When Building a Garage....

Dakota Kids · Post by **Dakota Kids** » April 22, 2009, 1:34 pm

Just a little tip Use copper underground wire when building a Garage. The Alumium doesn't last. Don't ask me how I know, The bright side ? At least the ground was considerate enough the thaw.

slick4x4 · Post by **slick4x4** » April 22, 2009, 9:20 pm

the house that my dad grew up in ( born 1921 ) was wired for electricity
in the 1930s.....it was all alumimum wiring...dangerous stuff kinda...
if a connection gets bad at a switch or an outlet , a lot of heat builds up.
my sis lives there now, and whenever we replace an outlet you have to sand the wires clean, and put black goo on it. some of it has been replaced with modern copper...but not all.

ezernut9mm · Post by **ezernut9mm** » April 22, 2009, 9:40 pm

shoot, my house was built in the 50's and has aluminum in it. i have seen first hand what a little heat can do to those wires.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » April 23, 2009, 11:22 am

i have a couple hundred feet of aluminum wire in the ground here, 8 years, no problems.
couple things to consider is going oversize with the aliminum wire and proper installation with noalox (he black stuff) on all connections. correct torque on the circuit breaker lugs is very important.
properly done there should be no issues with aluminum.

i should add all the wiring inside past the breaker boxes is copper.

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » April 23, 2009, 1:07 pm

ICEMAN6166 wrote:correct torque on the circuit breaker lugs is very important.
properly done there should be no issues with aluminum.

That is part of the problem with aluminum there. Someone replaces something like a wall outlet, gets a little heavy handed putting it back together. Or overtime the wiring connections can loosen up, oxidize/corrode, and cause problems and possibly start fires.

Some houses, modular homes, and house trailers from the 70's & 80's had aluminum wiring. I can be safe, but needs a little more care in doing repairs than copper wiring.

Dakota Kids · Post by **Dakota Kids** » April 24, 2009, 9:57 pm

I must have had a nick in the wire because it burned clean through when I was digging looking for the Break I found it because the ground was hot near the break I was lucky. Ice I had #2 WIRE it was free when I got it I supposed it was nicked I spliced it. But my brother who is a Electrician said he is having real issues with old Aluminum wire for our city street lighting. I going to see if our Utility Company will run a new line to my garage so it can have its on meter. My wire has been in the ground for 10 years and everything was inspected so not to bring you any bad Luck. If you end up with 120v on your 230v line Pop went a wire...

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » April 27, 2009, 12:04 am

Aluminum is a good a carrier of electricity as copper.
Problem with aluminum is, it likes to oxidize, and then it likes to Heat Up.
and then, the problems like an annoying wall fire like to pop up.
Dang fire just has no sense of humour. And fire is Yellow. Imagine that.

Alan Mclennan · Post by **Alan Mclennan** » April 27, 2009, 1:23 am

The reason your Aluminium wire doesn't last!, is because you don't put enough I`s in it!

crey · Post by **crey** » June 6, 2009, 9:16 pm

Alan Mclennan wrote:The reason your Aluminium wire doesn't last!, is because you don't put enough I`s in it!

Yeah, the "English" like to pronounce it "Al-oo-mi-ni-um".

ezernut9mm · Post by **ezernut9mm** » June 6, 2009, 9:46 pm

the american english version of spell check doesn't recognize the aluminium variant of the spelling. lol.

crey, the english also like to say jag-you are. lol

Alan Mclennan · Post by **Alan Mclennan** » June 7, 2009, 6:10 pm

Grey, it`s AL YOU MIN E UM, it`s a metal silver in COLOUR!

Ezer, I agree with the jag you are bit!, and that's how I say it!,Oh and Choc-chip-bickies,!, did you think I wouldn`t see that?

I noticed over there you say NI-SARN where we say NIS-SAN!, but it`s only a jap car anyway!