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Tough Meter Tails.

Zoomup
I reused some old meter tails today, cira 1980s. Wow, did they bend easily. It was a delight to use them. Why oh why are modern meter tails so difficult to bend into shape. Is the copper harder? I even heard a meter installer complaining about how he hated trying to bend modern meter tails.


P.s. Is that why modern meter tails come loose so easily in main switch terminals if we just look at them? There is no "give". They are just so rigid.


Z.
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    Zoomy,


    Yer gettin' old mate. The tails are as always, but yer muscles are weaker. ?
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    Chris Pearson:

    Zoomy,


    Yer gettin' old mate. The tails are as always, but yer muscles are weaker. ?




    Ha, ha, Old in body and mind I reckon. Still we soldier on. ?


    Some I bought today could be used to make car suspension coil springs.

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    I think they're not annealing the copper any more, or as much. They definitely ARE tougher
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    You might have something there. Also, the type of insulation materials - are they now XPLE instead of PVC? Or if still PVC, are they of a different (most likely cheaper) compound?

    I still have around 70 metres of 2002-dated 25mm tails in old colours left and yes, they are easier to handle than the new stuff.
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    If anything, they will be more conductive;it's probably the insulating material or installing temperature that's different.


    Jaymack
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    Jaymack:

    If anything, they will be more conductive;it's probably the insulating material or installing temperature that's different.


    Jaymack 




    At the same room temperature the old tails are easier to bend than the new stuff. Even when in my hot sun heated van the new 25mm2 stuff is very difficult to bend.


    Z.

  • 0

    Zoomup:




    Jaymack:

    If anything, they will be more conductive;it's probably the insulating material or installing temperature that's different.


    Jaymack 




    At the same room temperature the old tails are easier to bend than the new stuff. Even when in my hot sun heated van the new 25mm2 stuff is very difficult to bend.


    Z.




    That leaves the insulating material ...... Thickness or consistency of insulating material; and a single screw fixing will lead to a swivel connection.


    Jaymack  



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    My old arthritic  hands still have plenty of strength but I find it hard and often painful  to bend the very stiff 25mm tails neatly. So I started using a small pipe bender for 10mm copper pipe. While the tails are larger, if used carefully, the bender allows very neat bends to be made without hurting my hands. I do think the 7 strand tails are an issue in cage clamps as it is very difficult to ensure continued tightness even when using a torque driver once the tails are moved even a little. I know there are clamps etc available but feel these are sticking plasters rather than the solution.
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    I agree with the comments above that present-day meter tails are much harder to fan into terminals than they used to be, for whatever reason.  I think this is the primary cause of the consumer unit fires that led to the Amendment 3 metal enclosures.  We would perhaps have been better served if the problem(s) had been researched more thoroughly and eliminated rather than just enclosing it/them.  A seven-strand 25mm tail does not want to bend into the restricted access to a cage clamp.  Using a torque driver does not alter the situation - the cable does not want to be in there and will squirm and twist over several weeks after installation until eventually it has relaxed and then there is the risk that it is no longer as secure as it was when first installed.  Clamping the tail in the consumer unit may help but does not eliminate this problem. Should this situation be followed by the smart meter crew arriving and overlooking checking/tightening the consumer unit incoming tail connections, then the consequences can be serious.


    Regards,


                           Colin Jenkins.
  • 0

    Colin Jenkins:

    I agree with the comments above that present-day meter tails are much harder to fan into terminals than they used to be, for whatever reason.  I think this is the primary cause of the consumer unit fires that led to the Amendment 3 metal enclosures.  We would perhaps have been better served if the problem(s) had been researched more thoroughly and eliminated rather than just enclosing it/them.  A seven-strand 25mm tail does not want to bend into the restricted access to a cage clamp.  Using a torque driver does not alter the situation - the cable does not want to be in there and will squirm and twist over several weeks after installation until eventually it has relaxed and then there is the risk that it is no longer as secure as it was when first installed.  Clamping the tail in the consumer unit may help but does not eliminate this problem. Should this situation be followed by the smart meter crew arriving and overlooking checking/tightening the consumer unit incoming tail connections, then the consequences can be serious.


    Regards,


                           Colin Jenkins.




    I completely agree.

    There is no justification for not annealing/softening copper except as a cost saving exercise with dangerous results.

    With regard to CU fires the evidence of a lack of annealing contributing to the fire would be destroyed by the heat.

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