I have more than a dozen aluminum wires feeding into my circuit box. What are the dangers and remedies?
No real dangers, aluminium is a better conductor than copper and therefore should be safer. Copper is used more often because it's cheaper and easier to work with. Aluminium will oxidise more then copper but that shouldn't affect mechanical connections too much. If you look at the connections in the circuit box itself, they're usually aluminium plated.
As long as you use breakers and outlets rated for aluminum they are OK. Personally I would prefer not to have it but changing it can be a major expense. The danger with aluminum is it expands and contracts at a different rate than copper. If used with the wrong breaker or outlet it can cause arching and is a potential fire hazard.
Aluminum is NOT as good a conductor as Copper. It was used extensively in the 60's because of a World shortage of Copper. Old Aluminum doesn't like being moved. Sometimes hairline cracks appear after movement. If its working OK then leave it alone.
From what I understand, the bad thing about aluminum wiring is that it expands and shrinks where as copper won't. With that said, if your aluminum is attatched to anything other than aluminum, like copper, the aluminum wire has a chance to shrink and cause the aluminum/copper connection to become loose. This can result in arching or sparks. This is where a lot of electrical wall fires start. We are having an electritian coming out this week to check all of our outlets and connections as our house is 1/2 aluminum 1/2 copper.
