Aluminum wiring!

How dangerous is aluminum wiring? Coming from a family of electricians my dad always said never buy a home with Aluminum wiring. After doing 1000s of inspections i have personally seen both sides. Most of the homes with aluminum appear to be fine with no signs of overheating but occasionally we catch huge potential fire hazards. 3 times over the last year I found electricians pig tailing copper to aluminum with the wrong connectors. The connectors were melting and overheating. I can only imagine what would happen if it wasnt fixed. Look at this photo 2 wirenuts are totally melted. And i counted another 10 potential connections inside the electrical box.

The True Story Behind Aluminum Wiring – Part One | Carson Dunlop Home Inspection Training

According to the CPSC a pre-1972 aluminum wired home is “55 times more likely to have one or more wire connections at outlets reach “Fire Hazard Conditions” than homes wired with copper”. That’s at the outlet connections. That doesn’t include other connections like those in your photo. https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/516.pdf

Everyone has their own hazard tolerance. Since I rarely ever see it properly remediated, I would tell my kids the same thing your father told you.

How many homes that have burned to the ground have you inspected?

I carry a badly burned receptacle in my tool bag. I removed it from the wall behind a master bed where it was hidden and very close to taking out the residence.

Aluminum wiring is fine, it’s the connection points that are problematic…!

Jim

I call it out as a major defect every time I see it.

Imagine buying a house then not being able to insure it or having to pay extra to insure it because of single strand aluminum wiring. How comfortable would you feel having your family live and sleep in that house?

Aluminum Wire & Home Insurance | Elliott Insurance

In my area the only acceptable repairs are the copalum crimp or re-wire with copper.

Dont get me wrong I call it out every time and always recommend evaluation even if it appears to be corrected. I go back and fourth with my personal opinion not whether i call it out or not. We call it out everytime no matter what as a major defect.