You are entirely missing the point. He has nothing. In order to complete the installation AT ALL he needs to do something. You cant limit charging on something thats not there. Your suggestions are assuming there is something there to limit charging on, and there isnt yet. He needs to transition from aluminum to copper in some manner before he can even think about limiting charging.
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Aluminum Wire for charging
- Thread starter mike53north
- Start date
You are entirely missing the point. He has nothing. In order to complete the installation AT ALL he needs to do something. You cant limit charging on something thats not there. Your suggestions are assuming there is something there to limit charging on, and there isnt yet. He needs to transition from aluminum to copper in some manner before he can even think about limiting charging.
Thanks for injecting the common sense into the equation. As I will have charging at work, and a SC 5 minutes away, the home setup will mostly be for an occasional weekend charge, so I really don’t need the high amps. Just need to something hooked up before I take delivery.
I think you are just looking at transitioning from aluminum to coper with one of the solutions in this thread (like a small inexpensive load center that supports aluminum and copper, and then the appropriate sized breaker for the wire you have now (no more than a 50 amp breaker).
It’s funny, when I went to spec out installing a sub-panel in the garage to be able to hook up my Tesla charger, I kept telling everyone that I wanted to use copper wire. (I also told them I didn’t give a crap what it actually cost, I wanted it done….)
More than one electrician was hemming and hawing over the fact that I wanted the thing installed using copper wire.
It’s about a 50 foot run, at least, from the main panel in the house to my garage, and I wanted a copper conductor that could handle at least 100A.
It was odd to me the push back I got from to the companies. They absolutely wanted to use aluminum conductors. Even when I was willing to pay for it, without any concern for the material cost.
More than one electrician was hemming and hawing over the fact that I wanted the thing installed using copper wire.
It’s about a 50 foot run, at least, from the main panel in the house to my garage, and I wanted a copper conductor that could handle at least 100A.
It was odd to me the push back I got from to the companies. They absolutely wanted to use aluminum conductors. Even when I was willing to pay for it, without any concern for the material cost.
Aluminum is easier to work with. You can bend it easier. That might be why.It’s funny, when I went to spec out installing a sub-panel in the garage to be able to hook up my Tesla charger, I kept telling everyone that I wanted to use copper wire. (I also told them I didn’t give a crap what it actually cost, I wanted it done….)
More than one electrician was hemming and hawing over the fact that I wanted the thing installed using copper wire.
It’s about a 50 foot run, at least, from the main panel in the house to my garage, and I wanted a copper conductor that could handle at least 100A.
It was odd to me the push back I got from to the companies. They absolutely wanted to use aluminum conductors. Even when I was willing to pay for it, without any concern for the material cost.
There is relatively little risk using high cross section aluminum conductors. The problem, and the source of aluminum wiring's bad reputation, comes with branch circuits using small solid aluminum wires.
It's still 'legal' (code conforming) to use 8 AWG and larger aluminum wire. It's typically simpler and cheaper using copper for short runs of intermediate gauges, but the balance is down to local economics and preferences.
I agree with the previous suggestion of just installing a small subpanel. They are inexpensive, almost universally support aluminum wiring on the lugs, and provide a local disconnect. Most importantly there is nothing unexpected about the installation. In contrast a splice in a junction box is going to be expensive (aluminum to copper connectors are $$$), cramped, hard to work with, all while adding no value. Plus every inspector and electrician in the future will need to take a quick look to figure out what is going on and check that it was done correctly.
You could go a little cheaper with just a disconnect, but the ability to add a few extra circuits will almost certainly be used at some point.
It's still 'legal' (code conforming) to use 8 AWG and larger aluminum wire. It's typically simpler and cheaper using copper for short runs of intermediate gauges, but the balance is down to local economics and preferences.
I agree with the previous suggestion of just installing a small subpanel. They are inexpensive, almost universally support aluminum wiring on the lugs, and provide a local disconnect. Most importantly there is nothing unexpected about the installation. In contrast a splice in a junction box is going to be expensive (aluminum to copper connectors are $$$), cramped, hard to work with, all while adding no value. Plus every inspector and electrician in the future will need to take a quick look to figure out what is going on and check that it was done correctly.
You could go a little cheaper with just a disconnect, but the ability to add a few extra circuits will almost certainly be used at some point.
Um, well, yes and no. Thicker is harder to bend. This person wants a 100A capable circuit. Aluminum is more resistive, so the wire gauge has to be bigger. On a 100A wire in conduit situation, that's the difference between 2 gauge in copper and 1 gauge in aluminum.
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