Aluminum-to-copper magnet wire winding conversions: Considerations for deciding whether wire area should be reduced

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Publication date:

December 2011

Author:

Tom Bishop, P.E., Senior Technical Support Specialist

Although aluminum magnet wire theoretically can be converted to copper magnet wire of about 5/8 of the original wire area, in some cases this is not advisable. In others, it may result in a change in the magnetic strength of a coil or winding. In this article we will address the most common aluminum-to-copper magnet wire conversions as well as how to deal with whether the wire area should be reduced.

Topics discussed include:

AC motor windings
Shunt fields
Series fields and interpoles
Transformer windings

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