Those are devices with connectors made to accept aluminum. As practically everyone has responded, the house in question is simply to old for you to be concerned about small gauge aluminum building wire.
well you could disconnect all the white lines at the breaker box then check with a light bulb between hot black and ground.
hacked ground to neutral wouldnt power the bulb, use a 60 watt incandescent minimum.
doesnt help home inspectors but it would detect hacks
jury-rigged
I can see the look on a seller's face when I start disconnecting the wires from the neutral buss bars! (-:
I believe inspection of a few outlets would reveal what I want to know. But I'd rather have a plug-in tester that could detect bozos pulling a "neutral as ground" scam.
-- Bobby G.
I'm not an electrician. Rather than cut and paste numerous texts or post a list of web links, I'll simply mention that my previous post used a non-standard abbreviation for the hardware. It is better known as CO/ALR. I hate to mention specific brands or search engines, but using the well known search engine that begins with G, the first page of hits disclosed several hits (a) describing the hardware and the application for it, (b) links to well known electrical supply manufacturers current selling the hardware, and (c) big box and web retailers selling the hardware. I'm sure you can find all you need to satisfy yourself.
P.S. The "proper" way to deal with a home with AL wiring is highly controversial depending upon what you read and who is speaking for their own self-interest. It ranges from minimalist mitigation (CO/ALR) hardware to a complete rip-out and replacement with CU wiring. Professional high pressure crimping to CU pigtails for every connection and junction is a popular but quite expensive intermediate way to deal with the issue. My biggest problem recently was finding a licensed electrician who was knowledgeable and felt competent and willing to work on my wiring. The first few a I called said they wouldn't work on it for fear of future litigation from me in the event of an electrical fire, or because they had no experience working on it and couldn't take the time to get trained.
Doug, there was a report published in 2008 by Underwriters Laboratories and the National Fire Protection Association titled, "Residential Electrical System Aging Reserch Project". The researchers tore apart 30 homes aged
30-110 years and evaluated the wiring as they found it It's the best information available on what to look for with respect to wiring in older homes including some great pictures showing what you might find. The report is free to download. Just Google the title.Tomsic
I read tinning was to protect the copper from the rubber insulation (sulfur?). (I don't know.)
Thermal expansion is part of the problem. The "old technology" aluminum wire was too ductile - it would extrude and creep. Probably a larger problem is an insulating aluminum oxide layer that very rapidly forms on any 'clean' aluminum surface. The actual metal-to-metal contact area in a connection may be very small. For large wires, tightening the connection deforms the wire which breaks the oxide layer.
Another post has a link to:
IMHO you are unlikely to come up with an easy way to find a H-N connection at a receptacle. Meters and 3-light testers use very low currents. H & N are connected at the panel which limits what can be done to test.
You could try hr(bob)'s advice. But the (ground wire) - (panel N-G bond)
- (neutral wire) loop resistance is very low. Any current on the neutral (or ground) can screw up the measurement. Contact resistance from meter to the receptacle will be a problem.
My tester finds N-G receptacle connections and actually tests ground wires. It is made by Ecos Electronics and they have probably not been made for a long time. May be available from sources like ebay.
Looks like Ideal makes a tester with more features:
Probably easier be to put a 200W bulb on a flasher and connect it H-G at the receptacle. Use a clamp on ammeter to look for which wire in the panel has the pulsing current. You can clamp multiple wires at the same time.
A minor problem is that electricians do not necessarily know what the actual problems and fixes are.
If you are interested you can read:
Trivia note, the "R" in CO/ALR is "revised".
Resistance is not a factor. Aluminum wires have a similar resistance to copper since they are larger - #12 aluminum on a 15A circuit, #10 on a 20A.
As usual, the Budman is correct. According to the electrical wiring historian, David E. Shapiro, without the tinning, the rubber coating would have to be scraped off of the copper because of "gluing caused by catalytic action. It certainly didn't hurt in the process of soldering the conductors either.
That's what I get for listening to Old Sparky and not researching it for myself. He told me that his tools included an old fashioned blow torch and a big honking soldering iron. The first wire nuts he ever saw were ceramic or porcelain. I understand the sulfur because that was the magic ingredient Charles Goodyear discovered was the missing element needed to cause latex to vulcanize into something useful. ^_^
TDD
Bud, are you familiar with copper clad aluminum? I first saw it when I worked for an electrical supplier in the early 1970's during a copper shortage. The company was selling a lot of aluminum Romex and then we started getting in copper clad aluminum Romex. One day the darnedest thing showed up from another supplier, copper clad thermostat wire in
18 AWG. I discovered it when I picked up the reel and it darn near flew out of my hands because it was so light. If you've ever picked up a hollow display auto battery, you know what I mean. I hadn't seen copper clad aluminum for years until recently when I got an Email from a network component supplier for 24 AWG copper clad Cat5 network cable. I just called my buddy at Inline Electric and he's never heard of copper clad aluminum Romex so I assume it hasn't made a comeback in the local electrical supply chain. But dang, copper is getting expensive! o_OTDD
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Studies have shown that the loose connections first appear at 3.1 years. ;-)
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My dad did electrical work as a kid, then when he got home after ww2, he started his own electrical contracting business. I started working with him in the early 70's. I remember a drawer in the shop's workbench that had a couple of those big honkin soldering irons. I'm sure they got kicked around for years and finally got tossed. I don't remember seeing any kind of lead melting pot, just those massive irons. I never did ask him if or when he used them, but I'll be sure to do so next time I see him.
I did a bit of searching and found this:
Electricians used blow torches in their work as well. You may have noticed the hook on top of the burner head and the vee groove at the mouth of the burner head. These were used to hold a soldering iron in the flame of the torch whereby the electrician would use the soldering iron to solder wires together. The soldering iron was used by radiomen as well as electricians. The other interesting technique used by electricians is that they would twist the wires together in a junction box, then take a ladle that had a swivel mechanism. The ladle was at the end of a steel handle about 18 inches long. The object of the swivel was so no matter what angle the handle was in, the ladle, which held molten lead, would always be vertical. The electrician would walk through his new construction project, hold this ladle up to his freshly twisted wires, and dip the wires into the lead. This was done so the electrical connections would not work loose.
Zangobob's Blow Torch Heaven
My understanding is that they use the pot or ladle when they were doing new construction or rural electrification upgrades, and used the irons for "non production" splices. What a PIA. Every day I thank my lucky stars for never having to use a blow torch, massive soldering iron, brace & bit, or knobs & tubes, hell I hated having to use a 3/16" star drill to hand drive rawl plugs. I'm just spoiled
Brace and bit is still handy when you have just a couple holes to drill and it's quicker than running an extension cord ('cause you're running wire, and the power in the area is cut off.) Yeah, I have one and it has a place in my tool stash.
nate
Here are a few examples of the old way, one image has the solder pot on the swivel handle and another image shows the iron on the blow torch itself. ^_^
I was reading this thread till I got to this reply from you. First off, lightning is NOT caused by the wiring, nor is the wiring very likely to attract lightning. Lightning mostly hits where ever it is, but tall metal structures can attract it, such as antenna towers and even tall trees. Whatever gave you the idea that the fire which they said was caused by lightning has anything to do with the wiring is just plain stupid.
I think you're being much too suspicious...... I understand you checking out all the parts of the house for problems, but how many more people on here will it take to tell you that aluminum wiring was not used in the 50's. I'd be more concerned about the wiring on the end of the house struck by lightning having a few charred connections from the strike. I'd also want to see the attic on that end of the house for charred wood and structural damage.
If you are that worried, hire a contractor/inspector to check the house. In most or all places you have that right, as long as YOU pay them. And why are you asking for prices on the internet? No one knows what prices are like in your part of the world. That's about as stupid as calling your doctor and asking him to disgnose your kidney stones over the phone.
For tight spaces I actually prefer my little right angle drill (forget brand; salvaged it from a friend's junk pile and had to clean it up and put a new chuck on it) with a spade bit - will bore nice straight holes in wall studs for an easier pull.
nate
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