Aluminum Wiring

[Wiarton William]

I added another circuit to the Washer dryer breaker..We dont have one and dont plan on putting one in...I put two plugs in the wall beside the bathroom and one in the bathroom and then put one in the hatch..so DW could use her electric appliances outside too..When I took the existing wire out of the 20 amp washer breaker I found it was an aluminum.Wasnt aluminum banned??? If mixing them the secret to a proper connection..is absolutely the tightest compression the best??? need advice here...I havent used the circuit since I installed it just because of that fact..

[Ozz]

Good job on the extra circuits. I am surprised that you have aluminum wiring, all mine is copper.
Use an anti-ox paste for the aluminum connection, (or change it to copper wire)you can probably get it at Home Despot, or Lowe's. Get it tight and check it on occasion if you stay with the aluminum. It will work, but obviously copper is best.
Also, use a Ground fault outlet, or breaker for for the circuit for anything on the outside of the trailer, or close to a sink.
I wasn't sure about it's being banned, but I found this on the Internet, also RV mfg. would be different than residential, or commercial:
Aluminum wiring:
Aluminum wiring began to be used
residentially in about 1965; however,
it did not really catch on until about
1970. When was it banned? It was
never banned, however, it received
so much bad press, that aluminum wiring stopped going into houses by about
1978. Aluminum wiring has higher resistance than copper and thus builds up heat
more when used. It is also usually thicker than copper wiring. To this day,
aluminum wiring is used to bring power into the house from the street. This is acceptable in most areas if the wire is stranded and not solid.
How do you recognize aluminum wiring? If the printing on the side of the cable is
still legible, you should see “ALUMINUM” or “AL”.

[Wiarton William]

Thanks Ozz...the wire I saw was silver colour and much more pliable than copper...I made a secure " pigtail twist" of the wires and then inserted the connection into the breaker and snugged it up securely..

[Ozz]

I think you will be fine, I am guessing the work you did will be a hit with the DW, us guys have to constantly try and keep put of the Ole Dog house...

[Driftwoodgal]

I had aluminum wiring in a 1970 Timpco mobile home. I had a terrible time with the wiring heating up and causing the screws to loosen, thus it would short the outlet out. The electrician that used to work on it finally showed me how to fix it myself because I was a single mom without the funds to pay him. The mobile home lasted 25 years.

We did run into electricians that were putting service to houses down on Surfside Beach. The weather heads were torn from the houses so wiring had to be replaced from the transformer to the house. They were putting in aluminum wiring. I brought up the exact same thing that I thought it was banned. The electrician told me that wasn't the case.

Wish I had a loving husband that wanted to stay out of the dog house Guess I should be glad he isn't doing wiring as he might be in the dog house because he burned down the Montana.

Colleen

[mtheo]

Aluminum wire has not been banned and is still in use, mostly higher amperage circuit. Cost is the main reason, as wire size gets larger the price goes up very fast, were larger size aluminum wire is a lot cheaper.
If you are reusing a breaker that had aluminum wire and you plan to change to copper be sure the breaker is rated for aluminum wire. Some breakers are designed for just copper or just aluminum while others are good for both. This has to do with the metallic composition of the metal in the wire connections. If you are going to connect copper wire to aluminum wire or aluminum to aluminum you need to use an anti-oxidant joint compound, I use one b y Ideal called NOALOX, but there are other brands.
When I use aluminum I also use the jointcompound on the breaker connections. It helps make a better connection.
Hope this helped.

[NCFischers]

One more thing. When you make a connection with aluminum and copper, be careful not to tighten the wirenut too much or you can break the soft aluminum. It needs to be tight but just be aware.

[Devildog]

As a follow up question, where did you go to purchase your other circuit breaker? I am wanting to run an outlet to the basement, and could use one of the leads from the washer/dryer hookup, but thought a dedicated circuit would be better for resale and appearance. Is the a camping world piece, or a home improvement store item?

[Wiarton William]

I just used the Washer circuit.. its 20 amp...there is space for one more circiut if needed...I have one on the A/C line too...its dedicated to an electric fireplace...(dont used heater and A/C at same time)

[Ozz]

Devildog, you can get the breakers at Home Despot, I assume they are the same in your unit as my 3400RL.

[richfaa]

Our home was built in 1978 and there is Aluminum wiring coming into the house from the street, all the homes on the street are like that. They are 200Amp service. When we purchased the home in 1988 the inspector noted the alumimum wiring and made sure it was tight. When we had our 50amp service installed for the 3400 the electrician inspected the Square D Box again and said everything was good. We have never heard of a problem on the street with the wiring nor had there ever been a fire duesto defective wiring.

[SlickWillie]

Back in my younger days, I worked in the wire and cable industry (maintenance). I interviewed with a company in Shreveport, LA that was tooling up to produce copper clad aluminum wire. I declined their offer, but have often wondered about the process, and whether the copper clad wire was any better than straight aluminum. That being said, aluminum cable to the meter base is fine with me. I will not live in a house that has aluminum wiring in it, period.

[NCFischers]

I've been an electrical contractor for more than 40 years and I too will not own a house with aluminum wiring for the distribution circuits. Heavier circuits (stove, heater, service entrance) are fine but the problem occurs at the outlets and switches with aluminum. All the problems with AL wiring that I've repaired have been there. I can go into a more detailed explanation as to why but I don't want to bore all of you.

[ols1932]

Aluminum wire seems to break easier than copper.

[Steve and Brenda]

Best reason not to use aluminum is that it does not conduct current flow as well as copper so you get less amps. Thats why aluminum heats up faster as aluminum is resistive to current flow.

[NCFischers]

That is the reason that when aluminum wire was used, the size of the wire needed to be one size larger than copper to compensate for the additional resistance.