My house was built in 1971 and has aluminum wiring.
I want to install a ceiling fan in the master bedroom.
When I removed the existing light fixture, I see that the box in the ceiling is also a junction box. There are three lines coming in, plus the line from the switch.
While the box *is* braced between the joists with a metal bracket, it only has the smaller mounting lugs, which apparently aren't approved for the weight of a ceiling fan. So I'm planning on replacing the box with a heavier duty one with a larger brace.
The problem that I'm facing is that the current wiring in the box has two giant wire nuts, with 4 aluminum wires in each. All of the ground wires are just twisted together and pushed to the back of the box.
I really don't want to re-use the old wire nuts but I can't find anyone who makes wire nuts that are rated for aluminum to aluminum connections, let alone anything that can handle 4 wires at once. The best thing I've found are the AlumiConn connectors, but they can only handle three wires each.
I'm thinking about connecting two AlumiConn connectors with a jumper like this, if you can follow what I mean from this diagram...
AlumiConn AlumiConn
(3 ports) <--> (3 ports)
AL,AL,CU<-->CU,AL,AL
This will join all 4 aluminum wires together. I'm not sure if I need to use something larger than 12 gauge copper for the jumper.
Hopefully, I'll be able to fit all these AlumiConn connectors in the box. If not, I might need to look for a larger box. The largest fan-bracket box I can find online is 21.5 cu. in. Westinghouse Saf-T-Box Support Fan Brace Model #0140000
Any thoughts?
I want to install a ceiling fan in the master bedroom.
When I removed the existing light fixture, I see that the box in the ceiling is also a junction box. There are three lines coming in, plus the line from the switch.
While the box *is* braced between the joists with a metal bracket, it only has the smaller mounting lugs, which apparently aren't approved for the weight of a ceiling fan. So I'm planning on replacing the box with a heavier duty one with a larger brace.
The problem that I'm facing is that the current wiring in the box has two giant wire nuts, with 4 aluminum wires in each. All of the ground wires are just twisted together and pushed to the back of the box.
I really don't want to re-use the old wire nuts but I can't find anyone who makes wire nuts that are rated for aluminum to aluminum connections, let alone anything that can handle 4 wires at once. The best thing I've found are the AlumiConn connectors, but they can only handle three wires each.
I'm thinking about connecting two AlumiConn connectors with a jumper like this, if you can follow what I mean from this diagram...
AlumiConn AlumiConn
(3 ports) <--> (3 ports)
AL,AL,CU<-->CU,AL,AL
This will join all 4 aluminum wires together. I'm not sure if I need to use something larger than 12 gauge copper for the jumper.
Hopefully, I'll be able to fit all these AlumiConn connectors in the box. If not, I might need to look for a larger box. The largest fan-bracket box I can find online is 21.5 cu. in. Westinghouse Saf-T-Box Support Fan Brace Model #0140000
Any thoughts?