Slimy PVC cable

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Replacing sockets on an early 70s house I found the ends of the T&E were exuding a green slimy muck. Not a lot of it, but enough to make me wonder if it's a symptom of PVC breakdown. The cabling in the rest of the house seems fine - no sign of cracking or crumbling of the insulation.

I wonder if the green slime is created by room humidity causing some copper corrosion which is acting with the plastic. Above the bottom inch or so of the cables there isn't a sign of this.

Any ideas?

[Andy Burns]

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Burns saying something like: