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ELECTRICAL INSPECTION, DIAGNOSIS, REPAIR

ALUMINUM WIRING HAZARDS & REPAIRS
ALUMINUM WIRE FAILURE REPORTS
  240V Heat Pump Circuit
  Ideal-65 "Twister" Burnup in Field Use
  Electrical Panel Overheat
  Electrical Receptacle Burnup
  Copper to Aluminum Pigtail Overheat
  Twist-on connector overheating cases

ALUMINUM WIRE RISK
  Aluminum Wiring Safety
  Aluminum Wiring - CPSC Publication #516-PDF
  Aluminum Wiring - CPSC Publication #516-HTML

ALUMINUM WIRING, HOW TO RECOGNIZE

ALUMINUM WIRING, HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK
  HOW TO REDUCE THE AL WIRE RISK: DETAILS
  COPALUM ALUMINUM WIRE CONNECTORS
  ALUMI-CONN ALUMINUM WIRE CONNECTORS
  ALUMINUM GROUND WIRES
  MAKING SPACE FOR ALUMINUM WIRE CONNECTORS
REDUCING THE FIRE HAZARD IN ALUMINUM-WIRED HOMES - Full Report

ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR ELECTRICIANS
ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR, Other Products
ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR COALR & CU-AL DEVICES

ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR NOT-Recommended Products
  CPSC Against Twist-On Aluminum Wire Connectors
  CPSC Letter Aluminum Wiring Connectors
  CPSC Twist-On Wiring Connectors Meeting Log
  Ideal 65 Connector for Aluminum Wire Repair?
  COALR & CU-AL Devices?
  Scotchlok 3M connector
  Aluminum Wiring Repair Methods - CPSC Meeting

ALUMINUM WIRING ADVICE FOR RENTERS
ALUMINUM WIRING BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aluminum Wiring Notes for Home Inspectors

Aluminum Wiring Summary Page for Public Use

AMPS VOLTS DETERMINATION
AMPACITY - the LIMITING FACTOR
APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY RATINGS

BACKUP ELECTRICAL GENERATORS
BUILDING SAFETY HAZARDS GUIDE
BOOKSTORE - ELECTRICAL

Cadet & Encore Heater Recall
CIRCUIT BREAKER FAILURE
Classified CIRCUIT BREAKER WARNING
CIRCUIT BREAKER SIZE for A/C or HEAT PUMP
Classified CIRCUIT BREAKER WARNING
CUTLER HAMMER PANEL FIRE
CONDUIT, ELECTRICAL
CORROSION in ELECTRICAL PANELS
CORROSION & MOISTURE SOURCES in PANELS

DEFINITIONS of ELECTRICAL TERMS
DIRECTORY OF ELECTRICIANS
  DIRECTORY OF ELECTRICIANS - Aluminum Wiring
  DIRECTORY OF ELECTRICIANS - FPE Zinsco

ELECTRIC HEAT
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ENERGY SAVINGS in buildings

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FIRE SAFETY Checklist, CPSC

GENERATORS, ELECTRICAL
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HEATING COST FUEL & BTU Cost Table
HEAT, ELECTRIC
HEAT TAPE USAGE GUIDE
Hertz - Definitions of KHz MHz GHz THz

KNOB & TUBE WIRING

LIGHTING, INTERIOR GUIDE

LIGHTNING PROTECTION SYSTEMS

LOW VOLTAGE BUILDING WIRING

MAIN DISCONNECT
MAIN DISCONNECT AMPACITY
MOISTURE SOURCES in PANELS
MULTI-WIRE CIRCUITS
MURRAY SIEMENS Recall

PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SYSTEMS
PUSHMATIC - BULLDOG PANELS

REMOTE ELECTRIC POWER, PHOTOVOLTAIC
RUST in ELECTRICAL PANELS

SAFETY FOR ELECTRICAL INSPECTORS

SE CABLE SIZES vs AMPS
SIEMENS MURRAY Recall

SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS
SQUARE-D RECALLS

THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS

UNDERGROUND SERVICE LATERALS
VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT

WIND ENERGY SYSTEMS
WIND TURBINES & LIGHTNING

ZINSCO / SYLVANIA HAZARDS

More Information

How to Recognize or Identify Aluminum Electrical Wiring in buildings
InspectAPedia^® -

How to identify aluminum electrical wiring
Where to look for aluminum wiring
How to recognize aluminum wired electrical circuits

InspectAPedia offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest. We will block advertisements which we discover or readers inform us are associated with bad business practices, false-advertising, or junk science. Our contact info is at InspectAPedia.com/Contact.htm.

This article provides tips and photographs helpful in identifying the presence of aluminum wiring in residential properties. Because we've had requests for help in identifying this wire we've included some tips. Be sure to also look at other photographs available at the Aluminum Wiring Website as many of them show closeups of aluminum wire in various applications.

Click any image to see an enlarged versin.

WARNING: unless you are specifically trained to do so, do not open or disassemble or touch any electrical panels, devices, components if you are not trained and competent. There is risk of fatal electric shock.

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When was the house built or re-wired or when were circuits added? Homes built, rooms added, circuits rewired or added between 1965 and 1973 may contain aluminum wiring.
Don't assume that there's no aluminum wire if your house was not built during these years. Circuits may have been added, extended, modified using aluminum wiring. Or an installer may have had leftover aluminum wire and used it after these dates.

An electrician or home inspector qualified to open the electric panel will look at wire at circuit breakers in the panel for aluminum wire. The pen in the circled area points to bare silver-colored wire visible at the circuit breaker. Notice that the aluminum wire in this photo is a single circuit installed between two copper wires (on adjacent breakers). Also notice the bare wire exposed at the neutral bus. An easy place to look for aluminum wire than at the circuit breakers might be at the neutral bus where both white neutral wires and ground wires are connected in a row. There it's easier to see exposed portions of the wire itself.

Look for the word "Aluminum." Without opening any electrical panels or other devices, a homeowner or building inspector can still look at for printed or embossed letters on the plastic wire jacket where wiring is visible in the attic or at the electric panel. Some aluminum wire has the word "Aluminum" or a specific brand name such as "Kaiser Aluminum" plainly marked on the plastic wire jacket. This photo shows a dark colored wire jacket with green print indicating "Kaiser Aluminum." Some white colored plastic wire jackets are inked in red; others have embossed letters without ink and are hard to read. Try shining a light along the wire

Don't assume there's no aluminum wire just because you find none in the panel. Aluminum may have been used for part of circuits or for some but not other circuits in the building.
At outlets and switches, look at stripped wire ends. Often simply removing the cover plate will give sufficient view. Be especially cautious if you see back-wired receptacles. It may be difficult to see if the wire is aluminum, but if it is, the smaller wire contact surface when this method was used may increase the risk of overheating or other failures.

In the attic look at the wire gauge or "size." Look for #12-gauge wires in the attic or other places where wiring is readily available. If you see only #12 and no #14, aluminum wiring may be present. Aluminum wire must be one wire gauge size larger for a given circuit than if copper was used. So while #14 copper wire is permitted on a 15-amp electrical circuit and since #14 copper wire branch circuits are common in homes, if aluminum wire was used for the same circuit it would have to be #12. Similarly, a 20-amp circuit uses #12 copper wire or #10 aluminum wire. Common residential lighting and electrical-receptacle circuits are 15-amp or possibly 20-amp (e.g. in a kitchen). So if you see only #12 or larger wires in the attic of your house look further to see if it's aluminum. The wire-gauge size is printed or embossed on the wire jacket. #12 does not guarantee it's aluminum, it's just more data to point in that direction.

Where wiring is visible in the attic or basement, examine the insulation for markings that indicate the use of aluminum, such as "KAISER," "ALCAN," "ALUMINUM," or "AL/2." If you see #14, or 14-gauge wiring, that particular wire is unlikely to be aluminum, unless someone did something quite unusual for residential construction. Here's a closeup of some aluminum wiring insulation jacketing which shows the "12/2" indicating it's No. 12 gauge wire.

Aluminum wires spliced together in this metal junction box has not overheated. It was exposed by an electrician. A homeowner should not be taking the risk of opening and exposing electrical wiring.

Aluminum wiring spliced to stranded copper wire in a ceiling light fixture was found during a wiring survey I performed - a common condition.

COPALUM Copper-to-Aluminum Pigtailing repairs may be observed in homes where this special AMP (now TYCO) COPALUM connector and special tool were used to connect short copper wires to aluminum wire ends in the building. The TYCO COPALUM connector method is described at PIGTAILING USING AMP "COPALUM" CONNECTORS Typically this approach costs about half that of completely re-wiring a home with copper.
COPALUM Aluminum Wire Connector Availability discusses how to get the proper aluminum wire connectors

AlumiConn connectors and aluminum wire aluminum to copper lug connectors used for pigtailing or splicing may be observed in homes where aluminum wiring repairs have begun after about June 2007. [New in 2006, U.L. Listed, 2007 completed independent testing],

Scotchlok 3M Repair Method [- Superceded by new alternate repair as of June 2007 -] was previously recommended, prior to successful testing of the AlumiConn (see AlumiConn and COPALUM methods introduced at ALUMINUM WIRING, HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK). We no longer recommend this repair method, but in because it may be encountered in the field, a summary description of this method is at PIGTAILING USING "Scotchlok" TWIST-ON CONNECTORS and a detailed description of this method is atAluminum Wire alternative repair: Special Aluminum Wire Repair Method using a Specific Twist-on Connector and Other Details.

The Ideal 65 Purple Twister, A Not-Recommended "Repair" attempt for aluminum wiring using a twist-on connector was evident in this electrical panel. When I found this condition I suspected, and then confirmed that the worker who tried this approach did not follow CPSC recommendations, used an inappropriate connector which has a record of fires, and further, had failed to find and repair any of the splices in junction boxes in the building. Work like this is done by someone who has heard vaguely about "copper pigtailing" but has not become well informed on the topic. In my opinion, an improper or partial "repair" can in such cases actually increase the risk of overheating and fire.

Overheated, burned multi-strand aluminum wire in this electric panel confirms that even contemporary practice of using multi-strand aluminum wiring in buildings, typically for single-use circuits like air conditioning, electric ranges, or clothes dryers, is still vulnerable to burnouts.

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ALUMINUM WIRING HAZARDS & REPAIRS
ALUMINUM WIRE FAILURE REPORTS
ALUMINUM WIRE RISK
  Aluminum Wiring Safety
  Aluminum Wiring - CPSC Publication #516-PDF
  Aluminum Wiring - CPSC Publication #516-HTML
ALUMINUM WIRING, HOW TO RECOGNIZE
ALUMINUM WIRING, HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK
  HOW TO REDUCE THE AL WIRE RISK: DETAILS
  COPALUM ALUMINUM WIRE CONNECTORS
  ALUMI-CONN ALUMINUM WIRE CONNECTORS
  ALUMINUM GROUND WIRES
  MAKING SPACE FOR ALUMINUM WIRE CONNECTORS
  REDUCING THE FIRE HAZARD IN ALUMINUM-WIRED HOMES - Full Report

ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR ELECTRICIANS
ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR, Other Products
ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR COALR & CU-AL DEVICES
ALUMINUM WIRING REPAIR NOT-Recommended Products
  CPSC Against Twist-On Aluminum Wire Connectors
  CPSC Letter Aluminum Wiring Connectors
  CPSC Twist-On Wiring Connectors Meeting Log
  Ideal 65 Connector for Aluminum Wire Repair?
  COALR & CU-AL Devices?
  Scotchlok 3M connector
  Aluminum Wiring Repair Methods - CPSC Meeting 9/28/95
Reducing the Fire Hazards in Aluminum-Wired Homes
BOOKSTORE - ELECTRICAL

DIRECTORY OF ELECTRICIANS - Aluminum Wiring
DIRECTORY OF ELECTRICIANS - FPE Zinsco
ALUMINUM WIRING ADVICE FOR RENTERS
ALUMINUM WIRING BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aluminum Wiring Notes for Home Inspectors

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

The Aluminum Wiring Information Website Aluminum Wiring Hazards and Repairs: in-depth info, photos, documents. Main Page.

The Aluminum Electrical Wiring Hazard Explained (in the document you are presently viewing)

How to Reduce the Risk in buildings with Aluminum Electrical Wiring - Overview of Acceptable Repair Practices (in the document you are presently viewing)

Aluminum Electrical Repair Method Details - "How to" details, how to identify, COPALUM repair, alternative repairs, history, products, research, source of special AMP TYCO COPALUM connectors & COPALUM Electricians (in the document you are presently viewing)

COPALUM Electricians: Sources of TYCO COPALUM -Certified/Trained Aluminum Wire Repair Services (in the document you are presently viewing)

Other Products, Ideal 65 Purple Twister (not recommended), & other Aluminum Wire Products/Articles (in the document you are presently viewing)

The Aluminum Wiring Bibliography: extensive resources on Aluminum Wiring

Aluminum Wire Failure Reports & Photos: Real life aluminum wiring field failure reports

Reducing the Fire Hazards in Aluminum-Wired Homes, Jess Aronstein, Ph.D., This document answers most technical questions about the hazards and remedies of aluminum electrical wiring. Some of the sections of this very thorough document are listed below:
Fire Hazards With Aluminum to Copper Twist-on Connectors & Acceptable Aluminum Wiring Repair Practices Color Photos, Current Issues. 9/28/95 CPSC Meeting Minutes
"Is YOUR Aluminum Wiring Safe?" article discussing safety claims made by some people without looking at the wiring, J. Aronstein, 11/21/95
"Repairing Aluminum Wiring," U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Publication CPSC#516 available online
* Safety Hazards and Safe Inspection Procedures for Electrical and Home Inspectors at Residential Electric Panels
Electrical Panels, How to Inspect in buildings, safety for electrical inspectors, electrical panel, fusing, wiring defects, defective products. Inspection Class Presentation
Electrical System & Wiring Hazard Inspection, Detection, Cause, Remedy, Prevention - Main Electrical Page
Directory of Home Inspectors accessible via Internet
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