Sparkingchip:

I went south of the river last Thursday to do what should have been a straightforward job, until I saw the cable that supplied the central heating system that I was planning to extend.


You do have to appreciate just how bad the insulation is on some cables that are in use without tripping a RCD or MCB in a relatively new dual RCD consumer unit.

Going off topic, try identifying the conductors by the colour of the remnants of the insulation around them and although I said it’s rubber cable, I not actually certain that is a precise description. The house was built as a very upmarket semi-detached in one of the best locations in Greater London and this cable may be the last bit of the original installation from 1935 that was still in use, so may be eightty give years old, the rest having been rewired around sixty years ago.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Sparkingchip:

I went south of the river last Thursday to do what should have been a straightforward job, until I saw the cable that supplied the central heating system that I was planning to extend.


You do have to appreciate just how bad the insulation is on some cables that are in use without tripping a RCD or MCB in a relatively new dual RCD consumer unit.

Going off topic, try identifying the conductors by the colour of the remnants of the insulation around them and although I said it’s rubber cable, I not actually certain that is a precise description. The house was built as a very upmarket semi-detached in one of the best locations in Greater London and this cable may be the last bit of the original installation from 1935 that was still in use, so may be eightty give years old, the rest having been rewired around sixty years ago.