There are different kinds of Alligator Clips .
Solid Copper, Copper Coated, Solid Brass, Brass Coated and Stainless Steel.
1) SOLID Copper alligator clips are the best, because copper is a natural conductor of electricity, and Copper DOES not rust.
2) Copper Coated alligator clips work well, but rust over time especially when it comes in contact with saltwater.
3) Stainless Steel alligator clips, work but are a POOR conductor of current / electricity.
4) Brass clad coated alligator clips work but are a POOR conductor of current / electricity and will rust but rust over time especially when it comes in contact with saltwater.
5) Solid Brass alligator clips work but are POOR conductor of current / electricity.
Common misconceptions of conductor metals:
NOTE: The differences in electrical conductivity of various materials used in marine electrical products are often not well understood. Making assumptions about the electrical conductivity of a material because it looks similar to another conductive material of known ampacity can lead to disastrous results.
Perhaps the most common form of this error is the substitution of brass or bronze for copper in electrical applications. Brass is only 28% as conductive as copper. Some bronzes are as low as 7% as conductive as copper!
Copper is the standard by which electrical materials are rated and conductivity ratings are expressed as a relative measurement to copper. These ratings will frequently be expressed as "28 IACS". IACS is the abbreviation for International Annealed Copper Standard and the number preceding "IACS" is the percentage of conductivity a material has relative to copper, which is considered to be 100% conductive. This does not mean that copper has no resistance (is 100% conductive in an absolute sense), but rather that it is the standard by which other materials are measured. The higher the % IACS, the more conductive the material is. This standard refers to a pure, "standard" copper having a resistivity of 1.7241 microhm-
Armed with this knowledge it is interesting to examine the IACS conductivity values of some common materials.
Perhaps the most interesting fact revealed by this chart is how low most copper alloy materials rank in relative conductivity. One might easily assume that alloys such as the brasses and bronzes, because they are mainly copper, are nearly as conductive as copper. This is not the case. The small percentages of tin, aluminum, nickel, zinc and phosphorus that make up these alloys degrade the electrical performance of the resulting alloy to a far greater percentage than their compositional percentage in the alloy.
One should conclude from this that brass should never be used in electrical applications. Size for size, however, copper is exceeded only by silver among the materials commonly used for electrical applications.
|
Material IACS |
% Conductivity |
|
Silver |
105 |
|
Copper |
100 |
|
Gold |
70 |
|
Aluminum |
61 |
|
Nickel |
22 |
|
Zinc |
27 |
|
Brass |
28 |
|
Iron |
17 |
|
Tin |
15 |
|
Phosphor Bronze |
15 |
|
Lead |
7 |
|
Nickel Aluminum Bronze |
7 |
|
Steel |
3 to 15 |
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