the costs. Thus, Copper plating became the best fit for many manufacturers because of features like;

• The Copper recovery
• Copper layer thickness
• Copper over a steel core

But there's more.

It costs less than Copper and offers almost the same quality.

For a more detailed comparison, we will be discussing the differences between Copper and all the Copper clad products in the next section.

Copper vs Copper Clads Aluminum (CCA)

Pure copper wires were the standard for electric conductivity, but of recent, most manufacturers use alternatives to Copper, which includes CCA as a copper tracer wire.

So, here are some of the differences:

Differences

Copper coated/clad aluminium is a wire with an aluminium core wrapped inside sheets of Copper, while pure Copper has no second metal.

CCA is a more affordable option, while pure Copper is quite expensive

CCA cables are bi-metal, while pure Copper is not

Copper vs Copper Clads Steel

CCS is the type of copper rod clad that specialises in electrical grounding. The steel makes it strong, and the copper body makes it conductive.

engineers protect copper clad ground wiring

Thus, here are the differences between Copper and CCS.

Differences

Copper Clad Steel has a very high tensile strength and copper thickness, which can work well under tension without breaking. On the other hand, Copper would break if too much pressure is applied.

CCS combines the toughness of steel with all the resistance of Copper, making it a bi-metal.

CCS and Copper are resourceful for two different things. First, CCS is ideal for applications in grounding, while Copper is perfect for wiring.

Copper vs Copper Clads Boards/Laminates

Copper plating boards are some specific types of materials encased in copper strips. Plus, it has one actual application in the copper market.

Flexible Copper Board

So, here's the difference between Copper and Copper coated/clad boards.

Difference

Copper plated/clad boards are ideal as the base form of PCB. Whether you're buying or making one, it has a rectangular shape, and you can cut it into your desired shape.

On the other side, Copper is mainly used to make wires.

So, the differences between Copper and Copper clad lie in their structure, productivity, and uses.

4. What Products Is Copper Clads Suitable For?

You can use Copper clad to create different things.

Copper Coil on circuit boards

Some of the well-known copper-clad products include wires for ethernet and electrical house wiring and a circuit board for televisions, mobile phones, radios, and many other electronic devices, as well as copper-clad ground rods.

A coil of Copper clad used for electric cable

Final Words

Copper clad is an ideal way to get the benefits of Copper at an affordable price.

Since it is not pure Copper, it has the characteristics of the two metals used in producing it. Earlier, I also mentioned three types of Copper plated metals/clad and their advantages.

So, with the information received in this article, you can choose the perfect Copper plated metal for your project against pure Copper, which is usually more expensive.

Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need more details about this topic. We're willing to help!