Can we talk about people using anti-oxidant compound on aluminum wire connections like it's optional

I was helping a buddy rough in a basement last month out in the suburbs, and he just stripped some #10 aluminum and started jamming it into a breaker without any Noalox or anything. I told him he's gotta use it, and he said 'oh I've never bothered and it's been fine.' Then I showed him one of his old, like 8 year old outlets from his own house that had aluminum wire, the terminal screw was all crusty with that white powder corrosion. He just stared at it for a bit and said 'okay you got me.' It's not just a suggestion, it's literally how you stop the connection from frying. How many of you have seen a service call where the aluminum wire was the reason the neutral went open?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby_sanchez451mo ago

Yeah that white powdery crust is basically the wire telling you it's gonna fail soon. Seen plenty of service calls where a loose aluminum neutral caused voltage swings that fried half the appliances in a house. Anti-oxidant paste is cheap insurance compared to replacing a entire panel or dealing with a fire later.

beth_baker691mo ago

and yeah @ruby_sanchez45 nailed it, that white crust is the wire corroding from oxygen and moisture. I always tell people to scrub the wire down with a stainless steel brush first, then slather on the Noalox before you tighten it down. The paste isn't just for show, it stops galvanic corrosion between the aluminum and the copper or steel terminal. If you skip it, you're basically betting the connection won't loosen up over time from that crust forming, and that's a bet you'll lose eventually.