Any one have documentation on aluminum wire from 70’s

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
Old house, has single strand aluminum half of house is not working. Need documentation to show how it was dangerous and needs to be replaced m. Sent couple articles but was looking for something more than blog post. Thanks
 

Fred B

Senior Member
Location
Upstate, NY
Occupation
Electrician
Bigest issue with the old pre 8000AL is improper use and connections. Historically contractors would create a lot of the issues by interconnection of CU and AL without proper connections, and use of CU only devices on AL wire. Then Next biggest is improper preperation for oxidation causing high resistance and heating. Modern alloy AL is less prone to the oxifdation than the old AL. The old AL would almost imediately oxidize once conductor was stripped.

How dangerous it is? Documentation from home insurance industry will usually validate need for replacement.

Some Goverment and other sites documenting AL dangers




 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
Old house, has single strand aluminum half of house is not working. Need documentation to show how it was dangerous and needs to be replaced m. Sent couple articles but was looking for something more than blog post. Thanks
Single conductor and not NM cable? The new alloy was used in single conductor aluminum starting around 1974.
 

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
Bigest issue with the old pre 8000AL is improper use and connections. Historically contractors would create a lot of the issues by interconnection of CU and AL without proper connections, and use of CU only devices on AL wire. Then Next biggest is improper preperation for oxidation causing high resistance and heating. Modern alloy AL is less prone to the oxifdation than the old AL. The old AL would almost imediately oxidize once conductor was stripped.

How dangerous it is? Documentation from home insurance industry will usually validate need for replacement.

Some Goverment and other sites documenting AL dangers




Thank you those will do wonderfull
 

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
The copper clad is a cool concept but their price point blows. It’s like 50 bucks cheaper a roll for 10-2nmb aluminum vs copper,And for only 50 bucks would rather just work with copper.
 

gene6

Senior Member
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrician
As far as I know, NM was never manufactured with the AA8000 alloy.
URD is also still the lesser 1350 alloy not quality 8000. If any electrolyte (like humid air or salt mist in the air) is present galvanic corrosion reaction takes hold even to the AA8000. The corrosion micro pits and cracks the metal much the way rust forms but is much less visible and crawls up the strands of the wire under insulation. Every crack and pit then becomes exponentially non conductive as aluminum oxide is an insulator. (copper oxide is a conductor).
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
URD is also still the lesser 1350 alloy not quality 8000. If any electrolyte (like humid air or salt mist in the air) is present galvanic corrosion reaction takes hold even to the AA8000. The corrosion micro pits and cracks the metal much the way rust forms but is much less visible and crawls up the strands of the wire under insulation. Every crack and pit then becomes exponentially non conductive as aluminum oxide is an insulator. (copper oxide is a conductor).
URD is not a product that can be used for NEC applications and is not subject the the requirement in 310.3(B) that aluminum conductors be manufactured using the AA-8000 series of aluminum alloys.
 

gene6

Senior Member
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrician
URD is not a product that can be used for NEC applications and is not subject the the requirement in 310.3(B) that aluminum conductors be manufactured using the AA-8000 series of aluminum alloys.
Agreed its a violation, though rarely enforced or noticed I just wanted to make sure people whom cut corners and use it were aware the lesser alloys is still in use. I often see stripped SER or URD triplex cable pulled all the way to the meter, and I have seen many installs where they used it to the main breaker that are not a listed NEC wire type.
Such as this one:
forums.mikeholt.com/threads/aluminum-wire.2579305/page-3#post-2900673
 
Last edited:

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Agreed its a violation, though rarely enforced or noticed I just wanted to make sure people whom cut corners and use it were aware the lesser alloys is still in use. I often see stripped SER or URD triplex cable pulled all the way to the meter, and I have seen many installs where they used it to the main breaker that are not a listed NEC wire type.
Such as this one:
forums.mikeholt.com/threads/aluminum-wire.2579305/page-3#post-2900673
You are correct; that is indeed stripped SER. It's never been questioned.

I liken it to using the wires from stripped NM for jumpers and pigtails.

I've stripped and used it with the EGC in PVC for generator/ATS wiring.
 
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