":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...

"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...
"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
snip

Lead does not stay bright in air. When you took the paint off you
took
the corrosion off with it.

Err. so there was air under the paint and thus corrosion, what is the
point
of paint then ? There was not corrosion because the paint had kept the
air
from the surface of the lead, as it's designed to do !...

Possibly, though we cant simply assume that option. Any case, the
earth bond can not be assumed to be gas tight.

No argument there, I was just questioning your reasoning behind the paint
remark.


what is the point of paint then ?

I assumed decorative, do you think there is a different purpose?


Decorative is a secondary function, protection is the prime function, even
though it's not always used as such IYSWIM.



In an unused cellar I don't think the paint was there for decorative
purposes.

Also - I understand fully all the points that have been made on this forum,
especially the ones regarding carbon build up around where insulation is
breaking down etc. My point about the cable being cold was merely
observational!

point taken about the darwin award. I hope it doesn't come to that. I live
250 miles from my sister, and my dad works 12 hour shifts plus 2 hours
travelling. He's also got his floor up at the moment treating woodworm.
There's only so much we can do!

I think one of the most interesting things to come out of this long
discussion is that those who actually have some of this cable have it in
good condition. There are no sings of any decomposition of the cable at all
in this installation. I'm not saying it's good. But it has been running
fault free for maybe 70 years.
My Dad will be over at my sisters with a megger asap to see if there's any
imminent danger, and he'll also be ripping out the lead cellar lighting.
There will still be the laed feed into the house itself though, but at least
then we'll be in a better position to know how bad it is!