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This series of pictures clearly shows why normal “pigtailing” with wire nuts is not considered an acceptable repair. “Pigtailing” consists of attaching a short piece of copper wire to the aluminum wire with a twist-on connector often called a wire nut.
This wire nut was found in a home in Aurora, CO in January of 2003. Overheating is clearly evident in the discoloration band around the shell. This is a characteristic overheating pattern for failing aluminum wire twist-on splices. With time, further degradation occurs, and fire hazards do exist with current loading.
Also notice the discoloration burns and melting that has occurred on the wire insulation, this is usually one of the first visible clues of overheating.
Short circuits are possible due to insulation deterioration on the connector or wire, this will add to the fire hazard posed by the failure of aluminum-wired twist-on connections.
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This wirenut contained aluminum and copper wires and shattered the moment it was removed from the circuit, which by the way was still electrically functional. It proves just because the lights are on does not mean you may not have a very serious condition.
Notice the characteristic overheating band has actually burned completely through the shell of the wirenut and the spring and the damage to the wires is quite visible.
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Another burned wire nut beyond the overheating band stage. This wirenut also was part of a functioning electrical circuit!
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These two pictures were taken from a master bathroom light fixture in Littleton, CO in June 2003, the light was still working fine and no breakers had tripped!
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These pictures are from a light/junction box found in a basement in Littleton, CO in June 2003. The wirenuts are way beyond the characteristic heat band and have melted and deformed. Also notice the heat damage to the bottom of the junction box and of course the exposed and damaged wires-both on the hot and neutral wires. We replaced the entire box after COPALUM Crimping fresh copper wire to repairable aluminum wire. This light was still working and the homeowners said no breakers had tripped. A real scary connection!
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Picture of an overheated wirenut showing heat damage at the spring again found in a splice box in Arvada, CO
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These pictures are from a working light in a laundry room from a home in the Southmoor Park neighborhood of Denver. They were taken in March of 2005. This was a working, non-flickering light that provided no indication of the severely burned wires contained in the steel electrical box. You can also notice the significant heat damage to the electrical box
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These pictures are from a working light with not so much as a flicker in the main kitchen light we found in a townhome in Boulder, CO in November 2005. As you can see in the enlarged photos above, the heat of the wirenut spring actually melted right through the plastic wirenut. This connection was glowing in the electrical box every time this light was on.
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This twist-on connector (wirenut) containing all aluminum neutral wires was found burned up in a junction box in a home in Colorado Springs, CO in February 2006. An interesting situation occurred due to this burn. When one of these these neutrals burned out of the mix (the one heading back to the panel) and a switched outlet was powered, the receptacle wound up with 220v instead of 110v causing a loud pop and smoke to billow from a television that now needs to be replaced.
Please read this before accepting “pigtailing” as an acceptable aluminum repair.
ALUMINUM WIRE REPAIR, WE PERMANENTLY REPAIR THE HAZARDS OF ALUMINUM WIRING!
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