Do cables wear out if used too much?

[JackK]

I am using a 2KW electric radiator to heat a room and leave it on most of the day and night - Will the cable wear out more quickly if it is used all the time?

I guess the same question for the immersion heater - Will the cable wear out of immersion is on permanently ?

 

[Notch7]

they cant really wear out -I suppose if an underrated cable was used it could overheat and the insulation could melt

but a cable which is rated higher than the circuit protection cant wear out -those electrons will carry on happily jiggling about forever

 

[jurassic sparkk]

Over time the insulation resistance of a cable will fall. It depends on the usage and location of the cable.

 

[JohnW2]

Over time the insulation resistance of a cable will fall. It depends on the usage and location of the cable.

Do you really believe that happens with PVC?

 

[RandomGrinch]

Do you really believe that happens with PVC?

I certainly haven't found any 'measurable' decrease of the insulation resistance in the leads of the appliances I've PAT'ted - even those dating back to the 60's.
However, I have found a good few cases of 'green goo'!

 

[securespark]

I am using a 2KW electric radiator to heat a room and leave it on most of the day and night - Will the cable wear out more quickly if it is used all the time?

I guess the same question for the immersion heater - Will the cable wear out of immersion is on permanently ?

Your bank balance will wear out quicker...

Joking apart, if cables get hot regularly, that can reduce their life, but if the cable is correctly rated and all connections nice and tight, there should be no overheating.

 

[chivers67]

IR only really reduces when joints are made outside from my experience

 

[Murdochcat]

With immersion heater cables the thing to look for is the deterioration of the cable, outer sheaf and core insulation at the immersion “end”. Cracking becomes obvious with age and more importantly the heat coming off the tank

 

[JohnW2]

I certainly haven't found any 'measurable' decrease of the insulation resistance in the leads of the appliances I've PAT'ted - even those dating back to the 60's.
However, I have found a good few cases of 'green goo'!

As some of you may recall,I have an ongoing experiment (now well over a decade) involving lengths of PVC T+E, PVC 'signal cable' ('rated' at 50V) and various other cables permanently submerged in a vat of brine (outdoors, so somewhat exposed to sunlight, although I don't know to what extent the water blocks the UV). So far (as I said, after over a decade) all cables continue to show 'immeasurable' IR, even at 1000V (and that includes the '50V'cable!).

Kind Regards, John

 

[flameport]

PVC flex will last pretty much for ever unless it is grossly overloaded.
Rubber flex will deteriorate, probably a couple of decades of use.

Both are far more likely to be physically damaged due to moving about or being left in direct sunlight long before any effects of age are apparent.

 

[ebee]

It is an interesting question, does the fact that electrons are flowing wear it out , hm, well electrons might flow or merely knock each other or dance in and out like someone doing the hokey kokey , do they age the cable? well not that we have noticed as such , much more of a wear out if we overload or highly load them. To load them within prescribed safe limits they do not seem to wear out enough for us to notice.

I can see the logic of asking the question in the first place, I bet a lot of us have never really considered it much. Yes an interesting question.

 

[JohnW2]

PVC flex will last pretty much for ever unless it is grossly overloaded.

Indeed - that seems very probable-although we will obviously have to wait 'for ever' before we can be certain

Rubber flex will deteriorate, probably a couple of decades of use.

Is even that necessarily true with the synthetic rubbers that are (I presume) being used today?

Both are far more likely to be physically damaged due to moving about or being left in direct sunlight long before any effects of age are apparent.

Again ,indeed, but not only 'moving about' and UV ....

.... some 'mechanical factors' have fur and tails

 

[JohnW2]

It is an interesting question, does the fact that electrons are flowing wear it out , hm, well electrons might flow or merely knock each other or dance in and out like someone doing the hokey kokey , do they age the cable? well not that we have noticed as such , much more of a wear out if we overload or highly load them. To load them within prescribed safe limits they do not seem to wear out enough for us to notice.
I can see the logic of asking the question in the first place, I bet a lot of us have never really considered it much. Yes an interesting question.

My goodness - pretty heavy for a Sunday morning. Is this where physics meets philosophy,I wonder?

As you say, it's an interesting question which has probably never occurred to most of us!

As you also say, if this 'wearing out' happens, then it's extent is presumably such that we have not yet been able to notice it. However, if the behaviour of electrons due to the passage of electric current (which presumably is most like "someone doing thee hokey kokey" in the case of an AC current), results in the conductor wearing out', then one might expect a similar 'wearing out' to happen to everything, 'spontaneously' i.e. (in the absence of any electric current), in any material at a temperature above absolute zero, since the particles within such a material are in constant movement! I don't think we have 'noticed' that happening,either

Kind Regards, John

 

[ebee]

Indeed - that seems very probable-although we will obviously have to wait 'for ever' before we can be certain

Not forever John lad. I`d suggest a far shorter interval - say a million years for example might render a a discernible variable we can all readilly measure. Just be patient a bit longer

 

[JohnW2]

Not forever John lad. I`d suggest a far shorter interval - say a million years for example might render a a discernible variable we can all readilly measure. Just be patient a bit longer

Well, as you know,I was commenting on the suggestion (which which I agree) that they probably last "pretty much for ever" - so establiishing that they last for a million years would not totally 'prove' that suggestion-they might 'wear out' after 5 million years

Kind Regards, John