Is CCA Cable Suitable?

We have recently observed increased use of Cat5s cables that are not made from 100% copper. This is known as CCA or Copper Coated Aluminium.

This aluminium is cheaper than copper but coated with copper to give a similar appearance to copper. 

Networks installed with this CCA cable will not comply with Cat5e standards. The reason for this is that electrical properties of aluminium compared with copper are so much different. 

Sometimes CCA cable has markings that may try to fool the buyer into thinking it’s the real deal such as Cat5s, ANSI/TIA-568-C/IEC11801 or BS EN 50173. 

Cat5s standards clearly state that “the conductor annealed solid copper and comply with the requirements of EN 50288-1:2003, 4.1. The aluminium conductor is some 64% more resistive than copper in this instance.

For your information, the resistivity of annealed copper is 1.72 x 10-8, whereas the resistivity of aluminium is 2.82 x 10-8.  

So, what is the main difference between CCA and Copper cat5e?

CCA has higher resistance by 40% and is much less flexible than copper; thus, can break very easily. 

CCA oxidises very quickly, thus causing poor terminations in both the module and the patch panel. 

Due to the increased resistance, CCA is not suitable for POE (Power over Ethernet) as it may generate heat, and thus under certain conditions may pose a fire risk. 

Should you require further advice or assistance, then please do not hesitate to contact us.