Duplex Outlets - Fire hazard - TVI

[Bob Jackson]

We had (all) aluminum wiring in our house in Houston. The fix there was "pigtail" sockets. They had steel pigtails permanently attached to the sockets which were, in turn, mated to the aluminum wires with wire nuts, those plastic, conical-shaped thingies that electricians use to tie two wires together. We lived in that house for 16+ years without any problems, and that included a 220 vac line to my amp.

Just a thought,

Bob
AG5X
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Groh 
  To: BOATANCHORS at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV 
  Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 9:06 PM
  Subject: Re: Duplex Outlets - Fire hazard - TVI


  Rick,

  Make sure the replacement outlets are rated for aluminum wiring!  Even though your wire has copper coating, at least one of the problems with aluminum wiring is the temperature expansion of the wire which is higher than copper.

  Darned good catch on your part.  Looks like you are going to be busy!

  73
  Bob Groh, WA2CKY




  ________________________________
  From: rick darwicki <n6pe at YAHOO.COM>
  To: BOATANCHORS at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV
  Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 8:57:25 PM
  Subject: [BOATANCHORS-TEMPE] Duplex Outlets - Fire hazard - TVI

  FYI,

  My house was built in the 70's and does not have all aluminum wire, but it does have copper coated aluminum wire.

  With the recent 6-meter openings I decided to try the SteppIR and Pro III out on 6-meters and I was causing some audio RFI on the TV. With the DirecTV antenna cable disconnected it was still there. Moving around the room changed the level of the RFI.

  I unplugged the DirecTV box from the power strip and plugged it into the wall socket. The RFI jumped up about 30 db louder and decreased when I wiggled the plug.

  I pulled the duplex outlet out and it had #12 push in wires that were noticably arced and apparently were the source of the problem because replacing the outlet knocked out any sign of TVI.

  I think is is time to go around the whole house and replace all the outlets with the compression type.




  Rick, N6PE
  ===============================================================
  Remember, E = M * C^2 was not the entire equation.

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