The old foreman who told me to always use anti-oxidant paste on aluminum wiring was dead right

I was wiring a 200 amp panel for a house built in the 70s and the main feeds were all aluminum. I skipped the paste because I figured it was just a precaution and I was in a hurry. Three months later I got a call from the homeowner saying the main breaker was warm to the touch. Pulled the panel cover and found corrosion on two of the lug connections. Had to redo the whole thing with paste and torque wrench. Has anyone else ignored an old timer's advice and regretted it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.stella5d ago

Oh come on. Is it really that big of a deal? I've seen plenty of aluminum jobs done without paste that lasted decades just fine. Sounds like you had a bad connection or didn't tighten the lugs right from the start. The old timer stuff gets treated like gospel but sometimes it's just superstition.

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the_piper5d ago

Wait, you're seriously saying you've seen aluminum jobs without paste last decades?