I had an inspector check the house, and he said there was aluminum wiring in the house. The owners agreed to install COPALUM in it, so should i still buy it? Will COPALUM make it as safe as copper wiring?
Ya what he said, also check with your insurance company, they mite have other issues. A talk with local fire department could give you moore info.
I used to own a home with aluminium wiring in it. In the years 1972 to 1974 the Vietnam War had priority for the copper to be used in bombs, planes, tanks, etc. So for a few years the building industry had to use aluminum wire for the new home construction going on. I never had a single problem with the wiring in my 34 year old house. if your upgrading or puting in a new circuit i suggest going all the way to the service box... either way you can connect the copper to an aluminum wire but only and I stress only by using a cu-al connector. because dissimilar metal react chemically these two wires need a connector between them which will not chemically react... i know its alot but trust the science One thing to remember is that if you ever run a new service line or you do a repair,, make sure that if you use copper wire for the repair or the new install, that you apply the semi liquid compound to all of the connections, between the aluminum wire and the copper wire. You can use standard wire nuts at all connections. You can also buy wire nuts with the compound in them. When connecting aluminum and copper wiring together you must use devices marked CU AL which are designed to keep the 2 wires from touching each other. Best advice is to absolutely not use copper wiring! nti-oxidizing paste to lower the fire hazard. 3M also makes a crimp type tool and connectors that can Hope this helps
The problem with aluminum wire is not the wire itself, but rather the numerous connections where aluminum meets copper, generally at receptacles, switches, etc. Because copper and aluminum are dissimilar metals, they expand and contract at different rates which can cause the connections to become loose over a period of time. Also, there can be a chemical reaction between the two metals that cause excess corrosion. This loosening of the connections and the corrosion are what cause the problems. The Copalum system addresses the problem by installing short stubs of copper wire on the aluminum at every connection to a fixture using special connectors that will correct the problem issues. The system has been thoroughly tested and will make the electrical system safe if properly installed. If you are going to buy this house, you need to make sure that the system is installed by a certified Copalum contractor -- not just a licensed electrician. There is a training program that must be completed to get this extra certification. The only long term issue you would have is you may have to have more Copalum work done if you want to extend a circuit or make other changes to your electrical system. This will make future projects more expensive, but other than that you should not have any problems. Replacing the aluminum with copper would be preferred, but this would also be much more expensive and require a substantial amount of work and mess as some of the wall covering would need to be cut into and patched. In short, if you are good with everything else about the house, I would not be too concerned with the aluminum wiring if the Copalum system is installed by a qualified contractor. I probably would attempt to use the aluminum to negotiate a slight price reduction in addition to the conversion as there is a bit of a stigma associated with the aluminum and you may have additional expense for future projects.
get a price for replacing all wiring with copper and deduct this amount from the asking price...example house listed at 100,000 rewire quote 20,000 = an offer of 80,000 this is a great solution for buyer and seller
what is copalum? copper is MUCH safer and I wouldnt buy it until this problem is remedied
