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New Cable Designed To Deter Copper Thieves
Hugh Pickens writes "Pervasive thefts of copper wire from under the streets of Fresno, California have prompted the city to seal thousands of its manhole covers with concrete. In Picher, Oklahoma, someone felled the town's utility poles with chain saws, allowing thieves to abscond with 3,000 feet of wire while causing a blackout. The theft of copper cables costs U.S. companies $60 million a year and the FBI says it considers theft of copper wire to be a threat to the nation's baseline ability to function. But now PC World reports that a U.S. company has developed a new cable design that removes almost all the copper from cables in a bid to deter metal thieves. Unlike conventional cables made from solid copper, the GroundSmart Copper Clad Steel Cable consists of a steel core bonded to a copper outer casing, forming an equally effective but far less valuable cable by exploiting the corrosion-resistance of copper with the conductive properties of steel. 'Companies trying to protect their copper infrastructure have been going to extreme measures to deter theft, many of which are neither successful nor cost effective,' says CommScope vice president, Doug Wells. 'Despite efforts like these, thieves continue to steal copper because of its rising value. The result is costly damage to networks and growing service disruptions.' The GroundSmart Copper Clad Steel cable is the latest technical solution to the problem of copper theft, which has included alternatives like cable etching to aid tracing of stolen metal and using chemicals that leave stains detectable under ultra-violet light. However the Copper Clad Steel strikes at the root of the problem by making the cable less susceptible to theft by both increasing the resistance to cutting and drastically decreasing the scrap value."
Eventually, the thieves will take care of themselves.
Steal more copper cable. Less monetary damage in goods loss, more damage paying people to replace stolen cable.
It might stop them from being able to get money from the cable, but it's not like it's going to deter them from stealing the cable in the first place under the assumption that the cable is copper.
Removing the market for scrap copper cable might also work. Typically this stuff flows thru metals recycling yards who are only too happy to look the other way when white-van-man shows up with a half ton of scrap copper. If these recyclers. or the smaller number of up-stream buyers, had to have paper work from licensed demolition companies or power utilities tracing the copper they buy you could stop the theft very shortly, without having to wait till every mile of copper is stolen and replaced before your deterrence sets in.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
'round these parts - thieves are stealing HVAC units from the roofs of closed businesses, schools, etc.
the problem is that the recyclers are paying in cash, and unless get wary when presented with a hundred or so bronze flower vases from a cemetery, just do a quick nod and a wink on the payout
Copper clad steel has been used by hams for decades. It is most effective at radio frequencies, where the "skin effect" causes the current flow to exist primarily in the outermost regions of the cable. 50 or 60 Hz AC current is not high enough frequency to have much of a skin effect, so it will consequently be a poor conductor compared to solid copper. There's no doubt that it is harder to cut, though.
Why stop here? Why not death penalty even if you get one little tiny hamburger. And his/her relatives in prison. For life.
I like it, though I'd execute the children, too. A crime-free society is less than a generation away.
We think much alike, you and I.
Pirates use the copper in the lines to steal trillions of dollars worth of copyrighted materials. By stealing the copper, you are stealing the copyrighted materials that were transferring across them. Since we can't determine exactly how much copyrighted material was in the copper at the time, we need to assume it's at least 10 million dollars worth per foot. Since we'll never be able to recover this money from thieves desperate enough to steal copper, we simply need to authorize the RIAA and MPAA to shoot anyone suspected of stealing copper on sight.
A glance at this graph will give you a swift education on why copper theft has increased recently.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
As someone who has been hit repeatedly by these morons, a few thoughts. Radio in general offers a very attractive target to these thieves, especially (believe it or not) older installations like AM radio stations. (At low frequencies like AM, the tower itself is actually the antenna -- that's why there are insulators in the guy wires -- and the tower field is laced with gobs and gobs of soft copper that acts as the ground plane.)
1. Copper-clad steel is nothing new. Some of this is just marketroid hype (though to be fair, I don't think anyone has ever made clad *telcom* cable before). But other types of clad conductors have been common for some time -- not just to deter theft, but because of the price of copper.
2. The real problem is the scrap metal dealers. You can't tell me that they're not suspicious when a couple of teenage guys come dragging in the core from a big honkin' three phase HVAC unit. But THEY want the copper even worse than the thieves, because they turn around and sell it in ton lots at a huge profit.
3. Copper is considerably more conductive than steel. We can get away with it at RF frequencies because of skin effect (i.e., the signal travels through the "skin" of the conductor, rather than the center), but it's not a perfect solution. It's much more difficult to work with and it's easy to accidentally strip off the copper cladding, leaving you with far less desirable steel at the connection point.
4. These thieves really are morons, and yes, most are repeat offenders. They even talk to one another in jail and compare notes. When we were hammered in February of 2010, the deputies who investigated our incident told us that they even knew who most of these people were. We had video cameras and they scoured the images to get a clue as to who it was.
But sometimes I have to laugh. One of our FM stations here is in the huge metropolis of Pumpkin Center, Alabama, which defines "middle of nowhere." The house up the (dirt) road from the transmitter site has been hit repeatedly; I drove to the site to do routine maintenance a couple of years ago and noted that the air conditioner had been ransacked. But they won't mess with the FM site.
I guess the fact that our landlady likes to go out and there and shoot with her boyfriend gives them pause. The sight of all those targets with bullet holes all around the center makes them think twice. :)
Then some thieves tried to cut the gigantic, 6" copper coax going to our 100,000 FM in North Central Alabama. I posted a note that said, "Dear morons, if you try to cut this line, please have your life insurance paid up .... "
They've stolen our grounding several times since, but they haven't touched that big coax again. :)
Cogito, igitur comedam pizza.
Uh, the article does not explain what is new about this. Copper clad cable has been around forever. It has been used for High Frequency antennas where the tensile strength of the steel is important and the skin effect keeps the RF currents near the surface. I don't think there is much skin effect at the frequencies they are promoting this cable to be used for. As others have already pointed out, the problem is not limited to electric or communications cable. Plumbing, and HVAC systems are also prime targets. Better regulation of metal recycling and the prosecution of those recyclers who do "look the other way" would go a long way to stopping this problem.
Of course a few more charred bodies like was found on a building roof near here recently when a copper thief THOUGHT the 660 volt power line to the chillers was disconnected and it wasn't could also be a deterrent
Where I live (Vancouver, Canada) the copper is largely stolen to fund drug addiction. Legalize drugs (and give away the hard stuff under prescription) and lots of this theft goes away...
Flamebait? I was completely seriously. I don't commit crimes - those who do obviously don't want to be part of our society.
One generation from now, being completely serious will be a capital crime in our society (you'll need a good deal of craziness to survive).
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
And the prisons were indeed terrible places
This did not make for a safer, more law-abiding society.
Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
PICHER, Okla. — Theft of copper from utilities and other businesses is nothing new, but officials say some brazen thieves took the crime up a notch — and should consider themselves lucky they’re not dead, even if they haven’t been caught yet.
The thieves made off with 3,000 feet of copper wire and some aluminum wire after cutting down numerous utility poles northeast of Picher, causing a temporary power outage for a handful of Empire District Electric Co. customers.
“They were sawed off at ground level with a chain saw,” Empire spokeswoman Amy Bass said of the six poles.
...
Nine residents were without power for several hours Wednesday. The lines apparently were cut about 7:30 a.m.
...
Empire District Electric Co. is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in the copper-theft case at Picher. Officials said they are asking people who might have information about the case to call local law enforcement.
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1399736758/Copper-thieves-cut-poles-energized-lines-in-Picher-buyout-area/
In case you hadn't noticed, everything is a felony these days.
But I agree that a second conviction for theft should carry a very long sentence. Many crimes are crimes of passion, committed under circumstances that are unlikely to be repeated - and many more "crimes" are not really crimes at all - but theft has real victims and thieves have a very high recidivism rate. If there is one crime that we should punish with very long vacations from polite society, it should be theft.
They never said anything about stainless steel, and in fact, SS would suck for wire because it's rather brittle. Copper is very ductile which is why it's so good for wire, plus, as you said, it's second best next to silver.
But yes, copper has less-than-stellar corrosion qualities (so does silver), and so does steel, depending on the alloy.
That marketing statement therefore sounds like a giant load of crap: the corrosion-resistance of copper and the conductive properties of steel sounds like a terrible wire, since copper sucks for corrosion and steel sucks for conductivity. And with a power line frequency of 60Hz, the skin effect is quite minor so the copper cladding isn't going to help much in that department either.
Really? Then you must be the ONLY person alive not to have. With so many laws on the books, it's impossible NOT to have unknowingly broken one of them, whether it's your dog mating with another dog within 1,500 feet of a public school (California) or other such stupidity.
We had the city pass a really stupid law - because kids were holding on to the back of buses during the winter and "sledding", they passed a law making it illegal to hold on to or grasp any part of a vehicle in motion inside city limits. So how are you supposed to steer?
Ditto with the law they passed trying to ban massage parlors by defining massage as the physical manipulation of any part of another persons body - making everything from handshakes to helping your kid blow her nose.
It's a safe bet you've broken a few stupid laws.
Thief: Let's steal copper cables!
GSmart: Let's steel copper cables!
No cash for copper. ID required and a direct deposit to a bank account.
Have gnu, will travel.
Use lead instead of steel. Don't incorporate it into the wire, just have a guy standing there with a semi-automatic lead dispenser, and when thieves try to steal your copper, you can lead them out.
$10 bucks doesn't sound worth the effort and risk. If your numbers are right and they really only get $10 bucks for the cable, then that speaks to a frightening level of desperation on a part of your populace. Maybe instead of making cables harder to steal we should make citizens that don't want to steal them...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I'm pretty sure their are jurisdictions were publishing something anonymously is illegal.
For example your post annoyed me and: ...
"""
Whoever -
makes a telephone call or utilizes a telecommunications device, whether or not conversation or communication ensues, without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person at the called number or who receives the communications; ...
shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
""" 47 U.S.C. Â 223(a)(1)(C)
Now sure "intent to annoy" means something entirely different - but do you really know every single law that applies to you in enough detail to know you have never broken one?
And they are still addictive. There's arguments to legalize drugs. This isn't one of them. In fact, you'll discover that some of the addicts that do this are alcoholics, their drug of choice is perfectly legal.
When you combine a messed up mental state with a desire for money to pay for the addiction, you'll get people doing stupid shit. Legalization won't change that. It isn't as though someone doing legal drugs will suddenly be clear of mind and a productive member of society.
Now don't misunderstand this as me arguing against legalization overall, I'm just saying it won't help this problem.
I think they are more throwing a fit because he crams them into dark green korean war surplus tents in the 115 degree Arizona heat with no cooling and limited water. I think they are more throwing a fit because he also uses hot boxes as additional punishment in those conditions. I think they are more throwing a fit because he is literally running concentration camps here in the US.
I say we kill all the meth addicts. Seriously. Bullet to the head and a proper burial in a pine box. People need to *FEAR* doing drugs of this variety
I got a better idea. Let's kill all the tyrants who want to imprison or murder other people because they disagree with how that person lives his life. Tired of meth addicts stealing copper? If the shit was easily and readily available (like it should be, since it's ridiculously cheap and easy to produce) then this small segment of the population could continue to exist in harmony with the rest of society.
If we're gonna start lining people up against the wall and shooting them Nazi style, then I propose we do it to the hateful, moronic, and downright IGNORANT elements in our society such as YOU. See how slippery this slope gets, and really damn fast?
Transmission lines in the national electricity grid here (India) consist of steel core for strength with an outer aluminum layer for conductivity. This solution has been in place from the time electrification started in India.
To Share Is To care
Same reason too (strength and cost). When you are talking shorter run, like in a house, where weight doesn't matter and voltage is low you go copper. The lower resistance is well worth it. However for the long haul runs aluminium wins the day, and steel at the core to strengthen it. The higher impedance does lead to a bit more loss, but then you are talking as much as half a million volts so that equalizes things a bit.
Something like 70% of copper thieves have been convicted of theft once before. If there was a death penalty for thieves - and really, why not for all felonies? - this problem would quickly end.
Good idea. That would stop the file sharing problem, too!
Then why do north european countries with socialized healthcare and education AND social security still get hit by copper thieves?
There are always people who want still more. Claim social security and go out stealing copper to get more money. Or do you think thieves are such noble people they don't claim social security because they got another source of income?
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The root cause is the War On Some Drugs, but copper is expensive and WELL worth legally collecting and scrapping.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
You know, as an American, I will always tip my hat to the Chinese. Damn, how I envy their effectiveness at dealing with drugs abusers. They put up with none of that politically correct non-sense.
What are you babbling about? The Chinese treat addiction with rehab programs, the recidivism rate for which was 80% in the 90's (Mao 1999, 151), and is documented to be over 90% in the '00s (China Daily Youth, 27/4/04). You will need access to Lexus Nexus or a similar thing to easily follow these citations, unfortunately.
Perhaps you are thinking of their trafficking penalties. It is true that being found in possession of over a kilo of cocaine or heroin in China is often punished with the death penalty. However, stepped up enforcement efforts are met by increased prices, inducing repair to the supply chain, resulting in no long term gain. As a result, China has been investing heavily in a multifaceted program of treatment, interdiction, social welfare targeting at-risk populations, education, rehabilitation, and diplomacy seeking to convert drug growers abroad to production of legal staple crops.
The Chinese government is already aware that they can't make significant progress solely by killing all addicts, or even just major drug traffickers - there is an unlimited supply of people who will accept any risk. Fear has become just one component of the Chinese strategy. Read up on what they're doing - in many ways, they are actually more progressive than the United States. Unlike you, they aren't entirely naïve.
Also, apparently he was so busy arresting illegal immigrants that hadn't committed any crimes and holding prisoners in inhumane conditions that he and his officers completely failed to investigate a huge number of rapes. That hasn't made him terribly popular except with white rapists.
Last time I looked, admittedly, a couple years ago, scrap steel wasn't worth hauling in unless you had a dozen tons of it and were within 10 miles of the recycling center. Otherwise, you weren't even making gas money.
Oh I wouldn't go that far. You're looking at least at $250 per ton, maybe as much as $500 for high quality stampings from a factory. Now that is darn near an order of magnitude less than copper, but you certainly run a profit vs gas money on steel/cast iron. Lets say you have a 1 ton trailer on the back of your 10 MPG pickup truck, that's costing at least 50 cents per mile so you don't lose money until you drive more than 500 miles. Very few thieves live more than 500 miles from a junkyard, but I suppose its possible in the wilds of alaska, although there's probably not much to steal there.
To give you an idea, there are scrap services in my area who will drive to your location, and dispose of your old stove or washer/dryer for you, for free. They burn some gas to drive to your house, burn an hour of windshield and loading time, and recycle the steel to pay themselves. They make an "ok" living doing this. If they can make an "ok" living for a normal person, I assume a meth head could keep himself in rocks pretty well as an illegal recycler. Note this is an "ok" income for unskilled work such as working at mcdonalds or walmart, not "ok" income as in I'm going to quit my computer science related job and buy a truck... Also these guys don't just crush and recycle, they sell the parts on ebay, so if you need a new timer for a '98 kenmore, they've probably got it. And this whole business is rotten to the core, so you know there's very little income tax being paid, used parts are going to be boxed up and sold by repairmen as new parts, etc, so its actually more profitable that you'd think on the surface.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
In a typical (German, don't know about the US) home you have wire lengths of some ten yards and a thickness of maybe 1.5 mm (AWG 16). That is not that much copper, and adding pigtails at every splice might cost more in terms of work than it saves in metal.
For cleaning up existing aluminum installations, it may be cheaper than ripping the old cables out though.
In power lines with much thicker cables and longer distances between slices, however, deciding on aluminium should be a no-brainer.
C - the footgun of programming languages
In BC they have introduced the legislation that requires recyclers to ask for government-issued identification for copper recycling and record and report sources of the recycled material to law enforcement. Since introduced last year, wire thefts dropped by something like 80%.
Bow before me, for I am root.