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To: brianl703

I was a Class III electrician and never ran a circuit where the gauge was 10 or smaller (12, and 14). It may be technically legal now but the receptacles nowadays are cheaply built and you can’t always trust the AL/CU terminal ratings or the coatings, couldn’t do it back then, either. I can’t tell you how many times I had to replace aluminum wiring for old AL installations. They’d corrode, heat up and get brittle and just break off at the least bending. Large gauge, twisted strand with NO-OX I used for feeds and sub panels, and where it was feasible, I used copper. Probably prohibitive these days now, though.


185 posted on 01/30/2022 3:28:56 PM PST by Gaffer
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To: Gaffer

The aluminum building wire available these days is different. It’s an AA8000 series alloy vs the AA1350 alloy they used before which caused so many problems. This is required by the NEC, has been for many years now. And if you look at the jacket of any aluminum building wire made in say the last 40 years, it will say right on it that it’s an AA8000 alloy.

AA1350 alloy is what is still used for outdoor aerial power transmission and distribution wire. It works fine for that application.

Around here, your electric range, heat pump air handler, AC condensing unit, the feeder between the meter and load center, among other things, are all commonly wired with aluminum wire and have been for many years. The only time I’ve seen a range wired with copper around here, it was in a house built in the 1960s.


187 posted on 01/30/2022 3:42:25 PM PST by brianl703
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