On Mar 31, 3:47*pm, "Arthur51" wrote:
Just taken a reel of 2.5mm cable from shed.
The cardboard 'wheel' is damp. *Is the cable safe to use?

Consider how damp the local unheated electrical factors warehouse is.

The cardboard is damp because the large body of copper between it has
a temperature below the dew point of the shed environment, thus
condensation will naturally form on cable sheath, metal tube & even
cardboard surfaces. The same environment exists in an unheated
electrical factors warehouse - perhaps worse re human bodies wandering
about dumping moisture into the air and not perfectly sealing roller
shutters.

If concerned cut off the first 1m (10cm will probably suffice).


It is SWA that you need to be most concerned about, because the armour
is c.90% coverage - 10% air voids do allow water to be drawn up by
capillary action & limited thermal cycling. The air voids also allow
water to track down in an enclosure past a bottom fitted CW gland and
around the armour cable which has been cut - hence the twist-below-the-
gland-crunch-test for rotten armour on sites. E1W or CCG glands avoid
this problem by sealing against the bedding and not just the outer
sheath, they cost a bit more though.