I have not had any problems with the aluminum wire that I have used to hook up industrial machinery including a 30 HP air compressor and a 60 KW plastics machine that was nearly continuous duty when running, not duty cycle like with injection molding machines.

I also know someone who owns a house in Pepper Pike, Ohio that is about 1/2 mile east of Interstate 271. The catalytic converters out on I-271 are chewing up the COPPER wiring that is inside of his house. This is even though all of the new wiring is #12 minimum by law. It does not help that a previous homeowner hooked up #14 copper wiring to 20 amp circuits and messed up a few other things.

I consider #12 copper wire to be the minimum wire size for duplex 120 volt receptacles because the existence 0f 1500 watt comfort heaters and the widespread use of them makes 15 amp circuits illegal for any general purpose receptacle.

Mike Cole mc5w at earthlink dot net