ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Aluminum Romex

Doing a remodel-renovation taking out 3 outlets(moving closets adding a bathroom) and adding new circuits pulled apart the receptacles and what did i see ??
Aluminum romex on a device marked CU only!

How have you fellas addressed telling a customer about the dangers of having this stuff in there homes? do you go the fire hazard route? or the they dont make it any more and the reason is... its junk?

any input ???

I just dont like the stuff and would not feel right by not telling them they have a possible hazard in there walls!!

I always inform the HO on the potential hazards of AL wiring in older homes. Give them as much info as possible so they can make an informed decision.

In the meantime- I offer them to either change the devices to CO-LAR rated devices or do the Purple Ideal wirenut route. (Which is more expensive @ about $3.00 per wirenut)

I don't beat them over the head with doing an entire wiring system upgrade and I try not to scare them into it either. Just give them fair warning and also tell them that you can't be held responsible for the existing wiring conditions.

The purple wire nuts have performed poorly in tests. To solve the problem without running new wire in the walls, it is a good idea to splice Copper onto the Aluminum so future devices can all be standard CU only. It is best to use splices that do not have the Aluminum touching the Copper. For a few splices use small split bolts with a Cu/Al seperator plate and with Deox. For lots of splices use the COPLAM system: crimps(Cu in one end, Al in the other)with a special crimp tool. Houses with Aluminum #12, #10 NM are many times more likely to have a major electrical fire. Talk to your fire dept!