Copper or aluminum?

Question

I was going to install a gfci outlet and had the copper wiring to pigtail to the aluminum since I knew our house was built in 72 and had aluminum. When I opened the box I found an exisitng pigtail with wiring going into the receptacle that was copper colored with no mention of aluminum on the wire. I hooked the gfci up to it and it works fine. My question is is this a copper pigtail evidently put in by the previous owners and how to I differentiate between the two. I always had heard aluminum was silver. Thanks for any input.

Greg · Accepted Answer

Are you sure you have aluminum wiring? Some builders used aluminum in the 70sbut not all. You may also see aluminum in the larger sizes and still havecopper on your 15 and 20a circuits.If there was a pigtail in the box you should have seen the splice to thealuminum.

Tommy & Megan Price · Answer

Yes I have an electrician friend who showed me the wiring at the panel. Hewas working on the cook top which in many cases area still wired withaluminum. I pulled out the pig tail and could see AL on the wire coming intothe receptacle box but nothing about copper on the wire it spliced with. Ipulled out another receptacle and found it had the same setup. Silver wirehad been pigtailed to copper and then into the receptacle. Evidently theprevious owners got scared about the aluminum and had someone pigtail theoutlets.

SQLit · Answer

Some contractors did that so they did not have to pay the big bucks for theAL recpts.With a copper pigtail now they could stab the recpts switches, taking a lotless time in trim.

Greg · Answer

Hopefully this is the Copalum (AMP) splice. If so you should be OK but be verycareful poking around in those boxes. That aluminum is easy to break and thenyou are in a jam. If possible do not move the aluminum when you are connectingup devices, Try to only work with the copper stubs.

w_tom · Answer

If someone has not yet already told you, danger is so greatthat newsgroups are not sufficient for advise.  You still musthave a licensed professional (ie electrician) make a visualinspection.  At minimum, learn from the actual on-siteinspection what to look for.  Danger is that great.  We cannotsee everything which is why you want a physical inspection. Don't screw around with copper to aluminum joints.  Too manyamateur 'experts' have caused aluminum / copper wiring fires. Just the fact that you are asking these questions is enough toget the pro.Tommy & Megan Price wrote:

Tommy & Megan Price · Answer

I just wanted to ask a simple question. I have already dtermined that theprvious owners evidently were scared by the aluminum and had someone pigtailall of the receptacles. 8 years in the house and I never knew it. GFCI worksperfect so I will be redoing all the kitchen and bathroom receptacles thisweekend.

Copper or aluminum?

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