Stop using wire nuts on aluminum in the rain

I was on a job in Portland last Tuesday helping a buddy with some outdoor lighting. He was using wire nuts on aluminum wiring like it was no big deal. Told him that's a fire waiting to happen. Aluminum expands and contracts way more than copper. Wire nuts just loosen up over time. I've seen it happen twice on old mobile home parks. You need those purple AlumiConn connectors or at least the antioxidant paste. Why risk a whole house fire to save 5 bucks on a connector?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordanc3211h ago

Man that's rough... I've seen the aftermath of that kind of shortcut and it's not pretty. Good on you for calling it out.

riley_taylor10h ago

Woah wait, are you saying they actually tried to cover up code with another layer on top? That's insane to me. jordanc32 you gotta tell me more about what happened after that callout.