Copper Connections – Why Settle for Less?

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Have you ever wondered what your current screw terminal block is made of? Does it have copper connections or steel connections?

Rusting car

Similarly, have you ever wondered why a wire is made out of copper? I did a search and Google told me this.

“With its exceptional current carrying capacity, copper is more efficient than any other electrical conductor Because of its superior conductivity, annealed copper is the international standard to which all other electrical conductors are compared . … Another advantage is that copper oxide also conducts electricity.” (www.copper.org)

We know that copper is well-known for its good conductivity; that is why it is used in most electrical components. What about Terminal blocks? You will be surprised that most of the screw terminal blocks in the market are not made of copper. Not convinced? I dare you to take the magnet challenge

Simply attach a magnet to your current screw terminal block that you’re using and check out the material. If it latches on, then the material of the terminal block that you are using is definitely not copper! This is because copper is non-ferrous (try this on your wires too).

So what if your terminal blocks is not made of copper but some other material? Well, if your magnet is still attached to your terminal blocks, the chances are they are made of steel. As we know steel is also good when comes to conductivity. However, there are several downside of choosing steel instead of copper. Here is some of it.

  1. Corrosion

Corrosion of Contacts

You do not want a yellow dirty looking electrical cabinet after some years do you? One of the biggest problems with steel terminal blocks is corrosion.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. And we all know iron rusts. Depending on the area where the cabinet / junction box is placed, when it is exposed to moisture; Steel will get corroded over time.

Even when your cable is still fine (because it is made of Copper) you will still need to replace the entire cabinet / junction box since there is no way for you to do readjustments on the rusty terminal blocks.

  1. Higher resistance.

Cable (Copper) connected to terminal blocks (Steel). Difference in material will cause a higher resistance. This is crucial when we are dealing with signals. You do not want unexplained-able intermittent happened during live right?

Terminal Block - Copper connections

All said, where can you find screw terminal blocks with copper connections?

Well, here at Phoenix Contact of course!

With 94 years of terminal block making experience, we in guarantee our quality by assuring you the finest terminal blocks produced. Our screw terminal blocks up to 10mm² are made of high quality copper alloy. We are proud to assure our customers in providing a material that has one of the best electrical and mechanical qualities combined. Even down to the screws!

Copper components

Don’t just believe us because we said so? Drop us your details at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg and we will send you some samples to try it out yourself.

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