Talked to a retired inspector at the supply house and he dropped a truth bomb about aluminum branch circuits

I was picking up some 12/2 at the local supply house in Springfield and got chatting with this older guy, a retired electrical inspector named Ray. We were talking about old work and he mentioned seeing a lot of aluminum branch wiring from the 70s still in place. He said something that stuck with me: 'A lot of you guys see AL and think 'replace it all,' but if the connections are done right with the right paste and torque, it can be fine. The real danger is when someone just puts a copper device on it and calls it a day.' He told me about a call he went on where a kitchen outlet melted because someone used a standard outlet with aluminum wire and didn't even use a wire nut with the right goop. It made me rethink my own gut reaction to always rip it out. How many of you have run into aluminum branch circuits that were actually done right and held up?

2 comments

2 Comments

samramirez12d ago

Ray's right about the paste and torque, but he's glossing over the creep issue. Aluminum relaxes over time under pressure, so even a perfect connection can loosen up years later. That's why the listed connectors are so important, they're made to handle that. Ever had to retorque an old AL splice?

lopez.wren12d ago

Ray has a point about good connections... but @samramirez is onto something with the creep. Even with the right paste, you need those special purple wire nuts or Al/Cu rated devices. They're made to keep squeezing as the aluminum moves. I've seen a lot of melted splices where someone just used a standard tan Ideal nut.