Item 320557885982
Old Colours 2.5 mm TWIN & EARTH T&E Cable Wire 50M
"These are very rare now and would be ideal to match up with your exixsting wiring"
Two pence change from One hundred and seventy five pounds!!!! and it is yours :-(
Who in their right mind would pay that amount ?
Who would care what colour the internal insulation was ?
Am I missing something?
(100M was recently sold after one bid for £50 which is more sense.)
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Its so people can make DiY changes to house wiring, and claim it was done before the regulations needing to have tradesmen do the work.
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Pretty sure its now ilegal to use this cable too. We have part P certs for everything in our house. They just burnt down in a fire caused by a dodgy electrical connection in the kitchen sir.
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>> Its so people can make DiY changes to house wiring, and claim it was done
>> before the regulations needing to have tradesmen do the work.
I can see some that logic but (a) how would anyone know and (b) if someone was buying a house then they would then certainly factor in the cost of a rewire when they make an offer.
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If I remember correctly, the colours of the insulation changed long before the requirement to use registered electricians. So you can still use the new harmonised colours cable and claim it was done before the law changed.
However if anyone wants to make me a reasonable offer for my old red and black cables I'm willing to strip them out and replace them. :-)
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>> (b) if someone was buying a house then they would then certainly factor in the cost of a rewire when they make an offer.
??? Anything rewired since the early 60s is fine for a long while yet. The colours changed 5 or 6 years ago!
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Depends on how many DIY bodges have been done though, I think that is what Rob was getting at. If all the ringmain has been hacked into its probably easier to rewire it than try and repair all the bodges.
In hour house (1980 wire) there isn't enough plug sockets so even if the ringmain was kept there would need to be a lot of spurs added, so it is probably easier just to rip the lot out. I suppose the lighting circuits could be left alone though. The main issue that 1980 consumer unit, its a long way from current regs.
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>> >> (b) if someone was buying a house then they would then certainly factor in
>> the cost of a rewire when they make an offer.
Hmm, I bought my first house in 1983, and didnt have it rewired. The people who bought it from me didnt have it rewired.
I bought my last house and didnt have it rewired.
You only have it rewired if it has problems or is very old.
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I didn't say they'd get it rewired. They might take the cost of rewiring into account in their offer.
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and a new roof? you wont get that done either
Try tactics like that buying my house and I will bounce you down the road on your wallet pocket.
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:-) I didn't know you were selling.
We paid a bit more for our house than it was valued at by our surveyor and there's also a few jobs that were needed. We liked the house.
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>> I didn't say they'd get it rewired. They might take the cost of rewiring into
>> account in their offer.
Yuo actually said they would *certainly* take it into account. ;)
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It depends on how old the wiring is. My uncle rewired his 1964 house which was wired in PVC because it was the easier than adding a load of spurs. The major limations of old wiring is just the consumer unit which can be replaced for £300 including labour anyway.
Our house before 1980 had a 1950's rubber installation and as the house had a lighting circuit when it was built in 1906 some of it may have dated back to then. I have found some old wires whith some paper insulation on them.
The problem is some of hour rooms have suspended ceilings and under them remains the 1950's pendants with black wire but its not the twisted stuff. We will worry about that if tho lights in question start to flicker.
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I once had a house rewired. I'd just bought it, I was still single and it needed a bit doing to it. The wiring was ancient black rubber, some cotton covered stuff. Wooden boxes for the light switches.
The rewire created a HUGE mess! I think I'd rather move than have another rewire, especially given the way modern cavity walls are filled.
JH
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Blimey, I must up the insurance to cover that drum in the garage.
JH
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Am I correct than under the 17th edition one cannot use the old red and black cables anyway? Was there a cut of date from when the stuff could no longer be used?
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From wikipedia.
"The standard colours in fixed wiring were harmonized in 2004 with the regulations in other European countries and the international IEC 60446 standard. For a transitional period (April 2004 – March 2006) either set of colours were allowed (but not both), provided that any changes in the colour scheme are clearly labelled. From April 2006, only the new colours should be used for any new wiring."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring_in_the_United_Kingdom
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>> From wikipedia.
>> From April 2006, only the new colours should
>> be used for any new wiring."
Which is a long way from saying "must". It used to be (even post-March '06) perfectly fine to put a blue/brown sleeve at the termination point; whether Rattle is right that the 17th ed. no longer allows this I do not know.
Wikipedia is wrong to state: "either set of colours were allowed (but not both)" as it is perfectly acceptable to extend an old colours system with new colours, provided a note is left on the CU.
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>> Wikipedia is wrong to state
Then edit it then if it's wrong. It's because we can edit such sources that it is often not to be trusted.
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i kept electrocuting myself when i had to plug the tv into the light socket in the living room and the brass switch in the bathroom used to buzz while sing something simple was on the radiogram,everythings fine now as i used bellwire throughout but doubled up for the creda cooker
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:-) I'll get you to rewire this house when it needs doing then.
I remember when I was a child that my brother had an adapter to plug the record player into the light socket because there was no socket in his room. In fact I don't think there were any sockets upstairs at the time! (the house was 100 years old then).
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I think this was common until the 1950's when appliences became very common. My grandma (born 1929) remembers when she had to plug irons into the lighting socket. Given the amount of current an iron draws I am amazed there wasn't more fires. Doubt they would have been fuses either.
I've some research in the past about electrical wiring and ages. It seems even 1900 builds often had a lighting circuit (though it was rare) but plug sockets were not fitted to the 1930's.
Off topic slightly but in the 90's it was common to still see old wiring with the older twisted rubber cable used in pedants but now the oldest wiring I see seems to date from the early 60's and is modern PVC.
That said the fittings should at least be replaced, a 50 year old plug socket will be very worn and if the prongs are not secure could be a fire hazzard. I replaced all the fittings in this house about five years ago because they were starting to wear.
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>> It seems even 1900 builds often had a lighting circuit
The house we sold in December (built around 1910) still had a few of the old gas sockets in rooms for the old gas lights - no longer connecting to anything mind. So I don't think a 1900's house had a lighting circuit.
At some point the house had a oil fired boiler (converted eventually to gas).... it used to switch off in the cold weather!
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I thought about the bellwire joke, but then some idiot would think you can do it and sue me.
Lets just say I bet with bell wire throughout you don't need to worry about central heating!
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I can remember being at my aunt's house in the '60s and seeing her ironing in the kitchen with the iron plugged into the overhead light socket.
Even as a very small child I thought it was odd, but maybe it was normal then.
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...with the iron plugged into the overhead light socket...
Luxury.
My grandmother used heavy flat irons heated on the range.
Two irons, one interchangeable handle.
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you had a range?
we used to dream of having a range. We hudled round a burning shoe, it were a cold hard walk to school the next day.
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You had a shoe to burn? Luxury.
We had to set fire to our feet and walk to school on our hands next day.
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>>My grandma (born 1929) remembers when she had to plug irons into the lighting socket.
>>I think this was common until the 1950's when appliences became very common. My grandma (born 1929) remembers when she had to plug irons into the lighting socket.
>>
My mother did the same.
An adaptor with a pull cord switch was used. It plugged into the lampholder and the bulb into the adaptor . It had a standard BC socket pointing down 45% off centre for the iron and the cord switched the bulb on and off. For further outlets one could plug another adaptor in the side.
In those days it was VIR in slip conduit for the lighting circuits
>> Given the amount of current an iron draws I am amazed there wasn't more fires. Doubt they would have been fuses either.
There were two fuses for two lighting circuits. A cast iron box with a lever swich on the outside.
A single plug socket in the kitchen was often available... Why?
With the introduction of electric cookers the cooker control box also had a socket I guess for an electric kettle. These surface mounted boxes are still often seen ( sometimes with the cooker tail dangling out of them. The strange thing is they are still made but with the proliferation of wall sockets in the kitchen a simple high amp standard sized switch is so much neater.
>>That said the fittings should at least be replaced, a 50 year old plug socket will be very worn and if the prongs are not secure could be a fire hazzard. I replaced all the fittings in this house about five years ago because they were starting to wear.
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IMO the main wear was due to cube shaped adaptors with three plugs plugged in plus cables all dragging things down.
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>> >>
>> IMO the main wear was due to cube shaped adaptors with three plugs plugged in
>> plus cables all dragging things down.
>>
We had one of those in the messroom at a previous job of mine. It had a three bar electric fire, the kettle and a charger for ten two-way radio batteries plugged into it. There was more heat from the adaptor than the fire on full blast.
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You should see the mess of the kitchen in our house. My mum just thinks there are too many extension leads and too much mess. The reality is the mess is off two seperate circuits and it stops the dish washer, washign machine, tumble dyer, freezer, fridge and kettle all running of the same socket.
The biggest bodge I have wired is the shed plug socket, it runs of a socket from my bedroom and I drilled through the floor below. Its a 13 amp cable but it has a 5amp fuse because otherthings need to run of that double socket (13 amp). I have to idiot things otherwise the shed would power next door.
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RTJ>>The house we sold in December (built around 1910) still had a few of the old gas
>>sockets in rooms for the old gas lights - no longer connecting to anything mind. So I
>>don't think a 1900's house had a lighting circuit.
Some did. If you were in an area where there was electricity.
Henry K>>Why was there a plug socket in the kitchen?
Because there was presumably c20-30amp cabling to the cooker, so putting a plug socket in as well required no extra wiring. I agree, not sure why modern kitchens still have a socket on the cooker circuit.
Rattle>>The biggest bodge I have wired....
You haven't wired it. You have put in an extension lead.
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Chortonville near where I live was the first estate in the country to have electricty and gas as standard. They were built in 1910 and there was a bit argument. The gas company would not connect it up to gas if they had electricty vice versa. The argument was setteled when the people that built the estate agreed to use gas in the kitchen (including lighting) and electricity for the lighting in other rooms.
I don't think our house had gas until the 1950's and even then it was just for a fire. When my parents moved in the cooker was electric (1960's PVC wire) so when the house was re-wired that circuit was left in. My parents then had a gas cooker fitted and the cooker spur was ended up with a plug socket at the end of it. This is why the extension is used, so we can seperate the ring mains.
This spur also has a 3amp spured connection of it to power the central heating timer (1984 install).
I really wish I had kept some of that old paper wire I found. It really does like just a large bit of bare metal which is covered in some sort of cotton and paper meterial. I would be quite interested to find out how long that installation lasted for. I know it was wired in the 1950's but I assume it must have been rewired before then too. There is an old 3 round pin socket (so pre 1950's) on a skirton board and is made out of metal. and that has an old broken rubber wire going into it.
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Anyone interested in a coil of original rubber-insulated lead-sheathed cable ?
Perfect finishing touch for a 1930s restoration. Meets all relevant electrical safety standards, rubber hardly perished.
It's very dangerous plugging an electric iron into a light socket. I have a green enamelled gas iron with a rubber pipe which pops over an extension outlet on the side of the cooker. I'd have to uncouple the portable gas heater first though.
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"You haven't wired it. You have put in an extension lead."
Which is the unintended consequence of the idiot regulations that prevent sensible people from adding to their own house wiring, so they use extension leads instead. So much safer...
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Indeed and in the past I would have just wired in a spur from a socket assuming it was safe to do so. However wiring in a kitchen is a big no no hence the extension lead.
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>>..and it stops the dish washer, washign machine, tumble dyer, freezer, fridge and kettle all running of the same socket.>>
Perhaps just as well...:-))
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>>IMO the main wear was due to cube shaped adaptors with three plugs plugged in plus cables all dragging things down.>>
When we had smoke alarms fitted free by the local fire brigade about 10 years ago we had a cube shaped mains adapter in use in one of the kitchen wall sockets for various appliances.
The firemen advised us to stop using it and replace it with a four or six socket extension lead, which we did.
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>>The firemen advised us to stop using it and replace it with a four or six socket extension lead, which we did.
Obviously spot on advice, however the now common cheap extension leads have only been available for a few years hence all the wear for many years by the old adaptors.
Oddly I came across an example where one of those adaptors saved a property catching fire.
I was called to investigate and found a charred plug and adaptor .
The damage was not obvious until the adaptor and plug were removed from the socket ( as was common in those days screwed on the skirting board) .
The back of the MK plug was charred and right through the adaptor, socket and was just starting to affect the skirting board.
The cause was simply a loose fuse in the plug from a 3Kw fire.
There was no obvious problem when first seen.l
Many of these adaptors had no fuse in them which raised the risk of overload.
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....an probably in the days of properly British made kit not el-cheapo Chinese made stuff.
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at one time i would only buy mk plugs
i preferred the rubber ones but one day over heated one and the plug was smelling of rubber,i pulled it out of the socket but some of the prongs stayed in
it was a bit of a trouser moment at the time
but i lived.............
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>> Luckily for us !
>>
I have had more mains shocks than I count on my remaining fingers and toes.
Still here to taunt you all.
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>> I have had more mains shocks than I count on my remaining fingers and toes.
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>> Still here to taunt you all.
>>
And how are the back of your hands?
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>> And how are the back of your hands?
Still hairy.
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have you ever had the big one from a first generation colour tv
now thats the biggest whack ive ever had
it wouldnt let me go,thought it was the golden handshake
i can feel the spasms now
not nice
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Ohh no, Really careful to earth that thick rubbery cable.
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I had a friend who's speciality was peeing in the back of Teles in parties....dangerous game.
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In the days before everything came with a plug attached, one of my school friends used to power up appliances by poking the live and neutral wires into the socket, then plugging a plug in on top of them.
Every socket in his house had a brown, plug-shaped scorch mark around it.
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>> In the days before everything came with a plug attached, one of my school friends
>> used to power up appliances by poking the live and neutral wires into the socket,
>> then plugging a plug in on top of them.
Blimey thats posh, what happened to a screwdriver in the earth pin to open the shutters and the live and neutral pushed in with swan vesta matches?
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>> have you ever had the big one from a first generation colour tv
>> now thats the biggest whack ive ever had
>> it wouldnt let me go,thought it was the GOLDEN HANDSHAKE.
>> i can feel the spasms now
>> not nice
>>
Apparently it is better than the 'Golden Rivet' that my ex Naval mate mentioned. Not a recipient of course.
M
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"provided that any changes in the colour scheme are clearly labelled"
Er, wouldn't the changes be self-evident?
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Ebay. silly mains cable prices. - Zero
