splicing aluminum to copper elec wire
I just bought a new oven and it came with aluminum wire and I have to splice it to copper. Do I need to do something different for this connection? I know aluminum and copper doesn't play well toge...
Forum Discussion
If you connect unplated aluminum to the BRASS terminals of a standard 50 amp oven plug you are setting yourself up for a surefire FIRE. Show me a non-marine appliance plug and you will be showing me a solid BRASS conductor plug.
Aluminum to brass is even worse than aluminum to copper. The high percentage of zinc of the brass is even less noble than copper. Not theory, been there seen fires and shook my head.
Thick thick tin or gold plating on a BUTT TYPE CONNECTOR is the only way to handle AL/CU joints. I made a box of KERNEY NUTS in the late seventies and used adjustable DIES to undercut the threads so that they could be GOLD CLAD which is far thicker than gold plate. Oakland Plating demanded payment in advance and I paid thirty-five dollars EACH to have the connectors gold clad. This is when gold plating was a thirtieth the price it is currently.
Aluminum wire is a thousand times (exaggeration) more brittle than copper wire especially rope stranded premium welding or DSO cable.
Bend AL wire back and forth a half dozen times and it will snap in two. I use it. But I do not fail to clamp it, strain relieve it an inch from the termination then bundle the wire tightly to other wires throughout its length. It is all copper plated which I solder and seal tightly on both ends then seal it with adhesive heat shrink. THEN glob silicone grease or 3M sealant over the joint.
The conductors for a service drop are AL. But they are wound around a solid galvanized steel wire rope which serves as neutral. The conductors inside a service drop box, meter mounting, and breaker box are thick tin plated conductors.
This serves to show why if you encounter a badly overheated connector inside your RV do not clean the wire bores. Replace the assembly. Once the tin has been burned and scraped away you are left with a direct AL/CU contact and COSMOLINE better hyped as NAALOX only serves to buffer for so long. Then it's smolder and fire time.
Truly superior tension binding devices are simply not available for residential or even commercial use. But I shall describe them here just for your edification.
When I ran 13 miles of 37 KV overhead wire down here I had to join AL/CU. Without a bucket and hydraulic crimper I used very strong plated springs beneath the bolts and nuts. Constant tension devices that would maintain the same PSI whether conductor temperature was Oc or 100c. You can see yourself the effect of temperature and tension inside your own breaker box when you retighten screws every few years even though you haven't moved your rig.
RAMP LOC washers stay tighter than USA grade shakeproof star washers which in turn are far more secure than split washers. Distorted threads have excellent retention except after several uses.
In a nutshell there it is, sixty years of hard-earned experience.
Aluminum to brass is even worse than aluminum to copper. The high percentage of zinc of the brass is even less noble than copper. Not theory, been there seen fires and shook my head.
Thick thick tin or gold plating on a BUTT TYPE CONNECTOR is the only way to handle AL/CU joints. I made a box of KERNEY NUTS in the late seventies and used adjustable DIES to undercut the threads so that they could be GOLD CLAD which is far thicker than gold plate. Oakland Plating demanded payment in advance and I paid thirty-five dollars EACH to have the connectors gold clad. This is when gold plating was a thirtieth the price it is currently.
Aluminum wire is a thousand times (exaggeration) more brittle than copper wire especially rope stranded premium welding or DSO cable.
Bend AL wire back and forth a half dozen times and it will snap in two. I use it. But I do not fail to clamp it, strain relieve it an inch from the termination then bundle the wire tightly to other wires throughout its length. It is all copper plated which I solder and seal tightly on both ends then seal it with adhesive heat shrink. THEN glob silicone grease or 3M sealant over the joint.
The conductors for a service drop are AL. But they are wound around a solid galvanized steel wire rope which serves as neutral. The conductors inside a service drop box, meter mounting, and breaker box are thick tin plated conductors.
This serves to show why if you encounter a badly overheated connector inside your RV do not clean the wire bores. Replace the assembly. Once the tin has been burned and scraped away you are left with a direct AL/CU contact and COSMOLINE better hyped as NAALOX only serves to buffer for so long. Then it's smolder and fire time.
Truly superior tension binding devices are simply not available for residential or even commercial use. But I shall describe them here just for your edification.
When I ran 13 miles of 37 KV overhead wire down here I had to join AL/CU. Without a bucket and hydraulic crimper I used very strong plated springs beneath the bolts and nuts. Constant tension devices that would maintain the same PSI whether conductor temperature was Oc or 100c. You can see yourself the effect of temperature and tension inside your own breaker box when you retighten screws every few years even though you haven't moved your rig.
RAMP LOC washers stay tighter than USA grade shakeproof star washers which in turn are far more secure than split washers. Distorted threads have excellent retention except after several uses.
In a nutshell there it is, sixty years of hard-earned experience.
