Can we talk about that $600 panel swap that turned into a nightmare last Tuesday

I took a quick job in a basement near downtown Austin and the panel was fed with aluminum SEU from the 70s. The whole thing crumbled when I touched it, had to re-pull 80 feet of SER cable through a crawlspace full of rat droppings. The homeowner watched me the whole time and asked why it was taking so long every 20 minutes. Anyone else deal with old wire that just falls apart in your hands?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.felix1mo ago

That's not quite right about the aluminum crystallizing, aluminum work hardens more than it crystallizes from just pulling. It's the insulation going brittle and the oxide layer building up on the conductors that makes the stuff act like it's falling apart. Had a service call last month where the bonding jumper literally snapped from a microscopic crack, but under a loupe it looked more like stress fractures than crystals.

tarabell1mo ago

You mentioned the wire "fell apart in your hands" and that's exactly what happens with that old SEU. The insulation gets brittle and the aluminum itself can get that weird crystallized look at connections. I've had runs where just pulling on it to make a new connection made the whole jacket split open like a banana. And the homeowner hovering is the worst. Makes you want to hand them a shovel and tell them to dig the trench instead.

kim.jake1mo agoMost Upvoted

True, but at least when I screw up a shovel job the homeowner can't see me from inside the house.