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That post, written as if it's a horror story, is rather odd - it's written to make it sound like knob and tube, cleat wiring, and ungrounded outlets were all terrible mistakes made by some DIY homeowner who shouldn't have touched the wiring. In fact, 90% of what's described was standard, accepted practice at the time it was built. That's just one of those things that you and your home inspector need to be aware of when buying an older home.

Obviously putting circuits before the fuse box and bypassing fuses with pennies were always bad ideas, but the vast majority of what's described in that post was the accepted, proper, standard approach at the time.

 

The scariest electrical job I had was replacing the broken fuse box in a mobile home in a trailer park. Most of the wiring was aluminum wire. And most of the connections were corroded. So I replaced the broken fuse panel with a circuit breaker panel and used a lot of No-Al-Ox on the connections at the circuit breakers and when I repaired them at the outlets. And right on my bill I said that the resident must install smoke detectors in every room because of the unsafe aluminum wire. And I did get paid, in cash for the job.

I will not use aluminum wire for any current carrying part of any electrical circuit, no matter what the advocates of it claim. It is unsafe.

 

The scariest electrical job I had was replacing the broken fuse box in a mobile home in a trailer park. Most of the wiring was aluminum wire. And most of the connections were corroded. So I replaced the broken fuse panel with a circuit breaker panel and used a lot of No-Al-Ox on the connections at the circuit breakers and when I repaired them at the outlets. And right on my bill I said that the resident must install smoke detectors in every room because of the unsafe aluminum wire. And I did get paid, in cash for the job.

I will not use aluminum wire for any current carrying part of any electrical circuit, no matter what the advocates of it claim. It is unsafe.

Even with if it has an equivalent ampacity? Obviously you need a bigger wire gauge, but otherwise I don't see any issue (also assuming it fits properly). There's a reason power lines use aluminum.

 

I would not use aluminum wire inside if it had much greater ampacity. It is the connections that fail, by developing a high resistance and getting hot. And then the heat burns off the insulation, and things get ugly. The problem is that aluminum wire ALWAYS develops that increased resistance at connection points. So I tell my customers, if they ask if I use aluminum wire, that I would only use it if they sign an agreement to not blame me when their house burns down. Not IF, but WHEN! So far they all agree to copper wire.
Yes, I know that outside power lines are often aluminum, and I also know that every connection is crimped with both precision crimpers and anti-corrosion chemicals. AND the wires are outside!

 

I would not use aluminum wire inside if it had much greater ampacity. It is the connections that fail, by developing a high resistance and getting hot. And then the heat burns off the insulation, and things get ugly. The problem is that aluminum wire ALWAYS develops that increased resistance at connection points. So I tell my customers, if they ask if I use aluminum wire, that I would only use it if they sign an agreement to not blame me when their house burns down. Not IF, but WHEN! So far they all agree to copper wire.
Yes, I know that outside power lines are often aluminum, and I also know that every connection is crimped with both precision crimpers and anti-corrosion chemicals. AND the wires are outside!

Oh. I didn’t really know about that. What about CCA, of a greater AWG? Or gold connectors?

 

CCA, which is copper covered aluminum, is still subject to mechanical damage any time it is clamped under a screw.It may also suffer damage to the copper coating when terminals are crimped onto it. And how much is the cost actually reduced by going to aluminum wire, given that the main cost in electrical installations is labor? And using aluminum in the recommended manner requires application of the anti-oxidizing compound at every termination. The one place it is probably OK is in safety grounding applications that do not carry any current except when a fault happens or lightning strikes. IN those applications very heavy conductors may be used, and there are fewer connections to be protected.

 

The house I grew up in had aluminum wiring (built in 1970) and we had some problems, one of which almost caused a house fire. However, when we dug into the outlet boxes guess what all of the outlets were marked with? Yep... "Cu Only". We went through the whole house replacing all of the outlets and switches with aluminum-rated ones and never had another problem and, to the best of my knowledge, the subsequent owners never had a problem despite many of the other houses in the development having serious problems, including a few house fires. Purely anecdotal, but I'm of the opinion that aluminum wiring is fine as long as it is used properly. The problem is that one of the primary motivations for using it is to save money and that is inconsistent with then using the proper (read higher cost) fixtures and procedures -- people that scrimp are going to scrimp.

 

My point was partly that because of the additional costs for compatible materials and the proper procedures, the small cost savings by using cheaper wire are offset a bit. And any one point where adequate precaution is not used is a probable source of grief, failure, and fire. So why even consider aluminum wire? Yes, it can be done right, but why???

 

The house I grew up in had aluminum wiring (built in 1970) and we had some problems, one of which almost caused a house fire. However, when we dug into the outlet boxes guess what all of the outlets were marked with? Yep... "Cu Only". We went through the whole house replacing all of the outlets and switches with aluminum-rated ones and never had another problem and, to the best of my knowledge, the subsequent owners never had a problem despite many of the other houses in the development having serious problems, including a few house fires. Purely anecdotal, but I'm of the opinion that aluminum wiring is fine as long as it is used properly. The problem is that one of the primary motivations for using it is to save money and that is inconsistent with then using the proper (read higher cost) fixtures and procedures -- people that scrimp are going to scrimp.

Down here copper has become so expensive that the primary problem is theft (those sobs even stole my father's grave stone because it was made of bronze ... sold it as scrap metal). The problem's gotten so bad that even during construction a house is attacked by thieves that rip the wiring right out of the walls. And when they can't, they'll cut the stubs that protrude from the outlets prior to installing switches and connectors, effectively spoiling the entire electrical installation. Even monuments and overpasses have been affected by all this.

The solution has been to replace copper with aluminum, but I doubt most people here are aware that you need to install aluminum rated connectors and switches too. Fortunately houses down here are made out of brick and concrete, and not wood or other flammable materials.

 

Even with if it has an equivalent ampacity? Obviously you need a bigger wire gauge, but otherwise I don't see any issue (also assuming it fits properly). There's a reason power lines use aluminum.

Aluminum wire was an idea that sounded fine on paper. In practice, it does not react to power-transfer energy well. I breaks, it cracks, it powders to dust. There is always a problem between junctions between it and other metals. This is why it was abandoned by the utility industry for in-home use. Fire risk, etc.

As for overhead powerlines, it's a cost issue. At about $285K/mile, aluminum is less expensive and it's in an industrial setting with industrial maintenance. In overhead high-tension lines, aluminum wires have steel cores.

 

I would offer that one solution for copper stealing would be far more severe penalties, and, as they did around here in Michigan, much tighter rules for scrap dealers.
I do like the idea of houses made of brick and concrete. Probably that would also be good in our California with all of the wildfire destroying so many homes. Bricks and concrete may cost more the first time, but after one replacement they would be a lot cheaper, plus sparing the inconvenience of losing a home and contents. One thing, though, is where is "Down Here"? Anything south of Anchorage is sort of "down", relatively speaking

 

where is "Down Here"?

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The solution has been to replace copper with aluminum, but I doubt most people here are aware that you need to install aluminum rated connectors and switches too

You don't hear about it much any more, but a few years ago they were stealing aluminum siding off of houses around here. People would come home from vacation and siding was gone as far up as could be reached without a ladder.

 

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Now, why on earth would you include that in your information?

 

Now, why on earth would you include that in your information?

Would you say it would be even more convenient if I also were to include my phone number, home address, marital status and credit report? ...

 

Would you say it would be even more convenient if I also were to include my phone number, home address, marital status and credit report? ...

Because folks from all over the world post in this forum, I was wondering. They also strip copper wire and plumbing here around Detroit Michigan. So it may have been that you lived nearby. But you don't. I visited Monterrey back in 1964, it was a nice city with some beautiful buildings.

 

Because folks from all over the world post in this forum, I was wondering. They also strip copper wire and plumbing here around Detroit Michigan. So it may have been that you lived nearby. But you don't. I visited Monterrey back in 1964, it was a nice city with some beautiful buildings.

Glad you liked it

Trust me, it's changed dramatically:

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Indeed it has. Thank you for the photo.

 

Lots of that stuff was acceptable decades go. My house is 100 years old. I see some of the old wiring when i replace a fixture. It is not acceptable by today, but unless you gut your house, you really cannot replace it.

The more obvious stuff, like a penny to short, is bad, but people today do equally bad stuff (like running an AC with a 10 ft extension cable that cannot handle more than 10 amps.