ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Ughhh, copper clad aluminum

Yesterday a friend and I each got $20 to help a bathroom renovator clean up the pile of rubble he had created behind an older (80s) singlewide. Of course, I find about 10 pounds of cable (cleaned and stripped) in the pile. I think, "Well there's $35 extra." I strip it down to nothing, and go to put it in the scrap barrel when I see that I knicked a section, and that section revealed what was beneath! Aluminum! Of course, I get angry that I just wasted a few hours stripping NM cable that is worth about $5 instead of $35.

So, what do you guys do with copper clad? Throw it in with the aluminum, or just chuck it? Also, this NM cable was black, so I assume that if I find black NM I've found copper clad/aluminum NM? Also, this was no. 14. I thought no. 12 was required in the aluminum section?

Please excuse my stupidity,
Ian A.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 09-07-2006).]

Calling yourself stupid is harsh,if one was to repeat the same mistake over and over, that would be stupid, mistakes are a great teachers, as long as one learns from them.

Look at the sheathing, it should say "CU clad AL" and BTW if it makes it to my scrap pile it goes as aluminum scrap.

Mobile Home 'lectric in general...if you touch anything you incur liability exposure.
I regret every moment I have ever spent working on trailers, the entire wiring is installed by minimum wage people, the materials as cheap as the mfg. could get by, the majority of occupants are are of limited resources such that they can't afford to fix it right, where do you stop? The last situation I found a QO panel with a burnt bus, the old guy was trying to fix the place up to make it liveable, he had fixed the roof, the entire floor was dissolving, so was the electrical wiring. He could not afford the $ 300 price for a deeply discounted panel replacement...
As for the black Romex, TEKid,the color of the sheath has nothing to do with the contents of "old" NM; Turquoise, white, black, grey.

The jacket said nothing of the wires inside except the size and how many.

AF: Welcome to the forum! I was wondering what one pile of junk was, it was plastic and plywood. It was the bath tub! I ask my friend "How cheap do these places get!?" Mine's older, still standing, and has an iron tub, sinks, etc. As for the color of the NM, thanks for the info.

Ian A.

Hehe, just took another look at it, and it is copper! Wahoo! (Okay, I'll shut up. But $35 is a lot to someone who needs $35 to buy something they've wanted a long time.)

Ian A.