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Update on using aluminum wire in old houses
My boss, Frank, told me to always pigtail aluminum with COPALUM connectors, not just twist on a wire nut. I thought he was being too careful until I saw a melted outlet in a 1972 split-level last month. The homeowner said they just used regular connectors. Anyone have a go-to brand for those crimp connectors besides the usual ones?
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the_drew6mo ago
Yeah, Frank's right on the money. Those purple wire nuts are okay for a quick fix, but a proper crimp is the only way to sleep at night. I've had good luck with the Burndy brand ones.
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perry.nancy6mo ago
My only experience with aluminum wire was trying to fix my cousin's lamp, and let's just say the fire department gave it a solid review.
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bettyk535mo ago
...and that's exactly why I keep a box of those Burndy crimps in my van even though I mostly just do little side jobs now. @the_drew mentioned them and I swear by the Hypress H14 crimper you can get for under a hundred bucks. I was wiring my sister's garage last spring and ended up using one on an old aluminum run in the attic that was tied into a junction box from the 70s. The thing that sold me was how the crimp tool click locks before you can pull it off, so you know the connection is solid.
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