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Bud--

wrote:
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:02:23 -0400, "Existential Angst"
wrote:

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

Awl --
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?

Yep, that is quite common even up to the early Romex. A lot of
neophyte home inspectors report it as cloth covered aluminum wire. We
all get a chuckle out of that.

BTW they usually dipped those connections in a pot of molten solder.
The solder itself came in bars, not rolled up as wire.

In the "good old days" soldering irons were probably heated with a blow
torch. Makes a solder pot sound real good.

I think I read that tinning also protected the copper from rubber
insulation, which could deteriorate it.