No Way to CCA – A slogan I’ve dreamt up and one I very much believe in. Copper Clad Aluminium cables are a blight on our industry and I believe that we as an industry and as individuals should make a concerted effort to halt the manufacture and import of this cheap and inferior, and hazardous product.
So what makes up a CCA cable? Copper clad aluminium (CCA) cables have aluminium cores with a copper coating. For those of us in the industry, we understand the risks when using products that do not comply with any British or European standards. The poor flexibility of CCA cable will result in numerous fractures and combined with the aluminium oxidising means that performance levels suffer. Engineers will tell you that when combined with Power over Ethernet (PoE) the higher resistant values of aluminium will result in an angry can of worms, with the appropriate level of voltage lacking.
With the price of copper at a premium across the globe a commercially beneficial CCA cable has, of course, proved attractive and as with all industries if there are opportunities to profit from selling inferior products then there will be those willing to manufacture and sell, and sadly those willing to purchase.
Over in the US the CCCA (Communications Cable & Connectivity Association) points out the only way to guarantee quality cable and network performance is to buy from known brands and high quality distributors. Which of course we wholeheartedly agree! Placing aside the inferior performance levels of CCA this video highlights the inherent dangers of installing inferior and counterfeit cables.
So here at Comms Express, we’re going to start an initiative to do what we can to tackle these rogue cables! I’ve thought up a nice catchy tagline, ‘No Way To CCA’ and our clever designer Matt has taken my post-stick note scribble and designed a great logo. So in the words of the great detective, “The games is afoot.”
However don’t take the word of just one clearly passionate guy, check out the FibreOptic Industry Association (FIA) White paper on Copper Clad Aluminium cables.
So in never be afraid to ask: is it a solid copper cable or a CCA cable? And say, No Way to CCA
Until next time…
