Originally posted by Brian Moore:
I have to say some thing here. Although I believe I know what jgalt is trying to say, I belive he said it wrong.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by jgalt_54-235:
[qb]
Electricity flows on the outside of wire, not through it. Corrosion is one of the biggest problems. Corrosion on wires is like kinking a garden hose. It won't let the electricity flow.
Good luck
That's not quite correct. That is only true in AC current flow. It's called Skin Effect. In the DC case, the current uses the whole wire. Skin effect is still present in multi-strand conductors and it behaves exactly the same as in a solid conductor, the inner part of the conductor carries less current. It is due to how the electromagnetic field behaves.
Corrosion on the surface of a wire has no effect on its resistance. However, corrosion on the wire between the connectors and the wire is a problem.
The reason welding cables are made up of many strands is for flexibility and longevity. You will notice the same thing with the differance between extension cords and in-wall NM type wire. The extension cords are many strands and the wall wire is one solid piece. It is really easy to bend and extension cord but NM wiring is pretty stiff and will break if you do it too much.
