Removing redundant mineral insulated

bernardgreen · 14 Aug 2011

I welcome any advice about the problems that happen when removing redundant large mineral insulated cable as in photo.

It runs from the meter location in the adjacent shop to feed the two consumer units in my cottage.

Untitled

bernardgreen
14 Aug 2011
2

It is four core, one pair 24/7 and the other off peak for storage heaters.

Isolation at the meter end is not a problem but removal of the cable might be.

It is terminated at the meter location in the same way with the two side ports plumbed into two large metal switch fuse boxes. These are about 3 inches below the ceiling in a crowded store cupboard in a very cramped office area. The cable goes vertically through the ceiling of the shop into the space under my floor boards.

Do I cut the pipe and pull the end up through the ceiling and risk spilling the mineral dust into the cupboard ? or do I remove the tails but leave the screw on cup in place and hope it will get through the hole in the ceiling without too much enlargement of the hole.

It has to be removed completely as my new supply is PME and the shop is TT so no metallic links between cottage and shop can be permitted. ( that earthing compromise again )

flyingsparks · 14 Aug 2011

You wont get much dust come out of the cable once its cut, (yes you will get some, but its not going to empty everywhere!) so just cut it and pull it out, and then send it to me for disposal!!

Adam_151 · 14 Aug 2011

flyingsparks said:
(yes you will get some, but its not going to empty everywhere!) :

That made me laugh, would make first fix a bit of a pain if it poured out the open end

Just cut it and drag it out Bernard, the MgO is compressed so tightly that it'll stay were it is

Stoday · 15 Aug 2011

If you want you can always hammer the cable flat before cutting it.

bernardgreen · 15 Aug 2011

My concern about dust stems from seeing redundant and very old cable spilling its insulation when chopped up for removal.

and then send it to me for disposal!!

Sorry Flyingsparks but it's disposal is already planned. There are some old kitchen cupboards whose disposal needs to be planned

SgtTrojan · 15 Aug 2011

So your two boards are getting their own supply now? If the MICC is redundant and you will have no other use for it cut the terms off and pull it out. Looking at the size of that it's going to be like wrestling a boa constrictor. I would recommend cutting at every bend for easier removal. Then remove the T box and blank up both 20mm holes.

Looking at the db on the left though is that exposed live bar there?

Like flying says above, you won't get much fall out as the magnesium oxide is that tightly packed, but you wouldn't want to test is as talcum powder on your bits!

bernardgreen · 15 Aug 2011

Those two boards are going in the bin along with the rest of the wiring in the cottage. Removing the bulk of the MI will be difficult as it is buried in the wall and there is a need to do as little damage as possible to the fabric as it is a Grade II listed cottage. As long as there is an ensured 600 mm of seperation between the CPC system of the cottage and the CPC system of the shop it should be OK

JohnW2 · 15 Aug 2011

bernardgreen said:
My concern about dust stems from seeing redundant and very old cable spilling its insulation when chopped up for removal.

I must say that I've been wondering about the nature of your concern. From what I understand, you'll have to be doing at least some digging of cables out of walls, which will inevitably result in a fair degree of mess - so what is the perceived problem of a bit of MgO scattered around (even if there were a lot of it)? After all, MgO is essentially harmless.

Kind Regards, John.

ban-all-sheds · 15 Aug 2011

bernardgreen said:
It has to be removed completely as my new supply is PME and the shop is TT so no metallic links between cottage and shop can be permitted. ( that earthing compromise again )

So what happens about common extraneous-conductive-parts?

bernardgreen · 15 Aug 2011

JohnW2 said:
From what I understand, you'll have to be doing at least some digging of cables out of walls, which will inevitably result in a fair degree of mess - so what is the perceived problem of a bit of MgO scattered around

There is no problem with it in the cottage, but it will be a hygene problem if there is dust spread around inside the shop's cupboard as there is stock kept in there.

bernardgreen · 15 Aug 2011

ban-all-sheds said:
So what happens about common extraneous-conductive-parts?

After consultation with the DNO and other informed persons the separation of common services ( and validation of that separation ) has been planned to the satisfaction of all parties.

JohnW2 · 15 Aug 2011

bernardgreen said:
There is no problem with it in the cottage, but it will be a hygene problem if there is dust spread around inside the shop's cupboard as there is stock kept in there.

I see - fair enough. I must say, I'm still surprised at the concern - Mg0 is a lot more 'harmless' than plaster/mortar/whatever dust (I presume you have no asbestos!

).

Kind Regards, John.

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Removing redundant mineral insulated

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