Re: [A/S] Serious discovery!

[Doug & Judy Stracener <ka5ysy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All: 

In reference to the discussion of aluminum wiring, some information I
have acquired over the 24 years I have had aluminum wiring in my home.

1. Aluminum wiring is not, in of itself, a dangerous thing to have,
with proper precautions; your trailers will not spontaneously combust
simply due to the aluminum wiring. Most folks are unaware that the
high current bus bars in their house circuit breaker boxes are
aluminum unless specifically specified as being copper bus bars by the
design architect. Most custom built homes are copper, most spec houses
are aluminum simply because of the cost savings in the boxes.

2. The big thing to remember is NEVER NEVER NEVER upsize circuit
breakers to increase current capacity of a circuit. A lot of fires
have been caused by people taking a circuit from 15 amps to 20 amps as
is normal today. 

3. The next big thing to remember is to use ONLY electrical devices
approved by Underwriters Labs (UL) and approved as a  "CO/AL" device,
which means basically that the terminals are rated to not loosen with
the thermal expansion/contraction that aluminum wiring can go through.

4. Keep all terminals liberally coated with anti-oxidant compound,
sold under various trade names. This prevents the heating of the
terminal junctions because of the formation of aluminum oxide which is
normal on all aluminum which is unprotected and causes resistance
heating to occur.

5. I normally do a walkaround the house at least monthly and feel all
the switch plates, outlets etc, and check if they are warm to the
touch. If so, I normally pull the box open and check the connections,
and if there is any discoloration from heating evident, I replace the
offending device with a new one.

6. ALWAYS HAVE ACTIVE WORKING SMOKE DETECTORS IN THE HOME !!!!! This
is not a bad idea for copper wired homes either !

Doug