Had a panel meltdown in a garage yesterday afternoon

I was swapping out an old breaker panel in a house near Portland. Got halfway through the rewire when I smelled something hot. Looked over and saw the main lug had overheated and was starting to bubble the plastic. Shut everything down fast and pulled the meter. Turns out the previous guy had used aluminum wire on a copper-only lug, and it had been loose for years. Had to replace the whole panel and re-pull the service entrance cable. Cost the homeowner an extra $400 I didn't plan for. Has anyone else run into mismatched materials like that on a seemingly simple swap?

3 comments

3 Comments

sullivan.quinn11d agoTop Commenter

Yeah I've found that checking for aluminum wire early saves a lot of headaches.

hernandez.gavin10d ago

Did you find it was mostly in older houses or have you seen it in newer builds too?

mason_murray810d ago

Wait, is that the same stuff that melted my dad's multimeter once?