On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 14:18:03 GMT, RoyJ wrote:

Aluminum INPUT wires are not a big problem, they are quite common. Just
use the special non corroding grease when installing and crank the bolts
down to the specified torque. If you want to change these to copper, the
copper wire is one size smaller so you can sometimes get an upgrade in
capacity through the same conduit.

Aluminum wiring to the outlets is the BIG problem, several cures, best
is full remove and replace.

Or simply replace ALL outlets and switches with CoAlr rated devices.
Except for the VERY early production aluminum wiring (which will break
if you so much as look at it crosswise) the wiring itself is NOT a
problem - only the terminations.
The earlier CuAl rated devices should NEVER have been approved - and a
"push-in" type device is NEVER to be trusted on non-copper conductors.
My house is 32 years old now, wired with aluminum (second generation)
and has not had a sigle connection problem to date. I have had a few
outlets basically wear out - to the point plugs don't want to stay in,
and they then tend to arc and warm up internally - so I've started
replacing all with CoAlr devices. Significantly cheaper for each
device than the special wire nuts required to "pig tail" all the
wiring with copper, and with the advantage you are not adding another
pair of connections to go bad at each device.
The insurance companies are requiring inspection of all aluminum wired
homes before new coverage is issued - and are reccomending the
"pig-tail" route. The CoAlr devices are not generally stocked by the
"home center" or hardware stores, but are stocked by the better
electrical supply outlets. In my case I bought them in "case lots" of
10 each, at a cost equivalent to just less than 1.5 wire nuts per
device.
My dad, a retired electrician, cringes at the pigtails because the
boxes are generally too full when finished to be safe, in his
judgement. The aluminum wiring generally has to be bent to too short a
radius to tuck all the wires and the device into the box.

Rewiring my 2 story 1300 sq foot(more or less) home with copper would
run several thousand dollars (possibly as high as 10) - and the
original cost to wire it when new was under $800 complete with panel
and all lighting fixtures!! Replacing all devices will total
significantly less than $100 and a few hours of my time.

But it does sound like a new service panel and/or service entrance is in
your future. Most codes allow this as a do it yourself job but make sure
you have some GOOD advice before you tackle it.

xray wrote:
On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 06:57:57 GMT, Bruce L. Bergman
wrote:


Type F? As in FPE - Federal Pacific Electric / Federal Pioneer
Electric (Canada)? If that's the panel you have in the house, change
out the main service or panel as soon as possible. There is a large
body of evidence leading to the conclusion that continued use is not
safe. In my opinion, I would call circuit breakers that can jam into
a condition where they will not trip under any level of short-circuit
overload "a big problem".



Arrgh!

Yes, this is exactly the stuff that is in my house.

For a while I have been thinking about getting better input current
rating, but I think this will be a major pain because the input wires
run through a conduit under a slab poured for my living room. To make
this bad situation worse, the input feed wires are aluminum.

Geez, what a pleasure to learn that the whole electrical system in my
house (other than the copper wires to the outlets) is crap.

I already know I must have a new roof this year. Now I learn I really
should consider complete new electrics too.

How delightful. But thanks for enlightening me on the subject. Guess I
should pass the basics of this information on to my neighbors. We all
must be living in a realm of danger.