We have purchased a condo home that was built in 1975. The inspector brought up the hazards of aluminum wiring. Since we have very little knowledge regarding this area we were wondering if we should rewire the entire place or if it is OK just to have an electrician pigtail? Can you please help? We just want to ensure our safety.
Electrical – Should we be rewiring or pigtailing the aluminum wiring in our condo
aluminum-wiringelectricalwiring
Related Solutions
Based on your updated readings (120v between h1-h2, 120v between h2-neutral, and 240 between h1-neutral), it looks like Hot2 and Neutral have been reversed. Shutoff the breaker, verify there's no voltage, open the outlet, and correct the wiring so you can dry clothes without getting zapped. In the end, you should have this:
Cut open the drywall. You can then use a piece of plywood to cover the hole so that it's easier to remove in the future.
Sounds like too much work. First step, make sure they are GFCI protected. If you don't know if they are GFCI protected, you can get a GFCI outlet tested from the hardware store. And while you're there, get outdoor box covers. Then you can just replace the face plates with the outdoor box covers. MUCH easier than removing the outlets.
You don't need conduit. Get an "old work" electrical box. Cut a hole BELOW your breaker panel. Run the wire from that hole straight up through a knock-out in the bottom of the breaker box. Then you can push the wire through the top of the "old work" electrical box and mount the box in the wall. See, no conduit needed!
Based on response to my first answer:
Hooray!
Turn off the breaker. Remove the outlets and install wire nuts on all of the wires. Install blank faces plates.
OK, you still don't need conduit. Just drill a hole through the top plate of the wall. You can then run the cable up the inside of the wall, through the hole, and then down to your breaker panel with all of the other wires.
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Best Answer
Aluminum wiring is not the fire hazard people would have you think it is. In fact it is perfectly safe and there has been studies showing that the only increased chance of fire is produced with an improper installation. This usually means that contractors using outlets or devices that are not rated for aluminum. This does cause the wire to eventually overheat at contact and expand/contract so many times that it becomes brittle and can short.
Pigtailing aluminum is perfectly acceptable. Your electrician would just go to every outlet and pigtail the aluminum with a short copper strand using a Al/Cu Wire Connector (these are usually purple for identification). This is probably the best solution for lights and other "non" outlets. For outlets you can pigtail or just connect an Al/Cu rated outlet.
However your local building code may have stipulations - mine is fine with correctly rated outlets. I have read in other places that they require pigtails and I have read in other places (an electrician driven county) that they require a rewire.