Focus on what is known to work.
AFCI breakers
What are you concerned about? Fires. Why? Because temperature changes, plastic deformation, dissimilar metals corrosion, and oxidation are causing contact surface/pressure to be lost. How would that start a fire? Arcing.
AFCI breakers are uniquely good at catching that. They are usually easy to install.
If you have a main panel like a Pushmatic that does not support them, then install a subpanel and route your wiring to it. Possibly one on each side of the main panel so you don't have to extend wires very much.
And when an AFCI breaker trips, treat it seriously.
Metal boxes
Of course a contact can just overheat. But that is vanishingly unlikely to be a problem in a metal box, becuase the heat has to reach the metal box before it can reach the wood, and metal has such very good thermal conductivity that it will make the entire box warm, rather than a small part of the box hot enough to ignite anything. And of course if the box is grounded, the arcing will cause an AFCI trip.
I would also recommend metal box covers, same reason, if they're grounded.
But in the aluminum wiring age, metal boxes were pretty common. I would change out any plastic ones.
Between AFCI and metal boxes, I wouldn't even rush to do the Alumiconns and all that.
The DW1KD goes in the box with the switch and the funny yellow jumper
The funny yellow jumper wire was part of a scheme to convert the switch at the line/load location (the "main" location) to a single pole switch to be used with the 3-way functionality in the existing dimmer (at the "dimmer" location), given that the dimmer was installed as a switch loop from the "main" switch box where both the line and load connections are present. However, the DW1KD has the downside that it must be on the load side of the circuit, and the current dimmer location is on the line side of the circuit.
So, you'll need to install the DW1KD at the box where the switch was, and the matching remote at the box where the dimmer was, as follows:
- Remove the white wire in the top center cable from the bundle of black wires in the switch box
- Dimmer black to the extant bundle of black wires and the black wire going off to the remote location (black wire, top center cable) as the remote needs always-hot and neutral to function, in addition to the communications line, instead of relying on traditional travelers
- Dimmer white to the existing bundle of neutrals (it's in the top right rear of the switch box) and the white wire in the top center cable (making it a neutral instead of a switch-loop hot)
- Dimmer red to the red wire going off to the fan (red wire, top left cable)
- Dimmer red/yellow to the red wire going off to the remote location (red wire, top center cable)
- Dimmer ground to the existing grounding pigtail
- Remote black to the black wire in the remote box
- Remote white to the white wire in the remote box
- Remote yellow/red to the red wire in the remote box
- Remote ground to the bare ground wire in the remote box
Best Answer
There are two ways to do it:
Use CO/ALR switches/receptacles: these are specifically designed for aluminum wire. They have "CO/ALR" stamped on them somewhere. When you connect the wire, use a paste like Noalox (box stores sell it).
Use a pigtail connection: Sometimes it is not possible to find CO/ALR switches with the function or style you need. You can use a copper wire to connect to the switch itself as usual, and then a #63 wire connector to connect the copper wire to the aluminum one. Here is a picture of a 3-way dimmer switch I installed using this method:
Note that you do the same thing with switches that have wires coming out of them already (like most dimmer switches do) or any other fixtures.
To quote from the ESA (Ontario Electrical Safety Authority)'s Notice on Aluminum wiring in residential installations:
In either case: