On 2/21/17 3:18 PM, philo wrote:
On 02/21/2017 03:13 PM, wrote:
O(#18?) to the #14
house wiring?? VERY common situation. There are quite a few others.
One of the tricky ones is using the approved ACS marrette to pigtail a
awg14c wire to an awg12a.. The inspector will fail the joint if it is
pretwisted before installing the ACS - and the 14 copper and the 12
aluminum actually DO twist together rather well with the nut. - at
least with the second gen aluminum.




Anyone who would use aluminum wire is an idiot

We live in different worlds. Buried aluminum wire is common in mine.
It's for irrigation well motors generally ranging from 50 to 100 horsepower
and the irrigation systems they supply.
The farthest run I know of was 3/4 mile and parallel runs of quad.
I'm not
sure of the size since someone else did it.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 21:41:31 -0600, philo wrote:

On 02/21/2017 08:49 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:23:26 -0600, philo wrote:

On 02/21/2017 03:05 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 09:29:12 -0600, philo wrote:








FWIW: The broken wire nut I saw was up in an attic and possibly heat was
a factor?
possibly, but usually heat deforms thermoplastic nuts, and discolours
thermoset and phenolic long before they crack. Generally broken
wirenuts have been physically abused..


It was in a junction box and though once I had a squirrel up in the
attic, that was one nut he would not have gotten to.

Perhaps damaged in installation? Most common cause.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 21:43:09 -0600, philo wrote:

On 02/21/2017 08:47 PM, wrote:

Anyone who would use aluminum wire is an idiot
Actually, in a lot of situations it is still used today - very
successfully. Not used in residential wiring any more, but
particularly the 2nd generation stuff is fine, as long as it is used
with the proper connections. I had to pigtail the devices that I could
not replace with CoAlr devices, and the ACS Marrette is head and
shoulders better than the ****ty ideal wirenuts that were sold for the
job. There is no "plastic" in them and they are totally non-flamible.

I had all the wiring in the house "recertified" last year.




I repaired industrial equipment for 38 years and did see some power
transformers that had aluminum windings. After enough of them burned up
they went back to copper.


I would never ever use that crap.
I wouldn't build a house with it today either, but I'll be damned if
I'll tear the house apart to replace it when it is fully functional.
Never a problem in the 36 years I've owned the place except for one
switch failure and 2 outlets - and none of them were aluminum wire
related. The only problems with aluminum wiring are faulty connections
- 99.9% of the time traceable to poor installation technique.
I know who wired this one and know he was a concientious electrician
who did it right - and the recertification inspection bore that out. I
also know who did the conversion to CoALR and the copper pigtails
required for the GFCI devices, which are NOT available in CoALR. I
trust his work implicitly (or I wouldn't do it!!) and the inspector
was very happy with the work done (even issuing a no-cost permit and
re-inspection because I did it before applying for a permit because
the electrician that replaced the panel and was SUPPOSED to have the
inspection done along with the panel inspection slipped up)
Good for another 30+ years - longer than I'll be around anyway!!

On 02/21/2017 03:04 PM, wrote:

[snip]

I cannot picture a situation where I'd ever have two different gauges of
wire but after that one let loose on me I've always pre-twisted
first...then after the wire nut is on, tug on it to be sure all is
secure,,,then as a final precaution, tape it all up
I'd NEVEr tape a wirenut! My dad would have skinned me if I did!!.
He'd say" if you are not 100% sure it's right, a piece of tape ain't
go'nna fix it!!!


It would help in a situation where the electrical connection is good,
but the WIRENUT is loose.

On 02/21/2017 02:38 PM, philo wrote:

[snip]

If you use 12 and 14 the circuit breaker could not exceed 15 amps due to
the #14 wire. Since the breaker cannot exceed 15 amps then there is no
need to use #12 wire.

15A in #12 gives lower voltage drop than 15A in #14.

[snip]

On Wed, 22 Feb 2017 19:03:58 -0600, Sam E
wrote:

On 02/21/2017 03:04 PM, wrote:

[snip]

I cannot picture a situation where I'd ever have two different gauges of
wire but after that one let loose on me I've always pre-twisted
first...then after the wire nut is on, tug on it to be sure all is
secure,,,then as a final precaution, tape it all up
I'd NEVEr tape a wirenut! My dad would have skinned me if I did!!.
He'd say" if you are not 100% sure it's right, a piece of tape ain't
go'nna fix it!!!


It would help in a situation where the electrical connection is good,
but the WIRENUT is loose.
That is a rare occurrence - particularly if it is done right. If you
need tape to keep your nuts in place, you have a problem - - -

On 02/22/2017 02:21 PM, wrote:




FWIW: The broken wire nut I saw was up in an attic and possibly heat was
a factor?
possibly, but usually heat deforms thermoplastic nuts, and discolours
thermoset and phenolic long before they crack. Generally broken
wirenuts have been physically abused..


It was in a junction box and though once I had a squirrel up in the
attic, that was one nut he would not have gotten to.

Perhaps damaged in installation? Most common cause.


I do not know. It might have had a crack in it to begin with?

On 02/22/2017 07:39 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 22 Feb 2017 19:03:58 -0600, Sam E
wrote:

On 02/21/2017 03:04 PM, wrote:

[snip]

I cannot picture a situation where I'd ever have two different gauges of
wire but after that one let loose on me I've always pre-twisted
first...then after the wire nut is on, tug on it to be sure all is
secure,,,then as a final precaution, tape it all up
I'd NEVEr tape a wirenut! My dad would have skinned me if I did!!.
He'd say" if you are not 100% sure it's right, a piece of tape ain't
go'nna fix it!!!


It would help in a situation where the electrical connection is good,
but the WIRENUT is loose.
That is a rare occurrence - particularly if it is done right. If you
need tape to keep your nuts in place, you have a problem - - -




I have already said that I do NOT have to tape, I triple check all

but tape anyway.