Definition of CCA

CCA is short for Copper Clad Aluminum, which is an aluminum conductor coated with copper. 

Facts of CCA 

CCA is much LIGHTER than BC. The density of BC is about 8.9g/m3 and CCA is about from3-3.5 g/m3. 

CCA is much CHEAPER than BC. Which manufacture and dealers will have a higher profit.

CCA brings 5 problems to network cable

There are some notable issues in which may arise by using CCA cables as to build your network infrastructure. We listed five of them:

Lack of compliance

UL and TIA standards only complies with solid or stranded copper conductors; CCA is excluded from these two standards.  CCA network cables also lack a valid safety listing from the National Electrical Code (NEC). Under this condition, this type of cabling can’t legally be installed if the building requires CMG, CMX, CM, CMR or CMP rated cables.

Poor flexibility and easy to break

CCA conductors are fragile and vulnerable, which has been proven that even moving a patch panel or a faceplate during installing and maintenance may cause failures.  Because of low tensile strength, CCA cables can also break off as a result of pulling or shearing, which may occur in packaging, transferring or during delivery. 

Oxidation and corrosion

Aluminum itself is very reactive; it will oxide very quickly as soon as it exposed to air. Aluminum is also active to copper when expose to water. This can cause failed terminations in the network infrastructure, leading to connectivity problems. A Lot of times can be spent locating and addressing these failures.

Not suitable for PoE applications

With much higher DC resistance than copper, conductors may be 60% larger than solid copper to compensate for higher resistance. If not resistance compensated, the voltage drop will be greater for any channel length. Longer lengths (~>65m) will exceed TIA’s channel DCR requirements, limiting the voltage available to the device. Higher resistance causes radiant heat to build up faster, and this may cause damage to the device.

Cable run limitations

When CCA cables running 100 meters, signal strength is not as strong as comparing to solid copper cables. This may lead to non-efficient data transmission, or even data loss