BROKEN WIRE INSIDE WELDER

[Aussiebushman]

Your grandfather was right - its the pragmatic approach to repair work that counts. As a bush mechanic, I work on the same principle - it only needs to outlast me, then it is someone else's problem

 

[CCWKen]

LOL... I frequently work on 90+ year old cars. Asked why I put so much effort into a restoration, my reply is always; "So it'll last another 90+ years".

Today is my 66th birthday. I hope all my restorations out-live me.

 

[Redneck in training]

If you have access to a crimper this could work Aluminum Lugs | Aluminum Compression Lugs and Splices | ElecDirect or you could use "mechanical" splice ALUMINUM SPLICER-REDUCER 25-75MCM | ElecDirect
They are not cheap. Electrical supplier should have them in stock. I bought several of similar used lugs on Ebay for way less money few years back.

 

[Aussiebushman]

Good idea Redneck. I do have an 8 ton hand operated hydraulic crimper with multiple dies that use for boat rigging. If the repair already made fails, I'll use that to crimp a new wire to the aluminium one

 

[petes]

Good idea Redneck. I do have an 8 ton hand operated hydraulic crimper with multiple dies that use for boat rigging. If the repair already made fails, I'll use that to crimp a new wire to the aluminium one

Aluminum and copper don't play nice when in contact with each other. (google aluminum wire house fires - caused by aluminum to copper joints in wire splices and terminations on circuit breakers with copper lugs). The aluminum corrodes and makes a high impedance joint that can overheat and cause fires, or if you're lucky it just "rots off" like yours did.

There is special split nuts that keep the conductors from contacting each other, also solder and flux for joining aluminum to copper, but it's finicky - Tinning the aluminum can be challenging. There are also end-to-end screw-compression splices (think butt splice, but with setscrews) that are made specifically for joining aluminum to copper while not allowing them to contact each other like they do in a regular split nut. I think they're made out of tinned aluminum, commonly used for electrical service drops to a house. The tin doesn't react with the copper or the aluminum. You can get them at electrical supply stores.

A bit of good info here: Need to Connect 240 volt Alum to Copper Wiring - DoItYourself.com Community Forums

If you stick with the split nut splice in the picture, at least goober the wires with no-ox or similar oxide inhibiting compound.