romex connector + coupling

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jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
I should have clarified. 1 city in our area does not allow aluminum conductors beyond the meter. Silly or not it's been their requirement for many years now.

JAP>
 

MasterTheNEC

CEO and President of Electrical Code Academy, Inc.
Location
McKinney, Texas
Occupation
CEO
I should have clarified. 1 city in our area does not allow aluminum conductors beyond the meter. Silly or not it's been their requirement for many years now.

JAP>
They must be OLD electricians from back in the 60's and early 70's and have no clue on AA 8000 Series AL products and their advancement. Yes, I know there are still alot of them out there as it was in Waxahatchie TX...before I visited them on behalf of NEMA and cleared the air.
 

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
They must be OLD electricians from back in the 60's and early 70's and have no clue on AA 8000 Series AL products and their advancement. Yes, I know there are still alot of them out there as it was in Waxahatchie TX...before I visited them on behalf of NEMA and cleared the air.

It's not such a bad thing....... just more expensive. :)

JAP>
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Dennis,
Please provide the source for this requirement.
Thx


There is no info on it simply because it is not required. I just got off the phone with Dave Mercier of Southwire and he said you won't find that info because it is not required. However, if the manufacturer of the termination-- lugs etc, require the compound then you would need to use it. I am not sure if any manufacturer actually requires it.

That being said it is probably not a bad idea to use the compound as it doesn't hurt and it can be helpful in harsh environments. It just isn't required
 

MasterTheNEC

CEO and President of Electrical Code Academy, Inc.
Location
McKinney, Texas
Occupation
CEO
It's not such a bad thing....... just more expensive. :)

JAP>
Hey...I am Pro AL and CU.....just hate it when jurisdictions are uneducated to the point they fail to see progress and keep the mentality " It's always been this way" or " not in MY town" yet have no true clue of the differences in AL versus CU...except the Ampacity and Cost....hmmm...even if they are rather strong motivators...:angel:
 

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
Hey...I am Pro AL and CU.....just hate it when jurisdictions are uneducated to the point they fail to see progress and keep the mentality " It's always been this way" or " not in MY town" yet have no true clue of the differences in AL versus CU...except the Ampacity and Cost....hmmm...even if they are rather strong motivators...:angel:

If 8000 AA Series Products are advanced as everyone seems to think they are, then the only difference would be Ampacity and Cost.

Yet I still see notes on present day prints not recommending the use of Aluminum conductors for all the same reasons that have been around for the last 50 Years.

JAP>
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
If 8000 AA Series Products are advanced as everyone seems to think they are, then the only difference would be Ampacity and Cost.

Yet I still see notes on present day prints not recommending the use of Aluminum conductors for all the same reasons that have been around for the last 50 Years.

JAP>

It's not a question of what somebody thinks. It's a question of whether a properties scientist was able to qualify a material using hard evidence and whether or not the metallurgical engineers did their job properly. Anything else is opinion and conjecture. Oftentimes something gets specced out for mysterious reasons, like hi-fi owners who demand isolated grounds and gold plated receptacles to their stereos. Doesn't mean it's going to perform any better...
 

JDB3

Senior Member
OK, in some places they don't want Al. past the meter, but, it is OK for the utility company to use it. I should not say what I think about that, since I have seen more problems with the termination of copper wire than aluminum (cause someone said: it is copper so I don't have to worry about it, and does not properly terminate the copper wire)...
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
Now thats just SILLY (The "not allowed to run Aluminum on the Load side of the meter" ).....The reason they allow AL inside a residence is because it is as safe as any other conductor when used within the scope of it design.
I am not sure that the damage to the reputation of aluminum, that resulted from the failures of the #10 and #12 sizes in the 60's, will ever go away.
 

MasterTheNEC

CEO and President of Electrical Code Academy, Inc.
Location
McKinney, Texas
Occupation
CEO
We're not allowed to run Aluminum on the Load side of the meter around here. I've often wondered whey they even still allow aluminum conductors inside a residence.
Looks like protecting the cable on the inside of the wall will be more of a challenge then through the wall.
There's no good way to turn a large cable like that into the back of anything in a standard 3 1/2" Stud wall without a J-box or something behind it that no one wants.

JAP>
They don't allow it because they have NO CLUE how AL is made or how it's material compound has changed since the 70's.....that why.

Oh WAIT....I said that already...lol:angel:
 

MasterTheNEC

CEO and President of Electrical Code Academy, Inc.
Location
McKinney, Texas
Occupation
CEO
If 8000 AA Series Products are advanced as everyone seems to think they are, then the only difference would be Ampacity and Cost.

Yet I still see notes on present day prints not recommending the use of Aluminum conductors for all the same reasons that have been around for the last 50 Years.

JAP>

That is about the only difference to be concerned with these days. Let me state clearly this...I am a COPPER GUY......always will be but pound for pound the use of AL Conductors have their place in the electrical industry and at this point it just becomes a design issue.
 
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