Uncle Peter wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Martin Brown wrote
Uncle Peter wrote

A woman just told me she had her house rewired because
it hadn't been done for 30 years. Have you ever bothered?
I mean if it works, why not just leave it? Wire doesn't rot.

The copper wire might not but the insulation around it certainly does -
especially if there is some ozone about. Take a look at what happens
to Post Office rubber bands after a year or so and then worry about it!

Rubber bands are nothing like the insulation used on electrical wiring.

I have some old rubber extension cords that my dad had, must
be well over 60 years old now, they're still fine insulation wise.

The plastic extension cords I used when building the house
40 years ago now are still fine and the insulated wiring in the
house that I did myself is even better, essentially because it
was always better than the extension cords and doesn't even
get walked on because it's a flat roof with only a max of 15"
of space in the roof space. And that stuff does get pretty hot
in summer because its above the ceiling insulation and below
the metal deck roof and we routinely have 10 days in a row
over 100F, the roof space does get pretty hot in summer.

If you are still on prehistoric round pin plugs and wire
fuses then it is probably time for a rewiring by now.

Makes more sense to just change the sockets and CU.

Mine was done with wire fuses, just because there was
a shortage of breakers at the time and the electrical
supply authority had noticed that I was powering the
entire house from the builder's temporary supply using
an extension cord and so there was some urgency to
to the meter box and make it legal. I just use those
breakers that plug in in place of the fuse wire block.

Can't be arsed to redo the whole thing because that
would involve moving the meters and would involve
getting an electrician to say he did that and the two
I know who would be happy to do that, one has died
of cancer and the other has moved away and couldn't
be bothered with the stupid training requirement to
keep his license.

Why can't you move the meters yourself?

Our system doesn't allow that. It has to be done by a licensed electrician.

If it's anything like mine, there's a 100A fuse before the meter, which
you can pull out while you move the meter.

I was talking about the legalitys, not how you do it physically.

We do have fuses on the point of connection, where
the cable from the street pole is attached to the house.
Very easy to just pull those, they are cartridge fuses in
quite large ceramic blocks that pull out downwards.

There is also the risk of rodents sharpening their teeth on your wiring
with accumulating damage until they bridge live and neutral. But that
can happen to modern wiring sometimes if you are very unlucky.

Yeah, that one isnt relevant to how often you need to rewire.

I don't have any of that damage to mine anyway, even
tho we have had a few mouse plagues over that time.