We had an Alcan rep at an IAEI meeting explaining this aluminum deal to us. He said the device problem was really the steel vs brass screw problem. The expansion rate of steel is different than aluminum and that was the root of the problem. CO/ALr devices use a screw that is a brass alloy matching the expansion of the new AA-8000 aluminum alloy.
He said another problem was the old alloy was a lot easier to break than the new stuff and passed around samples of both for us to destroy.
The older aluminum was 1350(?) alloy that is used for large transmission lines and in those sizes using that kind of termination methods, was not a problem.
They were pitching the new MC cable with the fat, bare aluminum ground, the new connector for that and some other products.
That was when copper Romex was getting "golden" prices.
He stopped just short of saying we might start seeing 12 gauge aluminum wire again.
