I live in a small 1870s Victorian mid terrace cottage and the cupboard
with the mains electric/gas etc is just inside front wall. I removed
all the old ivy from the front of the house as I want it re-painted
inc lots of roots and trunks.

1. Under the ivy was 2 thick electric cables in brown although painted
over, going from my meter inside up to the eaves somewhere. The cable
clips have mostly deteriorated. Are these OK just to be left and
painted over again?

2. Also there is a newish looking green cable about 5mm thick which
appears to go from a socket on the inside (sited about 300mm above
floor level) through the wall and down into the earth below? Is this
an earth wire? and if so is it ok now exposed like this? When I bought
the house 12 years ago it wasnt earthed and I remember having to have
an electrician to do some work.

Also found some exposed gas pipes from fire to gas meter box outside -
anyone know if these are ok?

eden wrote:
I live in a small 1870s Victorian mid terrace cottage and the cupboard
with the mains electric/gas etc is just inside front wall. I removed
all the old ivy from the front of the house as I want it re-painted
inc lots of roots and trunks.

1. Under the ivy was 2 thick electric cables in brown although painted
over, going from my meter inside up to the eaves somewhere. The cable
clips have mostly deteriorated. Are these OK just to be left and
painted over again?

2. Also there is a newish looking green cable about 5mm thick which
appears to go from a socket on the inside (sited about 300mm above
floor level) through the wall and down into the earth below? Is this
an earth wire? and if so is it ok now exposed like this? When I bought
the house 12 years ago it wasnt earthed and I remember having to have
an electrician to do some work.

Also found some exposed gas pipes from fire to gas meter box outside -
anyone know if these are ok?

Are the brown cables still connected? Sounds like they might be part of
an overhead supply to the house. If they are before the supply reaches
the meter might be an idea to ask your electricity supply company to
inspect them.
Can you see what the green cable is connected to. Sounds like it
probably runs to an earthing rod. Ours is exposed but runs into a green
box on top of the earth rod.
I have seen plenty of exposed gas pipes running outside. Don't think it
is a problem unless where they are likely to get damaged.

Are the brown cables still connected? Sounds like they might be part of
an overhead supply to the house.

They go directly from my electrical cupboard (through a sort of
transformer box to new cables to my meter) up the outside wall to
about 30cm from the eaves and them they do a right angle and disappear
under my neighbour's pebble dash. Can't see where they've gone after
that.

Can you see what the green cable is connected to. Sounds like it
probably runs to an earthing rod.

I've had a bit of a dig about and it just goes deep into the earth.
Will it be ok exposed them if thats what it is? Won't the elements
damage it?

eden wrote:
Are the brown cables still connected? Sounds like they might be part of
an overhead supply to the house.

They go directly from my electrical cupboard (through a sort of
transformer box to new cables to my meter) up the outside wall to
about 30cm from the eaves and them they do a right angle and disappear
under my neighbour's pebble dash. Can't see where they've gone after
that.

That almost sounds as if there's a tee from the supply before your meter
that goes next door. Which might be just an easy bodge the power
company did when they buried the wires.

Any chance of a photo?

Andy

On 4 May, 20:50, Andy Champ wrote:
eden wrote:
Are the brown cables still connected? Sounds like they might be part of
an overhead supply to the house.

They go directly from my electrical cupboard (through a sort of
transformer box to new cables to my meter) up the outside wall to
about 30cm from the eaves and them they do a right angle and disappear
under my neighbour's pebble dash. Can't see where they've gone after
that.

That almost sounds as if there's a tee from the supply before your meter
that goes next door. *Which might be just an easy bodge the power
company did when they buried the wires.

Any chance of a photo?

Andy

How do I add a photo to the post on this site? Can do one tomorrow...

eden wrote:

How do I add a photo to the post on this site? Can do one tomorrow...

You can't, but you can upload to imageshack, photobucket, flickr etc
then post a link here.

In message
,
eden writes
On 4 May, 20:50, Andy Champ wrote:
eden wrote:
Are the brown cables still connected? Sounds like they might be part of
an overhead supply to the house.

They go directly from my electrical cupboard (through a sort of
transformer box to new cables to my meter) up the outside wall to
about 30cm from the eaves and them they do a right angle and disappear
under my neighbour's pebble dash. Can't see where they've gone after
that.

That almost sounds as if there's a tee from the supply before your meter
that goes next door. *Which might be just an easy bodge the power
company did when they buried the wires.

Any chance of a photo?

Andy

How do I add a photo to the post on this site? Can do one tomorrow...

Posting photos to this newsgroup is not allowed

Join one of the sites that allow you to post photos to e.g. flickr and
post the URL here


--
geoff

eden coughed up some electrons that declared:


How do I add a photo to the post on this site? Can do one tomorrow...

You can't directly, because it's a non binary newsgroup (in this case
GoogleGroups is merely a gateway to something much larger and much more
mysterious) ;-

Folks usually stick it up on http://www.flickr.com/ or one of the many other
photo sharing websites, then post a link here

Cheers

Tim

In message
, eden
writes
Can you see what the green cable is connected to. Sounds like it
probably runs to an earthing rod.

I've had a bit of a dig about and it just goes deep into the earth.
Will it be ok exposed them if thats what it is? Won't the elements
damage it?

It's fine exposed it's standard practice. As long as it meets the
relevant regulations - there various specifications for the size of the
cable depending on whether it is insulated (to protect against
corrosion, or run exposed or in conduit).

I can't remember it off hand, nor to I have my copy of the On-site Guide
to check the details.

You should however be able to find the end of the earth rod it connects
to so you could check it. If that connections was to break or become
poor then you would have a potentially dangerous installation.
--
Chris French

Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/

Have had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal
spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed
like this??

"eden" wrote in message
...
Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/

Have had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal
spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed
like this??

It's fine and how it is normally done (except perhaps a little neater). The
brown wires look more like your incoming supply from the overhead cables at
the end property.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

eden wrote:
Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/

Have had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal
spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed
like this??
yep. After 50 years about 10% of the unshielded copper in my parents
home had corroded away.

But it was in better shape than the original rubber in steel conduit
wiring ;-)

eden wrote:
Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/

Have had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal
spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed
like this??

Hephzibah Mudd? Any relative of Harcourt Fenton of that ilk?

It looks to me as if the feed to your house is the stuff under the
rendering. What the insulators are at the top of your house I can't
really work out!

Andy

eden wrote:
Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/

Have had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal
spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed
like this??

Does the covering look like Hessian on the brown cables? It looks like
Poly Butyl Jute (PBJ) cable and will probably be end of life. Do not
tamper with it but call the local electricity supplier (the old
electricity board for the area) and state that you may have a PBJ supply
cable and you would like it checked. If they do replace it it will be
for free.

eden coughed up some electrons that declared:

Thanks for comments so far....

photos posted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/

Have had a further dig and the green wire is connected to a metal
spike thing in the earth. Surely the cable will weather if exposed
like this??

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35218568@N03/3504790306/

My gas pipes are like this - no problems that I know of with copper gas
pipes being outside.

On Mon, 4 May 2009 08:44:21 -0700 (PDT), eden wrote:

I live in a small 1870s Victorian mid terrace cottage and the cupboard
with the mains electric/gas etc is just inside front wall. I removed
all the old ivy from the front of the house as I want it re-painted
inc lots of roots and trunks.

1. Under the ivy was 2 thick electric cables in brown although painted
over, going from my meter inside up to the eaves somewhere. The cable
clips have mostly deteriorated. Are these OK just to be left and
painted over again?

I've had a look at the pics you posted. Unfortunately, there's not quite
enough detail to be able to offer a definitive comment, so a couple of
questions - without you poking and prodding too much!

Do the cables look as though they're sheathed with pvc or do they have a
sort of woven fabric outer cover? Even if they're painted, you should still
be able to get some idea of what the outer layer is like.

If they're pvc sheathed, they are fairly modern and should be fine.

If they have the woven cambric outer layer, then the cables will probably
be PBJ - poly butyl jute. They will be quite old, and reaching the end of
their serviceable life. The insulation is a rubber compound, and this
degrades and stiffens with age, particlarly on bends, loops etc. Any
movement of the cables can cause the insulation to crack and crumble away.
The local electricity distribution company will inspect them and replace
them FoC if they consider the cables have reached the end of their life.

You mention clips - are these like large thin metal strips, a bit like was
used for wiring before the introduction of pvc clips, but much larger? If
they are, then you'll probably have PBJ lead-in cables.

2. Also there is a newish looking green cable about 5mm thick which
appears to go from a socket on the inside (sited about 300mm above
floor level) through the wall and down into the earth below? Is this
an earth wire? and if so is it ok now exposed like this? When I bought
the house 12 years ago it wasnt earthed and I remember having to have
an electrician to do some work.

Looks very much like the connection to an earth rod. Looks a bit loose and
flappy, but should be fine to clip back to the wall. You might just want to
ask an electrician to check that the earthing meets current standards if
you're not happy about checking this yourself.

--
The Wanderer

Meditate! It's better than sitting doing nothing.