Aluminum Wiring

[celis]

I am looking at a house and the only thing wrong is has aluminum wiring.

The current owner had an electrician put the aluminum oxide goop and did something with the plates, i don't have the disclosure in front of me.

Is this a show stopper or aluminum wiring fine as long as it is installed correctly?

Thanks for any input.

 

[hollisdude]

I do know that the industry went the aluminum wiring route for years (way back) and then came back to copper only. i never had a house with aluminum wiring, but everyone I talked to said the danger is in the liklihood that aluminum will overheat too much with loaded current. That usually means meltdown and fire. That's all I ever needed to hear to steer clear. Ask thyself ... If aluminum is good - why aren't they using it now.

 

[Ags_EE]

Main thing to worry about is the outlets and switches. Check all of them for scorching, excessive heating, etc. Make sure that they are the correct type as aluminum wiring requires special, and more expensive, switches and outlets, and that they're all screwed in tightly with plenty of wire at the contacts. If they dont, it's about 5-10 bucks to fix each outlet/switch. The goop is for copper/aluminum connections to make sure the aluminum doesn't rust there.

It sounds like the current owner did everything properly, but it won't hurt to check a few sockets to make sure.

 

[wolfman]

I have a house with aluminum wiring. I also have a good friend who is an electrician. He did whats known as a pigtail job for me. Basically you replace the switches and sockets with new ones and tie them into the aluminum wiring, then apply the aluminum oxide to the wire nuts. He also replaced my fixtures using this method too. You should also get the connections at the main panel checked out as well.

In reality you may not need to replace all the fixtures and switches like I did. I really just did that because I just bought the house and wanted to update everything in it.

As I understand it the issue with aluminum wiring is that it expands and contracts more than copper so you end up with loose connections at your sockets and switches and fixtures. Once you have a loose connection you run the risk of a spark and a fire. The cable itself is usually not the issue, just the connection.

I was told that copper got really expensive for some reason in the late 60s and early 70s, so builders started using aluminum wiring in residences to save money. I believe that aluminum wiring is still used for commercial usage though.

If you have any doubts about what the current owners electrician did you may want to hire your own electrician to check it out.

Im glad that my friend did the job for me. He showed me more than one connection that had evidence of prior heat or sparking.

 

[Horn_Spanker]

It's like buying a car with a salvage title. It may run great, but when you go to re-sell, you're still trying to sell a salvage title. Run away!

 

[NickDanger]

We have aluminum wiring out at the ranch running from structure to structure and it does break every once in a while.

 

[HookEm]

Wolfman is exactly right. The worry is w/ arcing due to the expansion and contraction of aluminium. My house also has aluminium wiring. Most houses in NW Hills do, as they were built around 1965 - 1970.

 

[zzzz]

My parents have lived on a very long street for nearly 30 years. Over that period of time, several of the homes on the opposite side of the street have burned down. The homes on that side of the street just happen to have been built using aluminum wiring. The homes on my parents' side of the street have copper wiring.

Maybe a good question to ask would be, "ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO REWIRE A HOME?"

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Dead Horse]

To completely rewire would be VERY expensive. Best solution is the pig tail method.

 

[NickDanger]

A house on pier and beam with decent crawl space ought to be a LOT less that one on a slab. It was a transition period, so it's hard to predict