Aluminum Branch Wiring
Branch-circuit wiring installed in millions of homes from about 1965 – 1973 that develops loose, overheating connections at outlets and switches. The fix targets the connections, not necessarily the wire.
During a copper price spike, builders wired entire subdivisions with aluminum. The metal itself conducts fine; the problem is at every termination: aluminum expands more with heat, creeps under screw pressure, and oxidizes, so connections gradually loosen and overheat. The CPSC found these homes dozens of times more likely to reach fire-hazard conditions at outlets.
Warning signs are connection symptoms: warm cover plates, flickering, intermittent dead outlets, a plastic smell. Remediation has a recognized hierarchy: COPALUM crimps (the gold standard), AlumiConn connectors at every device, or full rewiring. CO/ALR-rated devices alone are considered insufficient by the CPSC. Note this is about 1960s branch wiring: modern aluminum service entrance and feeder cables are standard and fine.
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- Wire Gauge (AWG) : The thickness of a wire, measured in American Wire Gauge.
- Conduit : Protective tubing (metal or PVC) that individual wires are pulled through, used where cable would be exposed to damage, weather or burial: garages, outdoors, underground runs.
- Junction Box : An enclosed box where wires are spliced together.
- Knob and Tube Wiring : The original residential wiring method (roughly 1880 – 1940s): individual conductors on ceramic knobs and tubes, with no ground wire and air-cooled design that modern insulation defeats.