On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 23:53:42 +0100, Tim S wrote:

On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 22:44:16 +0000, Matthew Durkin wrote:


My Dad seemed to think it would be paper insulated, not rubber. Apparently
it lasts a long time so long as it is never allowed to get damp. Not seen
any lead blobs though! There are definitely lead junction boxes in this
installation...

Pretty sure I've seen rubber - but it was a looong time ago. I suppose if
there were a rubber version, the sheath would have to have been wrapped
around cold and an unjoined seam left. Was there such a thing or have I
smoked too many mushrooms? - not much chance of seam welding lead in
contact with rubber I would have thought. Or was there a magical way of
cold drawing a lead sheath tight around the cores during manufacture?

I have a piece here, that I had kicking around and have just disected it
out of interest.
The inner insulation is definitely rubber, still in good condition and
flexible. This piece was not connected anything when I found it and was cut
back so other than the cut end, the rubber wasn't exposed.
No sign of any visible seam on the lead sheath, inside or out.
After pulling the wires out of the sheath, the following is printed on the
insulation of the live:
"... 250 VOLT CMA (REGD) BRITISH INSULATED CALLENDERS CABLES LIMITED LEIGH
AND HELSBY ENGLAND..."
The conducters have 3 strands of copper each, not sure about size.