Bad mix on tap

Sept. 1, 2000
Carl Robison, from Painesville, Ohio, with 23 years of experience in the electric field ranging from heavy industrial to residential work, recently started his own electrical contracting business. He found this connection in an electrical water heater where the feed to the tank was aluminum, and tank circuit conductors were copper. This connection, plus others, caused a fire. After two days of repairs

Carl Robison, from Painesville, Ohio, with 23 years of experience in the electric field ranging from heavy industrial to residential work, recently started his own electrical contracting business. He found this connection in an electrical water heater where the feed to the tank was aluminum, and tank circuit conductors were copper. This connection, plus others, caused a fire. After two days of repairs to the trailer, which was all aluminum wiring, the problems were solved, which involved rewiring all major appliances with copper feeds to replace the aluminum to correct the problems in the trailer.

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