On Sun, 07 Feb 2016 03:34:04 -0600, wrote:

On Sun, 07 Feb 2016 01:18:44 -0500, wrote:

anything else you have thats 70 years old?

If I recall the OPs original message, the wiring is from the 1950s. K&T
was no longer used in the 50's. But the BX cable from that era had cloth
covered wire, as well as wire run in conduit, which was common in the
50s (conduit in the basement, BX in the walls).

K&T was actually a very safe wiring method. The wires were separated so
they could not easily touch each other and the porcelain insulators were
a good way to keep wire from direct contact with flammables such as
wood. Also connections were all soldered back them.
But the drawbacks were a lack of grounding and the fact that the old
fuse boxes could use up to a 30A fuse on #14 wire.



By the 50s I would expect to see the asphalt and paper covered Romex
with TW insulation on the conductor. By then BX or AC cable would have
TW insulation too. I assumed he was talking about the jacket

My parents house was built in 1951. It had all BX with the cloth
insulated wire inside the metal spiral (in the walls). The basement had
steel EMT conduit, with a thick plastic coated wire inside which was
probably TW. I worked on several homes in the neighborhood, all which
were built from 50 to 55. All were wired the same. Romex was not allowed
in the city at that time, but I did see some of it in rural areas
nearby. It was the asphalt/cloth outer jacket stuff, with TW coated
conductors.

In the older part of the city. The wires were all cloth coated wire.
Much was K&T, some was the original (Thick) BX. The basement conduit was
a threaded steel pipe, more like water pipe, than EMT. (Which was a pain
in the ass if it needed to be modified in any way).


Rigid Conduit.
But I suppose it was regional. Wiring seems a lot more consistent today.