Burnt Devices Found in Homes

This burned aluminum wired outlet was found in a home in Aurora, CO in May 2005 after the fire department had been called in to respond to the sparks and flames. Luckily, the homeowner, was home and noticed the smell before the fire could spread. Unfortunately, the fire department shut-off the wrong breaker and this outlet was still hot when we came in to inspect and repair it.

picture of burnt outlet

This doesnt work

Replacing with CO/ALR devices is a temporary repair at best. The photos below show a CO/ALR (aluminum compatible device) which was anti-oxidized, but still shows significant signs of overheating in the insulation. We believe these circuits were heavily used an had problems in the past, causing a previous homeowner to change the receptacles out, this was the result behind the wall years later. The aluminum wire connections can still loosen up and cause problems

picture of burnt outlet

In this photo, from a home in Aurora, CO, you can see that even though the connection was anti-oxidized (black greasy substance), the insulation still shows signs of bubbling and overheating.

picture of burnt outlet

Another photo, showing bubbling and overheated insulation.

picture of burnt outlet

Though a little harder to see in this photo, more signs of overheating on the screw on the right, which was anti-oxidized as well.

our solution

In these pictures, taken from a home in Aurora, you can see that the all the insulation was burned clear off the wires and the receptacle is just about half way burned through! This outlet was still being used to run an electrical shaver and gave no apparent indication of its condition. Very hazardous indeed, the homeowner’s are very lucky there was no combustible material within the electrical box

picture of burnt outlet

This was a back-stabbed device found in a home in Boulder, CO in January 2006. This is a side view of a “back-stabbed” aluminum wire that shows obvious signs of bubbled and overheated insulation. We find very little “back stabbed” aluminum wire because it simply does not hold up over time. Back-stabbing mean that instead of wrapping the wire around the device screw clearly visible in the picture the wire is simply inserted into a hole in the back of the device

more info

our solution

ALUMINUM WIRE REPAIR, WE PERMANENTLY REPAIR THE HAZARDS OF ALUMINUM WIRING!

Call us today for your aluminum wiring electrical safety inspection.

Your Safety is Our Business

CO Electrical License #6092