Circuit Breaker Box Question

Hello All,

I am selling a condo unit and the buyer just had the home inspection completed. One repair that was listed was that there needs to be "anti-ox" paste applied where the aluminum and copper wires meet in the circuit breaker box. I started calling electricans from the yellow pages for estimates. I got mixed reactions about whether this was a necessary repair. It sounded like this would be a simple matter of just putting paste on some wires. But the estimates are based on a minimum of 1 hour of work so they were about $100. So I have two questions:

1) Do this "repair" really need to be done?

2) If so, can I do it myself?

3) If so, how?

Thanks!

 

What do mean by "where the aluminium and copper wires meet in the circuit breaker box"? Are you saying that the copper and aluminium are spliced together in the panel ?

 

As far as I understand (which isn't much), it is where the wires come into the panel they change from aluminum to copper and the paste needs to be applied where they are joined. I was told it is a safety precaution.

Thanks!

 

If the copper and alum. are spliced together,a splicing method that is U.L. listed for this application should have been used.....If the right connection were used,it would have included an anti-oxident compound.If someone spliced the wires together using ordinary wirenuts,then just applying compound is not the answer.You need to have an electrician come out and give an estimate based on what he sees and not give an estimate over the phone.A reputable electrician would have no problem giving an eestimate.I can tell you that if all of the wires are spliced with the wrong type connector, $100 probably won't even cover the materials.

This is a MULTI-FAMILY-DWELLING and as such,all work should be done by a Licensed,Insured Electrician.

 

I believe what they are talking about are the lug connections in the panel where the AL feeder connects to the bus bars.

Tony