Power and the RA82

[Tom Jennings]

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:

> The other is that is oxidizes quickly when exposed to air.
> Getting loose and oxidizing make for a hot connection when
> current of any kind goes through it. Add some flammable
> material and you have a nice bond fire.

All the above is true, and a huge problem with Al wiring is
electrochemical corrosion, eg. dissimilar metals. There's a good
to apply to mechanical connections to minimize the effects, but
really, that's a hint it's a bad idea in the first place.

> What were they thinking?

I, too, wonder at what was going on with this clearly terrible
idea.  Cost, I assume, but even that's silly -- it's a classic
case of lifetime system cost increase >> component cost savings.
A contractor-friendly savings; they're long out of there by the
time problems manifest.