At the DC/AC level- Horns. lights, starter,etc., current flow is through the
wire.
The bigger the diameter (bigger gauge) the more current it can handle.
At Radio frequencies and above, the current starts to flow on the surface of
the wire... known as the 'skin' effect.
For automotive purposes, if the surface corrosion is *not* on a connector or
switch contacts, then yu have little to worry about.
On the electronic side with newer cars, the computers need clean contacts and
good wires. (ECC, ATC, etc.) as these are looking for short duration puklse
signals whose wave fronts approach that of RF (Wireless)frequencies. The
control modules CPU's are runninbg at quite high frequencies,,,
At least... that's the way I look at it <G>
Dave G KK7SS
DN06ig
'65 Sprite - in process
'76 Midget - driver
----- Original Message -----
From: "derf" <derf247 at gmail.com>
So, old, Oxidized copper wire works as well as new, clean copper wire?
I generally toss out copper wire if it is brown and tarnished looking
under the insulation.
It has been a long time since I took electronics classes, though.
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