Repairing Aluminum Wiring

The Basics – What should I do if I have a concern that my home as aluminum wiring.

Whats The First Step?

First step to verify if you do or don’t have aluminum wiring is to give 5th Generation Electric a call at 214-728-1977 and have a full home electrical inspection performed to verify the condition of the electrical system on your home.

If we find there is aluminum wiring present on your home there are only three options the Consumer Product Safety Commission “CPSC” has approved for a permanent repair.

1. Complete Replacement Of Aluminum Wiring With Copper Wiring
2. COPALUM Method of Repair
3. Acceptable Alternative Repair Method/AlumiConn Connector

What Option Should I Choose?

We strongly recommend option one as it completely removed all hazards that come from aluminum wiring. Over time we have found that this is not an option for everyone of our customers needs due to the time involved in rewiring and the overall cost that can come with it.

For those looking for other options we have adopted option three utilizing AlumiConn Connectors. We have chosen this method for a couple reasons over option two “COPALUM”. When we open up boxes and start working on older homes and try to use the required special order crimper to use COPALUM we can not effectively get the tools into the boxes to make a safe and secure method. While this is not always the case we try to make sure our crews are setup to be as efficient as possible without any unexpected hurdles. AlumiConn connectors allow us to get inside electrical boxes and still make connections on wires that would typically be to short to work with to make a safe and secure connections.

Why Should This Only Be Done By Trained Electricians?

To fully ensure your home is fixed without any shortcuts being taken, only trained electricians should do this kind of repair. Aluminum is a soft metal and can be very tempermental. Connections have to be properly “torqued” and can “NOT” be to loose or to tight. Loose connections can cause overheating as well as over tightening and causing damage to the soft metal which can also cause overheating or loss of power or damage to the wire.

Where Can I found More Detailed Information About Aluminum Wiring Repairs?

All information can be easily found on the “CPSC” website by going to the search browser on there website and typing “repairing aluminum wiring” or click on the link below.

https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/516.pdf