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Timbergetter Regular Member Joined: 08/10/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 55
Posted: 11:13pm 06 Jul 2019
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This is the technique preferred by most X-Men.
yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166
Posted: 01:29am 07 Jul 2019
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I have done a lot of satellite installs and the one that keeps coming up is rotten plastic junction boxes exposing bare wire and brass terminals within hands reach of the manhole cover. perfect death trap.
The oldest building I have worked on had insulation made of timber!!! slots were routed into boards and the copper wires were fitted in the timber with wooden covers on the top. originally fitted for 32 volt maybe a third of the wiring was still being used. It was all buried under 10 cm of dust so nobody knew it was there. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not...
renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678
Posted: 01:45am 07 Jul 2019
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My parents old house had that. It wasn't connected anymore, but pretty sure it went to the bell board at the back of the house. In each room was a brass plate with a momentary button.
Years later when I was running some pipe under the house I found under the floorboards where the bellboard was there were glass jars with bits in them. Didn't take much notice at the time but they must have been crude batteries.Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb
BenandAmber Guru Joined: 16/02/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 961
Posted: 04:25am 07 Jul 2019
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If you've been underneath a few old houses you've seen a few dehydrated cats
You dare not say anything to the owner cuz it's going to be their beloved fluffy and they're going to want you to dig it outEdited by BenandAmber 2019-07-08be warned i am good parrot but Dumber than a box of rocks
Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814
Posted: 04:34am 07 Jul 2019
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I've come across a couple with the old uninsulated 'fencing' wires on tiny ceramic insulators (look kind of like the ones you saw on older telegraph poles, but smaller...)
One they were still actually in use- the installer had thoughtfully provided a big hand painted warning sign just inside the manhole cautioning to turn off the power before getting in the roof!!! The entire lighting circuit was still on them...
Country farm houses- how any are still left standing is beyond me...
ETA Wikipedia has everything...
This kind of thing, except in this case it was literally fencing wire being used... Edited by Boppa 2019-07-08
Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308
Posted: 06:50am 07 Jul 2019
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I don't feel so bad about my old rubber twins now!
Anyway, here is a bath of old rubber twin.....
I have only one or two more old rubber feeds to replace. Everything else has now been renewed with 1.5mm T&E/TPE. During the process, I found several more light fittings that were absolutely toast wiring wise. The issue really is more at the light end of the run then the switches(although they also can dry out and crack).
All these fittings have had decades of old incandescent bulbs running on them, and we all know how hot they can get. I think those old bulbs are only about 20% efficient - they radiate mostly heat. After a few decades of radiated heat from those, the cables that feed them are cooked to a brittle dust. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!
Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308
Posted: 08:25am 14 Jul 2019
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The work continues, with the replacement of rotten rubber junctions.
In this image, there are seven T&E/TPE cables coming in here. Note that some of the cores have red plastic on them, indicating that they are actually switched phases rather then neutral(black) or earth(green or green/yellow). This used to be allowed, but I don't think it is now. I have left this in place, as it would be a major pain in the arse to replace, as the cables are tight.
I have, however, pulled in new feed cables and all these cables are PVC, so there is no problem with rubber there.
Note the duel-screw earth connection. Many people think that the earth is unimportant, but it is VITAL that the earth circuit be as low a resistance as possible, so that in the event of a fault current, this earth circuit will pass a large fault current for a brief period, till the MCB pops. A low resistance earth circuit is vital to the safety of the system, and again.....I am amazed at how new sparkies just out of training have not had that hammered into them. So long as it is secure, then that seems to be all that is taught....
The earth connectors are dual-screw for a reason - lowers the circuit resistance.
Anyhoo.....
I should point out that I am not technically ticketed as a sparkie. I am an EST - Electrical Service Technician. This is one step below full electrican. But the reason all this is legal, is that in New Zealand, you are legally free to do any electrical wiring you like ON YOUR OWN HOUSE. It is illegal for me to do this kind of work on someone else's house, but I am free to do it on my own house.
All enclosed inside a plastic junction box. The blue markings on the cables are my cable labels for future reference.
This image is of the roof junction for the new bedroom light feeds. We have one incoming feed, and three outgoing feeds to each of the three rewired bedrooms. They were not daisy-chained at the switch, as the orignal holes drilled in the dwangs were small and only allowed for two twins. If I tried to pull in three T&E/TPE's, there would not have been enough room, so I elected for a roof junction and separate feeds to each of the three bedrooms, fed from a master feed via the switchboard.
...I had plenty of 1.5mm T&E....Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!
Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
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