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Does Your Home Need to Have Aluminum Rewiring?

Fairfax homeowners usually encounter aluminum wiring when they move into a home that was built during the 1970′s or ’80′s. If your Silver Spring home has aluminum wiring, you should hire a licensed electrical contractor to check the following things:

• Fixtures (eg: outlets and switches) directly attached to aluminum wiring should be rated for it. The device will be stamped with “Al/Cu” or “CO/ALR”. The latter supersedes the former, but both are safe. These fixtures are somewhat more expensive than the ordinary ones.
• Wires should be properly connected (at least 3/4 way around the screw in a clockwise direction). Connections should be tight. While repeated tightening of the screws can make the problem worse, during the inspection it would pay off to snug up each connection. Note that aluminum wiring is still often used for the main service entrance cable. It should be inspected.
• “push-in” terminals are an extreme hazard with aluminum wire. Any connections using push-in terminals should be redone with the proper screw connections immediately.
• There should be no signs of overheating: darkened connections, melted insulation, or “baked” fixtures. Any such damage should be repaired immediately.
• Connections between aluminum and copper wire need to be handled specially.
  The NEC requires that the wire be connected together using special crimp devices, with an anti-oxidant grease. The tools and materials for the latter are quite expensive – not practical to do it yourself unless you can rent the tool. [Note that regulations are changing rapidly in this area. Suggest that you discuss any work with an inspector if you’re going to do more than one or two connections.
• Any non-rated receptacle can be connected to aluminum wiring by means of a short copper “pigtail”. See (5) above.

Don’t panic if your Fairfax or Silver Spring house has aluminum wiring. Aluminum wiring, when properly installed, can be just as safe as copper. Fairfax aluminum wiring is, however, very unforgiving of improper installation. Give S & S Electric, LLC a call today for friendly and reliable aluminum rewiring or installation services.