timmermeier
Member
- Location
- alton il
- Occupation
- electrician
What year did aa8000 aluminum wire become available ? by NEC can use aluminum wire to wire a house ? ( not local codes but the NEC )
what year did AA8000 aluminum wire come out.
- Thread starter timmermeier
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rc/retired
Senior Member
- Location
- Bellvue, Colorado
- Occupation
- Master Electrician/Inspector retired
I don't know what year it became available, but if you can find aluminum cable, I believe you can wire a house with it.
Ron
You just can't use NOS, new old stock NM sheathed AL cable, since NM sheathed cable is required to have 90°C conductors, & NM cable has 60°C conductors, (NM-B has 90°C conductors).
rc/retired
Senior Member
- Location
- Bellvue, Colorado
- Occupation
- Master Electrician/Inspector retired
Yeah, I should have been clear that if anyone made AA8000 aluminum NM cable, you could wire a house with it.
Ron
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
The UL product standard for aluminum conductors required the use of the AA-8000 series alloys starting in 1972 or 1973.
The NEC does not now, nor has it ever, prohibited the use of aluminum conductors. However, the current code requires that aluminum conductors used for NEC applications use the AA-8000 series of alloys.
At this time I do not believe there is any 15 or 20 amp aluminum conductors on the market as either single conductors or as part of NM cable.
There is Copper-Clad-Aluminum on the market as both single conductors and NM cable. The current issue with CCA is that few wire connectors are marked as being suitable for that conductor type. CopperWeld, a manufacturer of CCA does have a wire nut listed and marked for use with CCA. 15 and 20 amp wiring devices that are marked for use with copper conductors are also suitable for use with CCA per the UL Guide Information for the wiring devices.
As far as I know NM was never produced using the AA-8000 series of alloys.
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