EICR insurance and customers

[Graham.]

The motors on those early production Honeywell V4043 zone valves were connected to the cable by twisting the conductors together and screwing on a porcelain wire-nut.

[Tim Watts]

In London at the turn of the century, one of the early "electric light" power companies used to run bar wires along the front of rows of houses and paying customers would get a (I think) fixed cost tap to that.

No idea what happened once the wires were in the house.

But in general I've never come across any use of uninsulated wiring in a British house in a historical context. Which doesn't mean it never existed, but it may have been rare.

That does ring a bell - I think I saw that in one of my dad's old books on engineering. I wasn't going to count that as the cables were effectively enclosed.

[Tim Watts]

That doesn't count!

And you are quite incorrect on the PIR (EICR as known now).

Whilst the inspection element is limited as you correctly say, the testing *should* be at 100% of all circuit loads - and testing would almost have certainly shown up a bit of bell wire in the feed to the heater by virtue of an unexpectedly high Live-Earth loop impedance (which is a core test, to be carried out at every load point).

Plus any lack of earth would have been immediately apparent.

We all know PIRs are often short cut, but that is no excuse - if I'd have found that after a PIR I'd paid for, I wouldn't have even bothered offering the courtesy of a call the company - I'd have been on the phone to their professional body asking for one of their inspectors to come out.

[tabbypurr]

it was called capping & casing, much used in the 1930s.

NT

[invalid]

Depends on the weather I would have thought.

[Andrew]

I believe this was how leccy was installed in rural houses in Canada, many moons ago, sort of like the way 240 volts is strung from pole to pole on insulators, but in this case in the void between floor and ceiling.

One way of killing the rats and mice :-)

[Andrew]

I've stayed in a few cheap 'hotels' in South America where that would not be regarded as a problem :-)

[ARW]

:-). Live when the CH was on.

[Steve Walker]

You didn't see the rubber insulated cables in my parents' loft, where the insulation had perished cracked and fallen off - air insulated cables, clipped to wooden joists ;)

SteveW

[Tim Watts]

I've seen lead sheathed cables where the rubber was pretty much dropping off the conductors :) I saw them about 4 years ago!

[charles]

this house had one of those - in the bathroom - but that was 40 years ago!

[tabbypurr]

I remember once finding twisted pair that no longer had any visible rubber on it, 2 conductors snaking their way round each other and fortuitously not touching each other or the rusty conduit. Nothing was done about it - I was young & not in charge.

NT

[PeterC]

Just wondering what happens with some rubber cables. My house is, as near as I can tell, 68 yeras old and there are still odd bits of RI cable around (under staples and under the floorboards) and they are still flexible and elastic. It was a council house, if that makes any difference.

[tabbypurr]

Rubber cable is odd: some of it survives fine, some dried up & fell off decades ago. American rubber wiring tends to be in sound condition and is still in use.

NT

[harry]

That was very common. There was wood channels with up to six grooves. It was called "cap and casing"

The one before was called cleating. Single insulated wires run on the surface with ceramic clamps called "cleats".

[Marland]

Ta, The cleating method looks the similar to the knob and tube system , just done with different shaped hardware.

GH

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've seen singles in a wood conduit - two grooves with a lid - in a house in Tooting. Not in use - just left under floorboards after a re-wire. But IIRC the singles were insulated.

[David Wade]

Many years ago, the next door neighbours teen age girls were minding the house while their parents were away. They came to my door saying they had no power. On checking the company fuse had blown. I tracked the problem down to a light in the front room which was a kind of wheel affair, with shades round the outside. The shades were supported on small copper pipes, with rubber wires running through. Of course the rubber had perished with the heat and shorted.

The "company fuse" must have been old and failed to protect the customer fuses. Fortunately the local electricity board, as I think it was then came and sorted the main fuse quickly....

Dave

[ARW]

A couple of times I have seen the company fuse blow when it should have stayed intact because the there was a lower rated fuse further down the line. They were probably 50 years old (or older).

[charles]

we had the fuse on one phase blow at our village just before a performance of our pantomime. We rigged up stuff on to the other phase and the new fuse went in just as the goose laid the golden egg. Perfect timing !