Electric drop insulation

[Bill Gill]

In 2001 I had my service upgraded to 200 amp service. That included a complete new breaker box, meter can and weather head. This afternoon I noticed that the outer coating on the wires going into the weather head is stripping off. This is between the weather head and the place where the feed is spliced to the electrical companies drop. The distance is less than 2 feet.

There is still a pretty good layer of insulation on the wires, what is peeling is only the top layer. It is a few mils thick.

Is this liable to be a problem? Obviously I don't want to have to have an electrician rewire it if I don't have to, but at the same time I don't want to have a safety problem

Thanks

Bill Gill

[RBM]

I can't be sure what type of conductor you have there, but some types like THHN have an outer layer that does tend to crack when it gets cold, but certainly nothing to worry about

[Jim Redelfs]

I have seen this before and believe it is NOT a problem.

What is peeling, to the best of MY knowledge, is simply a COATING - not insulation. I believe the coating is applied to facilitate pulling the wire through conduit. Obviously, it is not UV-stabilized.

I wouldn't worry about it unless you can see copper or aluminum.

[SQLit]

JR Please provide information on the COATING applied to electrical wire. In my

30 plus years of electrical experience I have never seen a COATING applied to wire that would peel off as this is described. I have seen THHN and XHHW have the outer insulation come off. Looks like a clearish snake skin.

I can not see it so I say If the wires were installed by your electrician then get it inspected. If the wires belong to the utility call them and ask.

[Jim Redelfs]

Try this at Google: "THHN" "coating" (with quotes). You will get numerous hits referring to a Teflon coating, including "The clear plastic coating cracks and falls off after two or three years." That's enough to satisfy me that I am on the right track.

I suspect we are thinking of the SAME thing. I was not aware that it was "outer insulation". I am skeptical that it is insulation.

Good advice.