APC UPS, now with aluminum wire

[NiHaoMike]

[srb1954]

I thought it was ironic the he started the video with "never a dull moment around here".

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

[Chipguy]

First I thought, they came up with some special solder that would work.
I was shocked when Paul took the other solder joint apart and it just fell apart. What a load of crap

Some books back in my university times stated that in order to weld or crimp aluminium thoughougly you need to first strip the oxide layer with hydrochloric acid, then not waste time, crimp it, heat it and then use nitric acid to oxidize the aluminium again. After flushing and drying a protective soft lacquer is applied.

I have done this donkeys years ago on my first job as a student and we never had a complaint.

[coppercone2]

I thought it was ironic the he started the video with "never a dull moment around here".

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

well he is not a influencer but a teacher. Very detailed and with the stuff you learn about proper repairs and designs from that channel, I can live with someone not trying to 'go viral'.


And I thought it was exciting to see him go into it after he said it was clipped and glued together, I would just make a 2 minute video that ends with it crashing in a dumpster. Amazing tenacity of the human spirit.

[coppercone2]

First I thought, they came up with some special solder that would work.
I was shocked when Paul took the other solder joint apart and it just fell apart. What a load of crap

Some books back in my university times stated that in order to weld or crimp aluminium thoughougly you need to first strip the oxide layer with hydrochloric acid, then not waste time, crimp it, heat it and then use nitric acid to oxidize the aluminium again. After flushing and drying a protective soft lacquer is applied.

I have done this donkeys years ago on my first job as a student and we never had a complaint.

I think we will have a great leap in progress when humans bring the first big ass copper asteroid to be mined on the moon so this aluminum stuff can go obsolete lol. Every time I see aluminum conductors that are not on the power line I think... damn... we need to find more copper out there. Some time after the real space age we will have the 'reasonably good conductor everywhere' age, or hopefully the silver age. 0.15 cents/pound silver. 

Hopefully one day we will look at old technology and see the aluminum conductor like finding a knife made out of obsidian.

[nth_degree]

Damn I run two of these. Called support the other day because the software couldn’t connect to the server to check for updates. Agent couldn’t possibly have cared less and failed to tell me there was another software package since APC has been bought by SE. I’m never buying APC again

[tkamiya]

I'm a fan of APC but rack mount types only.  I buy them used and replace batteries. 

I lost faith in APC's consumer models after several failures.  Of course being curious, I take them apart after failure, and I was always surprised how cheaply they are made.  Very small transformers and it is obvious it is made for maximum few minutes of operations.  I had battery bulge and wedge themselves as well.

Aluminum winding in transformer is just out of this world.  I didn't even think it is possible.  Trying to use regular solder?  Sounds like cost cutting going overboard.  Likely, subcontractor or parts supplier made them to meet impossible cost demands.  Very disappointed APC allowed this to happen.  They should be recalled for safety.

[bdunham7]

Aluminum winding in transformer is just out of this world.  I didn't even think it is possible. 

It's more common than you might think, but obviously regular solder onto bare (not CCA) aluminum wire isn't good.  An intermittent-use transformer like this is a prime candidate for an aluminum-thrifted approach.

[tkamiya]

Pretty scarily a UL listed device can be made this badly.  I guess aluminum wire themselves weren't real problem but sizing and connection has to be made properly.  I'm just surprised Apc allowed it to happen and sent them to market.

[coppercone2]

Think about this one : aluminum is a light metal, copper is a heavy metal. When it starts vibrating from the magnetic field, its gonna be more effected IMO

[james_s]

Aluminum winding in transformer is just out of this world.  I didn't even think it is possible. 

It's more common than you might think, but obviously regular solder onto bare (not CCA) aluminum wire isn't good.  An intermittent-use transformer like this is a prime candidate for an aluminum-thrifted approach.

I've seen loads of aluminum wound transformers, ballasts and motors, it was very common during the Vietnam war era which drove copper prices up. Aluminum wiring was used in houses for about a decade too with disastrous results. I recently went through and repaired two houses wired with aluminum by using special AlumiConn splices to pigtail everything. One of them had several receptacles burn up and another was hot with a streak of smoke up the wall by the time I was asked ot look at it. Amazing the place didn't burn down. Aluminum seems to work fine for high capacity circuits with screw clamp terminals but I would never trust it in a branch circuit and never, ever splice it to copper with a wire nut. Even the special purple ones that come pre-filled with goo have a history of failure.

[johansen]

Almost all microwave oven transformers used aluminum for a decade. Never seen a failure myself.

They use spring clips not solder.

[SiliconWizard]

Copper is expensive.

[james_s]

Copper is expensive.

It is expensive, but house fires are even more expensive.

[BradC]

It is expensive, but house fires are even more expensive.

That second one looks like stranded copper wire.

[johansen]

I have a circuit board from a fairly recent and common 2 ton heat pump, has aluminum wire for the common mode emi chokes. In  hindsight, i have seen this before in inverter microwave ovens. The connections are soldered, and no reliability problems that i know of

[Sal Ammoniac]

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

Why? Because he's not doing clickbait stunts like ElectroBOOM?

[srb1954]

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

Why? Because he's not doing clickbait stunts like ElectroBOOM?

No, it is because most of his stuff is excruciatingly slow. He has a tendency to take 10 minutes to say what could be said in 1 minute.

[james_s]

It is expensive, but house fires are even more expensive.

That second one looks like stranded copper wire.

Somebody pigtailed solid aluminum to stranded copper with predictable results. Both are early 70s manufactured homes wired with Anaconda Dutrax AL NM cable.

[james_s]

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

Why? Because he's not doing clickbait stunts like ElectroBOOM?

No, it is because most of his stuff is excruciatingly slow. He has a tendency to take 10 minutes to say what could be said in 1 minute.

I like the way he explains things thoroughly and talks slowly enough that I can take the time to study the thing he's showing.

[tggzzz]

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

Why? Because he's not doing clickbait stunts like ElectroBOOM?

No, it is because most of his stuff is excruciatingly slow. He has a tendency to take 10 minutes to say what could be said in 1 minute.

And presumably read in 15s.

Almost all yootoob vids are like that.

[Sal Ammoniac]

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

Why? Because he's not doing clickbait stunts like ElectroBOOM?

No, it is because most of his stuff is excruciatingly slow. He has a tendency to take 10 minutes to say what could be said in 1 minute.

Set the Playback Speed on the video to 1.5, 1.75, or 2.0.

[tggzzz]

I have always found Mr Carlson's Lab to be some of the dullest electronics content on YT.

Why? Because he's not doing clickbait stunts like ElectroBOOM?

No, it is because most of his stuff is excruciatingly slow. He has a tendency to take 10 minutes to say what could be said in 1 minute.

Set the Playback Speed on the video to 1.5, 1.75, or 2.0.

How you you propose getting the next factor of 10 to get down to speedreading time?

[johansen]

For what its worth a friends 4 ton trane heat pump installed in 1979 died in 2018.

Aluminum wound..failed not because the windings failed but because the reversing valve stuck. After which the compressor failed

[Andrew LB]

My house was built in 1973 and had aluminum wiring. Luckily i had a friend who is an electrician to supervise, and i did a complete rewire on the home while upping from 100a service to 200a. It was a ton of work but worth it in the end. I discovered it when changing an outlet and every time i tried to make a J-hook, the wire would break. Then i noticed it was silver colored and was like WTF?