What I found under the ivy...

[eden]

I live in a small 1870s Victorian mid terrace cottage and the cupboard with the mains electric/gas etc is just inside front wall. I removed all the old ivy from the front of the house as I want it re-painted inc lots of roots and trunks.

1. Under the ivy was 2 thick electric cables in brown although painted over, going from my meter inside up to the eaves somewhere. The cable clips have mostly deteriorated. Are these OK just to be left and painted over again?

1. Also there is a newish looking green cable about 5mm thick which appears to go from a socket on the inside (sited about 300mm above floor level) through the wall and down into the earth below? Is this an earth wire? and if so is it ok now exposed like this? When I bought the house 12 years ago it wasnt earthed and I remember having to have an electrician to do some work.

Also found some exposed gas pipes from fire to gas meter box outside - anyone know if these are ok?

[Invisible Man]

Are the brown cables still connected? Sounds like they might be part of an overhead supply to the house. If they are before the supply reaches the meter might be an idea to ask your electricity supply company to inspect them. Can you see what the green cable is connected to. Sounds like it probably runs to an earthing rod. Ours is exposed but runs into a green box on top of the earth rod. I have seen plenty of exposed gas pipes running outside. Don't think it is a problem unless where they are likely to get damaged.

[eden]

They go directly from my electrical cupboard (through a sort of transformer box to new cables to my meter) up the outside wall to about 30cm from the eaves and them they do a right angle and disappear under my neighbour's pebble dash. Can't see where they've gone after that.

I've had a bit of a dig about and it just goes deep into the earth. Will it be ok exposed them if thats what it is? Won't the elements damage it?

[Andy Champ]

That almost sounds as if there's a tee from the supply before your meter that goes next door. Which might be just an easy bodge the power company did when they buried the wires.

Any chance of a photo?

Andy

[eden]

How do I add a photo to the post on this site? Can do one tomorrow...

[geoff]

Posting photos to this newsgroup is not allowed

Join one of the sites that allow you to post photos to e.g. flickr and post the URL here

[Andy Burns]

You can't, but you can upload to imageshack, photobucket, flickr etc then post a link here.

[Tim S]

eden coughed up some electrons that declared:

You can't directly, because it's a non binary newsgroup (in this case GoogleGroups is merely a gateway to something much larger and much more mysterious) ;->

Folks usually stick it up on

or one of the many other photo sharing websites, then post a link here :)

Cheers

Tim

[Roger Mills]

Or if you have your own website, upload the photo to it and post a link here.

For example, here's one showing my mains setup - which I first posted a while ago.

[chris French]

In message , eden writes

It's fine exposed it's standard practice. As long as it meets the relevant regulations - there various specifications for the size of the cable depending on whether it is insulated (to protect against corrosion, or run exposed or in conduit).

I can't remember it off hand, nor to I have my copy of the On-site Guide to check the details.

You should however be able to find the end of the earth rod it connects to so you could check it. If that connections was to break or become poor then you would have a potentially dangerous installation.

[eden]

Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed like this??

[Bob Mannix]

It's fine and how it is normally done (except perhaps a little neater). The brown wires look more like your incoming supply from the overhead cables at the end property.

[The Natural Philosopher]

yep. After 50 years about 10% of the unshielded copper in my parents home had corroded away.

But it was in better shape than the original rubber in steel conduit wiring ;-)

[Dave Liquorice]

Thes days I thought the top of the spie had to be ina one of those "earth spike" housings fo inspection/testing. Of course these modern things tend not to be retrospective... I'm more concerened that the OP says on the flickr pages "Green wire going into ground (from plug inside) - is this the earth one?"

Plug inside, this earth connection can be unplugged, EEEK!

It's odd that there appears to be another overhead incomer just to the right of where the cables bend left under the pebble dash but the cables from this incomer head off to the right.

[Andy Champ]

Hephzibah Mudd? Any relative of Harcourt Fenton of that ilk?

It looks to me as if the feed to your house is the stuff under the rendering. What the insulators are at the top of your house I can't really work out!

Andy

[James Salisbury]

Does the covering look like Hessian on the brown cables? It looks like Poly Butyl Jute (PBJ) cable and will probably be end of life. Do not tamper with it but call the local electricity supplier (the old electricity board for the area) and state that you may have a PBJ supply cable and you would like it checked. If they do replace it it will be for free.

[Tim S]

eden coughed up some electrons that declared:

Re:

gas pipes are like this - no problems that I know of with copper gas pipes being outside.

[eden]

Cable is brown rubber. Most of it has ben painted over but brown bits look sound. Its the cable clips that have deteriorated.

[eden]

It's an alias! taken from names of long dead relatives. Martha Mudd of London was a great great grandmother.

[eden]

=A0I'm more concerened that the OP says on the flickr pages "Green wire going into ground (from plug inside) - is this the earth one?"

Plug inside, =A0this earth connection can be unplugged, EEEK!

Sorry, does not compute..... it goes to the plug inside that sits next to the meter - doesnt that earth the whole lot?