[Shop-talk] Aluminum and copper wiring

[Al Fuller]

Jim - I don’t know what will solve the CU to AL issue, but something you said did strike me:  If it were my sister, I would not under any circumstances leave outdoor wiring without a ground!  In fact, I would likely be looking at whether the circuit has a GFI...

Just sayin!

Al Fuller
al at bighealey dot org
'65 BJ-8
'85 Rx-7

-----Original Message-----
From: Shop-talk [mailto:shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Jim Stone
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2018 1:34 PM
To: Shop Talk <shop-talk at Autox.Team.Net>
Subject: [Shop-talk] Aluminum and copper wiring

Hi guys.  I am currently visiting my sister-in-law and offered to install a light switch for her; she has dusk-to-dawn outdoor lights that were installed by a handyman and wired without a switch.  She’d like to be able to turn them off, which is normally a pretty simple job.  However, her house was built in the early 70’s and has mostly aluminum wiring.  I just opened up the box where the handyman spliced in the circuit for the lights and he used a standard outlet made for copper wiring, not a CO/ALR rated one.  Aluminum going in; copper coming out.  No sign of arcing, fortunately, but I will do it right.  The current outlet has a copper ground wire and an aluminum one connected together to the ground screw.

I know using a CO/ALR outlet allows me to connect the (copper) light circuit to the original (aluminum) circuit, but I am not sure about how to do the ground wires.  I assume it is less critical with a ground wire than a hot one, but still…. I suppose I could simply not ground the lights or the new switch, but I am wondering if there is a better solution.

Thanks,

Jim
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