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Jon Elson[_3_]

wrote:

NORMALLY a 15 amp outlet is wired with 14 guage copper, but many homes
built in the 60's and 70's used 12 guage aluminum wire.
AIEeeeee! Not the aluminum wire thing again! The combination
of aluminum wire and outlets and other fixtures not specifically designed
for it has burned down a LOT of houses. Also, those ghastly spring-clip
outlets and switches that you poke the stripped wire into instead of
tightening a screw onto the wire are not reliable over time. If the OP
has aluminum wire, he should have it all ripped out and replaced as soon
as possible. Geez, the insurance companies ought to be paying people
to search out and replace that stuff! Probably not a whole lot of the
aluminum wire remains, it would have caused problems and quit working
if it didn't start a fire. That stuff has to be almost 50 years old by now.

Jon