breaking up some concrete, I came across a lead-sheathed cable which came in from the road, at about ground level, before diving down a galvanised iron pipe of about 1" diameter
the cable measured 5/16ths in diameter
I'm trying to chip around the cable to see if it's just a loose end, but it's such a slow job
our house was built in 1929 -- is there any chance that cable is still in use? or should I just get brave and chop through it, to see what stops working?
/phil
"phil chastney" wrote in message news:HMnJl.87592$ snipped-for-privacy@en-nntp-04.am.easynews.com...
Sounds a bit like the cable that the GPO installed when my parents had a phone installed in the fifties - those were the days when they dug all the way up the concrete drive and buried a nice steel conduit and took it eight feet up the front of the garage because that was neater than near the font door!
Peter
If its buried there's more or less no incentive for anyone to ever replace it, so I wouldnt rush to assume its dead.
NT
get someone to video it when you chop it, you could be in line for a suprise!
Damn, knew I left it somewhere...
Lead sheathed small diameter is a description that can also apply to paper insulated lead covered mains supply cable. I suppose it is possible it once supplied a lamp post on your land or a small house supply. I would not assume it is telephone.
My parents house was wired for electricity in the 1940s that used lead coated mains wire, rather oval in shape similar to modern cable, so be aware!
thank you all for your feedback
it would have been nice to know it was definitely a telephone cable, because we are now supplied by an overhead cable
it could well be mains, because it comes in from the road at about the same point as the water supply
it's just the way it was bedded about 2 inches down in the concrete supporting a fencing post, without any added protection
I shall treat this thing with respect
thanks again . . . /phil
What happens if you hold one of the those "live wire" detectors next to it. that should confirm whether it is live or not.
Robert
Lead sheath will stop any electric field, but it wont stop magnetic field. You could use a coil on a microphone input of an amplifier to detect any current flow. Couldnt confirm its dead that way, but if you got a signal you'd know it was still live, and by comparing with a known load on a modern cable you might roughly estimate the current.
...fwiw
NT
that's a good point, I hadn't thought about it before but those cable detectors must use the E field because they detect wires with no current flowing in them.
To illustrate the dangers: in the house I just bought there is a 1960s CU and the house had been rewired at that time. I found some old lead covered cable under the floor and reasoned it must be a dead cable left over. BUT on examination I found the previous owner had reconnected some parts of the original lead wiring to the new system. beware!
Robert
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