David G. Nagel wrote:
Roy Lewallen wrote:

Richard Clark wrote:


Hi Roy,

If I recall history and physics correctly (and simultaneously), house
wiring failed through cold flow, a property of aluminum to relax under
a one-time application of pressure (impulse rather than sustained
pressure) and thus the joint failed. The failure raised resistance,
resistance raised temperature, temperature raised flames.... no more
common use of aluminum in house wiring.


When I put in a new service entrance in 1979, it was after the
problems with ordinary aluminum house wiring were discovered and it
was no longer being used. But the service entrance cable I got was
aluminum. The service box connectors are marked as approved for both
aluminum and copper wiring, and have a compression fitting which
doesn't give the aluminum anywhere to flow. Generous application of
NoAlOx or a similar grease was also required for proper installation,
so that's what I did. It's been completely trouble-free for nearly 30
years now. So it was, and is, possible to use aluminum wire. But it
has to be done correctly, with due regard to its vagaries.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL



Roy;

The problem with AL house wire is that the pure Al that the wire is made
of will flow under pressure. When it was used with Cu wire switches and
outlets the attachment points could not maintain the pressure to insure
adequate contact.

there's a bit more to it than that.. and, there's a whole industry that
has sprung up to do wiring retrofits, adapters, inspect your house,
etc., as well as to litigate claims of one sort or another. Tough to
find unbiased information on the web.

It has to do with which alloy of aluminum was used, and the casual use
of the wrong alloy with connection methods not suitable for it (i.e.
screw terminals). When the copper prices rose and the economy sank in
the late 60s early 70s, they used the same aluminum wire (EC1350?) as
had been used (successfully) for overhead and underground feeders for
decades. The wire companies will make wire out of any alloy you want,
so folks said, give me that stuff I've been getting in 2/0, except in
AWG14 or AWG12.

Bad choice, as it happens. An alloy that is good for big ol' fat feeders
supporting their own weight on a 100 ft span, especially bare ones,
going into big (aluminum) compression clamps, is probably not a good
choice for electricians working in tight quarters, stripping insulation
with a penknife, and then wrapping it around a screw made of steel
that's installed into a threaded hole made of brass. Even worse, the
quickwiring "push it in the hole" type connectors.

Another problem was the change from brass to steel screws in the
terminations, also as a result of cost. The Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion (CTE) mismatch between brass and aluminum isn't as big as
between steel and aluminum. And, issues with Steel screws staying tight
in brass threads, etc.

I don't know that cold flow is actually an issue. After all, most power
lines and the feeder to your house is done with old style aluminum
wires, into a compression screw termination, and failures are very rare,
even with the connector untouched for 50 years. It's more the gradual
loosening from temperature cycling, which is self aggravating: small gap
opens, contact area reduces, localized heating causes more of a gap, etc.


Modern aluminum wiring uses another alloy (AA-8000 series or ACM), which
has better mechanical properties: it's less brittle, so nicks and tight
turns don't cause problems, it's also mechanically weaker, but that's
not an issue, unlike with overhead power lines, which need to support
their own weight. In addition, the termination device (the screws or
clamps) are specifically designed to work with the aluminum (or copper)
wire. Things like little ridges and grooves in the plate you tighten
down against.

Some interesting photos at:
http://www.qpi-inspect.com/aluminum06-02-04.pdf