Message from @John O -
Discord ID: 412568288808140802
@Hessian Also, thanks for answering my questions.
Sorry guys, just getting back to this. So this is a one-way aluminum light switch. I realized it did have aNeutral wire in the box. Do I need to hook it up? If so, how should I do it? Should I find a larger account and connect a third aluminum wire to the pigtail and then to the green screw?
@Deleted User yes, connect a third aluminum wire with the ones that don't have insulation and connect it to the ground. Don't touch the neutral
The power is off and I have checked the wires for electricity.
Thanks
One more question, if the wires in the outlets are 10 gage and I accidentally got 12 gage, will the slightly smaller wire effect the functionality of the power outlet?
It's a ground. It's not normally current carrying. You really shouldn't, but you could probably get away with it
I wouldn't feel good about doing it
@Deleted User are you sure that's#10? Looks like 12
@Deleted User get a pair of wire cutters and slip the wire into the smallest hole that doesn't cut the wire. Then you'll know for sure what gauge it is.
If you already bought the #10, just use that. Bigger wire is always better than smaller
Do wires expand overtime?
Yeah, if they're normally current carrying
It expands and contracts. So over time the connections can come loose.
^^^^^
Thanks guys. Got it all figured out.
@John O - if you need a good laugh https://youtu.be/-WiN0vf4G9s
He's really crude but funny, "The Builder" on the same album is so funny.
Kek, nice
Yes the by product of electricity is amps, the by product of amps is heat. As a circuit is used it heats up (expansion) and when its not used it contracts. This is also a reason derating factors are used for counduit exposed to the sun
Thus is the main reason copper is used over aluminum these days
Aluminum is trash
All of our services are aluminum. We usually use aluminum for anything over 100A because of cost
Oh my
>quantity
>quality
>choose one
Bruh, I don't run the company
I would say that the majority of electrical fires ive been to has had aluminum wires and zynscos
As long as you use pertrox or something, and torque everything down, it works good. I've been on a lot of huge, high profile commercial installations that use aluminum.
I would definitely advise scheduled harmonic checks. The aluminum conductors have a history of shifting
But i know most other contractors live by the it only has to last one year and my assets are safe rule
You would be amazed how often i find service conductors loose or the dreaded arcing from a loose neutral
My company included
Thought it was an old phone box