bad or good idea?

[arkyny]

Leadfoot----totally agreed

 

[mvaughan]

As an electrician for the last 25+ years (Holy **** I'm old ) I have seen my share of installations of both copper and Aluminum. With the proper lugs and use of Noalox I wouldn't hesitate to use Aluminum feeders. As stated by Leadfoot and always good pratice "Proper Installation"!!

 

[rootboy]

AL is fine if it is terminated properly. And all it takes to terminate it properly is the correct connecters, NoLox, and some common sense.

We used to do track homes in Colorado springs, CO, and every house had AL conductors for the service, the range, and the AC (if applicable). We never, ever, had a problem.

Brucechase's picture is an example of what happens when AL-CU is mixed under a wirenut. No surprise there (good thing they were at home and he caught it!).

I'm not sure what the requirements for licensing of electricians in Georgia is, but here in Tennessee they give them out with Happy Meals at McDonalds.

From the Tennessee state LLE (Limited License Electrician) (My emphasis in the text):

"An LLE exam from PSI Exams Services, LLC is required to obtain a LLE license. Preapproval and experience is not required to
take the exam. There are no continuing education requirements. (LLE exam is NOT comparable to the journeyman/master.)"

 

[KalleOlsen]

Please stop filling our fourm with garbage!
Advertising is illegal here.

Kalle

 

[bimini3]

You must use proper lugs &/or connectors. You cannot connect Aluminum conductors in dirrect contact with copper without a transision material. Corrosion will occur with leads to a poor conection, heating fires etc.

You will need to use lugs or connectors specifically designed for Aluminum Conductors. If what you are attaching to is copper you need to check to see if it is plated to allow for AL lugs or use plated AL lugs that allow you to connect directly to copper.

I worked with HV transmission lines for a few years. Conductors were always aluminum due to weight, cost and tensile strength. A lot of care was always taken to use properly plated components to make the transision from AL to CU. If done properly it is a very reliable system. If not, you are guaranteed big problems.

 

[iant]

its amusing as to the age of this post
But - I'll add my well delayed 2 cents.
I have had an Al 2000 Amp 440V 6 Bar bus melt due to a resistive connection.
this section had not been used until about 3 years after instalation.
the incorrect protection settings on both the Bus Air CB and The plant room Main CB. caused a single phase 100 Amp 22KV fuse to blow tripping the HV CFS only.
Interesting fault.
Now we do annual thermography on all switchboards and bus terminations

The structure of aluminium melts to a blob - not good

 

[Albert LaFrance]

A point of historical interest: if this question had come up around 1967, you would have had a third choice - sodium cables!

That's right, electrical conductors made out of sodium - the soft, waxy metal that burns when it contacts water, producing flammable hydrogen gas and corrosive sodium hydroxide. In other words, the ideal material for a power cable!

Apparently metallic sodium could be produced cheaply relative to copper (it's made by electrolysis of molten salt). I think Union Carbide ("The Discovery Company") was the main promoter of the stuff.

Needless to say, the product was not a huge success. But before sanity reasserted itself, enough sodium cable was installed to give users (mainly electric utilities, as I recall) a taste of what was in store for them if it was widely deployed - and to create the occasional hazmat situation for modern-day utility workers unfortunate enough to come across its remains. On another forum, a former lineman noted that one problem with sodium cables was that a break in a buried run often required replacement of a long section of cable, because moisture so aggressively attacked the sodium and followed it for a distance from the break.

 

[rpoet]

A point of historical interest: if this question had come up around 1967, you would have had a third choice - sodium cables!

Needless to say, the product was not a huge success. But before sanity reasserted itself, enough sodium cable was installed to give users (mainly electric utilities, as I recall) a taste of what was in store for them if it was widely deployed - and to create the occasional hazmat situation for modern-day utility workers unfortunate enough to come across its remains. On another forum, a former lineman noted that one problem with sodium cables was that a break in a buried run often required replacement of a long section of cable, because moisture so aggressively attacked the sodium and followed it for a distance from the break.

It appears insanity has made a comeback:

http://www.sodiumwire.com/


-rpoet

 

[iant]

It appears insanity has made a comeback:

http://www.sodiumwire.com/


-rpoet

I can just imagine a fire brigade spraying water on this house.
and the resulting explosion that then occurs

 

[geniusintraining]

Please stop filling our fourm with garbage!
Advertising is illegal here.

Kalle

Kalle, who was advertising ?

 

[JesperMP]

Kalle, who was advertising ?

Some spammers who's posts have since been deleted.

 

[geniusintraining]

Missed it...

By the way, we used copper and everything went perfect, MCC has been running great the FLA was lower then what we thought it would of been but its nice to be on the safe side

 

[Albert LaFrance]

It appears insanity has made a comeback:

http://www.sodiumwire.com/


-rpoet

Wow - that inventor certainly deserves credit for creativity!

 

[iant]

Wow - that inventor certainly deserves credit for creativity!

YEP

Exploding houses
Just Add Water

 

[seppoalanen]

http://www.ounevagroup.fi/ouneva-theme/ouneva_katalogi12_en/