On Fri, 10 Jul 2020 10:58:39 -0500, philo wrote:

On 7/8/20 10:54 AM, philo wrote:
On 7/6/20 5:46 PM, TimR wrote:
I've lived in Europe where wire nuts are prohibited, and always
thought a screw terminal, chocolate block, etc., was probably more
secure.

Today I experimented, wiring a new light in my shed and using
Alumiconns instead of wire nuts.

Well, they work.Â* They're very secure.Â* they cost $3.50 each instead
of 9 cents.Â* They don't save any space in the box; actually they take
more, because they have to be oriented to not interfere.Â* And while on
the bench they look dead easy to install, up on a ladder inside a
ceiling box it was a different story.Â* I had a heck of a time getting
everything lined up just right with stiff solid wire that had to be
stripped to precisely 5/16 inch.Â* It took at least 5 times as long as
to wire nut them, maybe more.Â* Of course you'd get faster with
practice.Â* But I don't think anyone could afford to lose that much
time in a production setting.

I vaguely remembered the box was missing a cover.Â* So of course the
one I bought didn't fit.




If you are using aluminum wiring, it's a horrible idea. It was banned in
the US due to starting fires.

Since all wiring is copper here in the US...a properly installed wire
nut is just fine.




One other reason not to use aluminum.


When I was working, I repaired industrial battery chargers that could
deliver 100- 300 amps


One of the manufacturers switched to aluminum windings for a few years
but went back to copper.


If a connection does get hot, with a copper wire, one only need to cut
back the wire a little bit and clean it with fine sandpaper.


With aluminum, that never worked,

Copper is certainly a superior material but it costs more. Silver
works better than copper in most cases but that ugly price thing
raises it's head. That is why coins are not copper or silver anymore.
A silver dime is worth about $1.35