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The Importance of Antioxidant Paste

I performed an inspection yesterday on a early 1980s home and found overheating of the main service conductors in the main breaker panel due to no antioxidant paste to the aluminum conductors. As you can see, the left terminal has oxidized and caused enough resistance to cause it to get very hot and melt the insulation. Of course I stressed heavily in the report to my customer to have this repaired, but also felt I needed to let the seller's agent know also so she could notify the current owners of it's condition for their safety and in case the sale didn't go through. She returned my call today and acted like I was being an alarmist because she had always viewed the antioxidant paste issue as something that is a nit picky item that we chose to throw in our reports. I emailed her the photo and I think she now understands the importance of this paste.

Posted by Fort Worth Home Inspector Kent Keith on 09/10/2008 11:35 PM

Comments (12)

home wiring, electrical panel, electrical inspection

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12 Comments on The Importance of Antioxidant Paste

SEP

2008

Hi Kent... Thanks for sharing this. I never fully understood the issue with the antioxidant paste until I saw your picture. That pretty much says it all to me. I appreciate the education!

I've never even heard of antioxidant paste before, but it appears to be very important! Looks like a large potential fire hazard! Great information as always - thanks!

Good call.

Was that conductor all the way in?

Mike,

Yes, it was....the melted insulation shrunk causing more of the conductor to be exposed.

Kent Keith

Fort Worth Home Inspector

SEP

2008

Good stuff,

My neighbor had a garage fire from the aluminum entrance wires got loose and hot. (He was able to catch it before it spread to the home)

Even with anti oxidant paste it is a good idea to check the connections to make sure everything is tight.

Was this panel further evaluated and was there an issue with too many amps on that side?

Please do not check those lugs. They are HOT.

Say WHAT? Too many amps on that side???

It is hard to 'load' one leg of a panel in a residential application.

I think it was a loose connection.

I think is it a combination of a possible loose connection along with oxidation. If you look closely on the top of the connection lug, you can see a powdery substance which I think is oxidation from the heating of the aluminum. As far as a loose connection, if you look you will notice the wire in this connector is not a flattened out as the right one, which would make you think that it is not properly tightened, but the lug's screw appears to have the same amount of thread going inward. In any case, it needs to be repaired as soon as possible.