So I had to sacrifice a good chunk of my Saturday for work. Not that I usually mind, but this time we had to drive an hour and a half--to a house that'd already pass rough inspection and been sheetrocked-- because the H/O discovered we'd run aluminum SEU to a furnace. Our job? Rip out the aluminum and install copper.

If someone wants copper just to be eccentric, fine, it's their dollar. But come to find out the HVAC guys had been telling them that the aluminum SEU we installed would burn down their house. They HVAC guys had it happen a number of times in the past where they had terminated the cable and it eventually caused fires.

No amount of logic (including telling them the service wires were aluminum) would convince the H/O otherwise. And when the HVAC installer actually showed up, his "proof" to me was a sticker inside a condenser unit saying AL shouldn't be terminated on the lugs. Makes sense, because those lugs were only rated for copper! (Which we used.)

Basically, it came down to a whole bunch of wasted time and the H/O's wasted money, because the HVAC guys didn't know the first thing about dual-rated lugs. But that didn't stop them from freely doing, and dispensing advice about, electrical work.



-John

[This message has been edited by BigJohn (edited 12-03-2005).]

Our job? Rip it out the aluminum and install copper... If someone wants copper just to be eccentric, fine, it's their dollar... sticker inside a condenser unit saying AL shouldn't be terminated on the lugs... because those lugs were only rated for copper! (Which we used.)... the HVAC guys didn't know the first thing about dual-rated lugs.

Am I missing something here? Did you originally run AL and change the lugs or what??

-Hal


[This message has been edited by hbiss (edited 12-03-2005).]

We ran #6 aluminum to the furnace, which had lugs rated for aluminum.

We ran #10 copper to the condenser, which had lugs rater for copper.

The change was for the furnace, because the H/O had been convinced that all aluminum was inherently dangerous.

-John

I think you might want to look at 338.10(B)(2) under uses permitted. Seu for branch circuits.

i think so too... se/seu is not permitted for a hvac.

He said he passed inspection, could he have run it with insulated conductors ?, and used the bare for ground.

[This message has been edited by LK (edited 12-04-2005).]

Don't have a code book handy at the moment, but I'll check that out. Yes, we did pass rough, but the inspectors in that county are combination and electrical work does not seem to be their strong point.

Based on LKs post, I'm guessing the issue in question is an uninsulated neutral...? The furnace we ran it to did not require a neutral. Straight 240V. Or is there another issue?

-John

That should have been ok

In this instance, I would replace the cable only at the customer's expense for both material and labor.

I have use aluminum in the past, and spliced in a foot of copper conductors for lugs rated for only copper.

I had one where the hvac contractor told the HO not to run AL. Said it would void the warrenty. After checking the paperwork with the unit, it did indeed say not to use AL. Had to run conduit to unit and pull copper.