Post by thread:[OT]Dissimilar metals

On Fri, 24 Sep 1999 17:48:07 -0400, Robert A. LaBudde wrote: >I'm one of those unfortunate individuals who lives in a house with aluminum >wiring. > >Normal use causes the aluminum to loosen at all connections due to thermal >contractions and expansions at the joints. Then the resistance increases, >which increases heat, which loosens further. Eventually it can cause a fire >in the wall (which a neighbor had). You have to have an electrician >retighten all connections every 5-10 years. When I was purchasing my new home, I followed the inspector around. Fortunately, my house is wired with all copper, except for an aluminum cable grounding the breaker box to the water main. I asked the inspector about aluminum wiring and he told me that they have some kind of paste that they treat the contacts and connections with that fixes the resistance problem on houses with aluminum wiring. Anyone here have an old house with bare exposed wiring in the attic separated only by ceramic insulators? No *that's* scary ! Dan

At 04:58 PM 9/24/99 -0800, Dan Larson wrote: >On Fri, 24 Sep 1999 17:48:07 -0400, Robert A. LaBudde wrote: > >............ > >Anyone here have an old house with bare exposed wiring in the attic >separated only by ceramic insulators? No *that's* scary ! > >Dan > Don't have such a house now, but grew up in one. My grandfather built a house in East Texas in 1921-1922, which had the type of wiring you describe. It is called "knob and tube" wiring, for the knobs holding the wires, and the ceramic tubes through holes in the framing through which the wires ran. When in high-school the house was renovated and the wiring (almost all of it) replaced with "Romex". That was in 1950. I was interested in learning the techniques and asked the electrician if I could help. I wound up doing all the work and he got paid. I received my pay in education, for which I have been grateful ever since. For the record, knob and tube was considered obsolete before WWII. Bob McClure

In message <spam_OUT3.0.1.32.19990925123940.00943b10TakeThisOuTmail.unidot.com>, Robert M. McClure <.....rmmKILLspam@spam@UNIDOT.COM> writes {Quote hidden}>At 04:58 PM 9/24/99 -0800, Dan Larson wrote: >>On Fri, 24 Sep 1999 17:48:07 -0400, Robert A. LaBudde wrote: >> >>............ >> >>Anyone here have an old house with bare exposed wiring in the attic >>separated only by ceramic insulators? No *that's* scary ! >> >>Dan >> >Don't have such a house now, but grew up in one. My grandfather built >a house in East Texas in 1921-1922, which had the type of wiring you >describe. It is called "knob and tube" wiring, for the knobs holding >the wires, and the ceramic tubes through holes in the framing through >which the wires ran. When in high-school the house was renovated and the >wiring (almost all of it) replaced with "Romex". That was in 1950. >I was interested in learning the techniques and asked the electrician >if I could help. I wound up doing all the work and he got paid. I received >my pay in education, for which I have been grateful ever since. For >the record, knob and tube was considered obsolete before WWII. I've never seen or heard of that in the UK, perhaps with the higher voltage it was never done?. The oldest I've seen are linen or rubber covered live and neutral with an outer sheathing of lead. The lead outer is used as the earth connection!. There are still probably quite a few houses in the UK with wiring like this, but it's EXTREMELY!! dangerous. The linen/rubber perishes over the years and if you touch it, it just crumbles away, leaving bare conductors inside a lead casing!. -- Nigel. /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : nigelgKILLspamlpilsley.demon.co.uk | | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.demon.co.uk | | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | | England | Ju Jitsu | \--------------------------------------------------------------/

Bob, my house was built in 1906. It's a two story house with an attic and basement. A lot of the wiring is `knob and tube'. There was an update with wire that I can't identify other than to say that I'm glad I don't have rats... My family moved here in 1955. I came back home around 5 years ago. The first thing I did was isolate circuits. I ran 20A service to the kitchen, the furnace (all the lights in the house dimmed when it came on), my home-office-lab, and external outlets. I then had to go through the `maze' of old wiring to track down lighting and outlets. Where possible I ran 20A service to most outlets. For lighting, I used 15A. There are a few remnants of the old wiring buried in a wall but I sleep easier... - Tom At 12:39 PM 9/25/99 -0700, Robert M. McClure wrote: {Quote hidden}>At 04:58 PM 9/24/99 -0800, Dan Larson wrote: >>On Fri, 24 Sep 1999 17:48:07 -0400, Robert A. LaBudde wrote: >> >>............ >> >>Anyone here have an old house with bare exposed wiring in the attic >>separated only by ceramic insulators? No *that's* scary ! >> >>Dan >> >Don't have such a house now, but grew up in one. My grandfather built >a house in East Texas in 1921-1922, which had the type of wiring you >describe. It is called "knob and tube" wiring, for the knobs holding >the wires, and the ceramic tubes through holes in the framing through >which the wires ran. When in high-school the house was renovated and the >wiring (almost all of it) replaced with "Romex". That was in 1950. >I was interested in learning the techniques and asked the electrician >if I could help. I wound up doing all the work and he got paid. I received >my pay in education, for which I have been grateful ever since. For >the record, knob and tube was considered obsolete before WWII. > >Bob McClure ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tom Handley New Age Communications Since '75 before "New Age" and no one around here is waiting for UFOs ;-)

Tom Handley wrote: > Bob, my house was built in 1906. It's a two story house with an attic >and basement. A lot of the wiring is `knob and tube'. There was an update >with wire that I can't identify other than to say that I'm glad I don't >have rats... Without seeing it, I'd guess "non-metallic sheathed cable", a precursor to Romex. It had rubber or plastic insulated conductors, separated by a hard paper wrap, inside a fabric outer envelope, with (usually) aluminum paint or ink on the outside. Kind of looked like duct tape-sheathed Romex. Dave

Dave, that's exactly the cable! I still have some of it running to wall switches. It's a real `pain in the ass' to work with... - Tom At 10:24 PM 9/26/99 -0700, Dave Bell wrote: {Quote hidden}>Tom Handley wrote: > >> Bob, my house was built in 1906. It's a two story house with an attic >>and basement. A lot of the wiring is `knob and tube'. There was an update >>with wire that I can't identify other than to say that I'm glad I don't >>have rats... > > Without seeing it, I'd guess "non-metallic sheathed cable", a precursor >to Romex. It had rubber or plastic insulated conductors, separated by a >hard paper wrap, inside a fabric outer envelope, with (usually) aluminum >paint or ink on the outside. Kind of looked like duct tape-sheathed Romex. > >Dave ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tom Handley New Age Communications Since '75 before "New Age" and no one around here is waiting for UFOs ;-)

At 06:39 AM 9/27/99 -0700, you wrote: > Dave, that's exactly the cable! I still have some of it running to >wall switches. It's a real `pain in the ass' to work with... Don't throw it out. It's actually very good copper, and if you take it to a decent recycler when you remove it, you should get a premium. Too much of the wire going into homes today has other metals in it. Andy ================================================================== Eternity is only a heartbeat away - are you ready? Ask me how! ------------------------------------------------------------------ .....andyKILLspam.....rc-hydros.com http://www.rc-hydros.com - Race Boats EraseMEandyspam_OUTTakeThisOuTmontanadesign.com http://www.montanadesign.com - Electronics ==================================================================

In message <3RFO9GAyZe73Ew7Nspam_OUTlpilsley.demon.co.uk>, Nigel Goodwin <@spam@nigelgKILLspamLPILSLEY.DEMON.CO.UK> writes >I've never seen or heard of that in the UK, perhaps with the higher >voltage it was never done?. The oldest I've seen are linen or rubber >covered live and neutral with an outer sheathing of lead. The lead outer >is used as the earth connection!. > >There are still probably quite a few houses in the UK with wiring like >this, but it's EXTREMELY!! dangerous. The linen/rubber perishes over the >years and if you touch it, it just crumbles away, leaving bare >conductors inside a lead casing!. Tell me about it, I went into the loft the other day and found that the entire upstairs lighting circuit is using this stuff, got someone working out a quote to rewire the whole house as I type this! {Quote hidden}>-- > >Nigel. > > /--------------------------------------------------------------\ > | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : KILLspamnigelgKILLspamlpilsley.demon.co.uk | > | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.demon.co.uk | > | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | > | England | Ju Jitsu | > \--------------------------------------------------------------/ -- Clint Sharp

I was just thinking of all the copper I've `thrown in the trash' over the years... - Tom At 11:05 AM 9/27/99 -0400, Andy Kunz wrote: {Quote hidden}>At 06:39 AM 9/27/99 -0700, I wrote: >> Dave, that's exactly the cable! I still have some of it running to >>wall switches. It's a real `pain in the ass' to work with... > >Don't throw it out. It's actually very good copper, and if you take it to >a decent recycler when you remove it, you should get a premium. Too much >of the wire going into homes today has other metals in it. > >Andy ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tom Handley New Age Communications Since '75 before "New Age" and no one around here is waiting for UFOs ;-)

In message <RemoveMEcF5BOAA2pp73EwOsTakeThisOuTclintsmc.demon.co.uk>, Clint Sharp <spamBeGoneclintspamBeGoneCLINTSMC.DEMON.CO.UK> writes >>There are still probably quite a few houses in the UK with wiring like >>this, but it's EXTREMELY!! dangerous. The linen/rubber perishes over the >>years and if you touch it, it just crumbles away, leaving bare >>conductors inside a lead casing!. >Tell me about it, I went into the loft the other day and found that the >entire upstairs lighting circuit is using this stuff, got someone >working out a quote to rewire the whole house as I type this! I would get it done as soon as possible, it's really dangerous stuff!. -- Nigel. /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : TakeThisOuTnigelgEraseMEspam_OUTlpilsley.demon.co.uk | | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.demon.co.uk | | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | | England | Ju Jitsu | \--------------------------------------------------------------/