Posted 2010-08-02 9:03 PM (#123112) Subject: Shore power to main panel wiring got very hot.
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 317 Location: Barnesville, Ga.
Was recently went camping with a friend in his lq trailer that was approx 11 years old. It was a factory finished lq not sure by who. The main entrance cable is copper and the breaker panel was aluminum. It used square D QO series breakers and seemed to be of pretty good quality. The cause of the problem was the dissimiliar materials. Copper and aluminum react with age creating resistance (heat). It was almost to the point of catching something on fire, but luckily we caught it. The next morning we disassembled the panel and re-terminated the wires and installed no-ox and everything seems to be working fine. Just wanted to let some people know about this as this could be an issue for others. The neutrals (white wire) were getting very hot.
Posted 2010-08-02 10:22 PM (#123116 - in reply to #123112) Subject: RE: Shore power to main panel wiring got very hot.
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
When we were first married, we owned a mobile home with aluminum wiring. We had a similar situation. Even without the dissimilar metal condition, there was a problem. The aluminum wiring would expand and contract, allowing the terminations to loosen enough in some instances, to create an arc and fire. Many times the builders didn't use aluminum compatiible receptacles and switches, causing some difficultiess. The No Ox saved many homes before the aluminum wiring was banned.
Shore power to main panel wiring got very hot.
