On Oct 26, 4:21*pm, "Existential Angst"
wrote:
"RBM" wrote in message

...





"Existential Angst" wrote in message
...
"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
ers.com...
On 10/26/2009 11:02 AM Existential Angst spake thus:

wrote in message
m...

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:38:56 -0400, "Existential Angst"
wrote:

Of course, the wiring is old, cloth covered, but in BX, and
super-high quality. The wire seems to be nickel or silver
coated/tinned -- not just ends, but the whole wire. Curious as to
what the purpose of that coating is.

The wire appears to be only 14 ga, but still more than ample for 15
A, AND each splice is wire nutted AND soldered!!

You answered your own question. They tinned the copper wire because
it usually was going to be soldered.

So you mean the whole spool/reel of wire was tinned before the
insulation was added, in anticipation of soldering?
To avoid the local application of flux?

One would still need to use flux (most likely rosin, as in rosin-core
solder), but the tinning would prevent corrosion to some extent, plus
make soldering easier.

At least that's my understanding ...

By the way, I'm glad you expressed your appreciation of this antiquated
wiring, which is often in much better condition than people give it
credit for.

Yeah, that wiring and the brass plumbing was a big part of the decision
to buy.
That and the incredible attic ladder -- I figgered anyone who took the
trouble to install *that* quality ladder in a g-d attic had to have done
the rest of the house right. *I was mostly right. *

I once expressed the opinion that some significant percentage of
electrical fires *must* be due to wire nuts, because cross-sectional area
of electron flow is greatly reduced, even on a properly twisted/nutted
joint, while solder virtually completely eleminates this conductive
bottleneck.

Ditto the spring-type clips on the backs of some outlets (which spell
disaster, imo, having seen a number of these melt out). *Wire nuts
present the same problem, just not as egregious as these spring-contact
outlets.

I was, however, sort of shouted down, but I still don't see wire nuts as
anywhere near as effective or safe as soldering.
The bottom line would be, I guess, to do IR drop samplings, under
increasing I, see what happens. *Or measure temps at the wire nut joint
under high I, of various quality splices.

I believe it is NEC code that no wire-nutted joint -- and perhaps no
joint at all -- can exist without access to it in some kind of box/panel.
It was a NYC code.
--
EA

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

I don't believe there has ever been any issue with the integrity of wire
nut splices. The real danger, and the reason that William Marr invented
the wire nut in 1914, was tripping around people's houses with a hot pot
of lead, while trying to dip the splices.
The particular type of cable you have will last and remain in good
condition provided it doesn't get overheated and dried out. Where you have
it in ceiling lighting outlets, where very high wattage lamps were
installed close to ceiling, is where it degrades especially badly.

Very true.

I woulda thought an itty bitty propane or butane torch would have done the
trick safely, with coiled solder -- altho I see how open flames give people
the willies. *Altho, in new construction, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

I'm not on a jihad against wire nuts -- I use them all the time, and am glad
I don't have to solder **** together every time I want to wire something up.
It's just that they strike me, and some others, as a sort of odd evolution
in construction, and not the best choice, from a pure electrical point of
view -- but, apparently, good enough.

Ultimately, proly no odder than ****, I mean, sheet rock. *goodgawd, who
could have anticipated THAT!?
Apparently, the masons union didn't, and snubbed it so that now **** rock is
under the purvue of the carpenter's union.
Those masons must be rolling over in their graves now..... *

In principle, you don't even need a wire nut, on a correctly-done splice, at
least not on solid wire, and probably not on stranded as well:
* The wires are so tightly twisted together, if done properly, that the wire
nut itself is really just a glorified piece of electricians tape, adding
little to the conductivity of the splice itself. *In fact, iirc, I believe I
have seen very old wire nuts that had no metal on the inside!

But given that some people don't even bother to twist the wires together
(who, ME?), the wire nut does have multiple useful redundancies.
--
EA



EA-

If oyu use real wire nuts by Ideal... no need to pre-twist and they
actually make up better if you don't.

Wire-Nut® Wire Connector
Wire-Nut Features

* Five Color-coded models accept from #22 to #8 AWG wire
* Fixed, Square-wire spring
* No pre-twisting required
* UL Listed and CSA Certified
* Reusable
* Shell rated for 105° C
* Flame-retardant polypropelene shell

cheers
Bob