"un-talced" cable ?

SimonH2 · 8 Oct 2016

Just wondering how often people come across cable where there isn't a decent amount (if any) of talc on the cores, and so the sheath is moulded onto the core insulation ?
Just came to use some flex today, and was it a b'stard to strip - not often I get the Jokari tool out. As I wanted to get the job done I had to put up with it today, the rest will be getting sent back.
Not too bad with something like T&E as you know where the cores are and it's easy to slip a knife down the middle. Flex is a different matter

333rocky333 · 8 Oct 2016

Been a while since I bought flex but last lot I had was the same took ages, was not very flexy either, also we had swa like it.
I put it down to the stuff there adding or removing to make it Lsf or whatever they call it.
Before harmonisation and all the other cable changes there was rarely a problem

amjmfareham · 8 Oct 2016

I was using some 3183Y 0.75mm2 Flex today round my grandmothers and when they manufactured the cable, they must of had a party with the talc at the factory as when I stripped it, there was certainly enough talc for another cable, let alone one, but as they say "It's better to have too much than too little!"

333rocky333 · 9 Oct 2016

amjm, not that it matters, but incase your unaware, there is a squared symbol ( 5 to the right of the smilies) in the Diy toolbar now so if preffered you can put mm²

bernardgreen · 9 Oct 2016

SimonH2 said:
Just wondering how often people come across cable where there isn't a decent amount (if any) of talc on the cores,

Lack of talc in flex led to several low key product recalls for items like hair dryers, hair curlers and hair straighteners. The flexes were failing at the cable entry to the item, sometimes with a small explosion as the broken conductors arced inside the sheath.

Nige F · 9 Oct 2016

Not so much harmonisation as buying C-rap from China IMHO - yet we let them build a nuclear power station for us

bernardgreen · 9 Oct 2016

Nige F said:
as buying C-rap from China IMHO

Exactly. Samples of the flex to be used in the item and the flex used in prototypes did meet the specification. But the flex used in production was not to the specification. It had the same markings and visual ( external ) appearance as the samples.

EDIT This applies to a reputable UK manufacturer's experience when moving some production out of the UK.

SimonH2 · 9 Oct 2016

Ah, so I'm not alone then

It did come from a reputable UK wholesaler - one that gets mentioned from time to time in this forum as a supplier of stuff. I'll see what they say when they reply to my email.

amjmfareham · 9 Oct 2016

333rocky333 said:
amjm, not that it matters, but incase your unaware, there is a squared symbol ( 5 to the right of the smilies) in the Diy toolbar now so if preffered you can put mm²

Thanks for the tip Rocky! Didn't realise you can do that, it goes to show that I don't post on here regularly! Definitely will use this symbol for future posts!

LOL!

Kind Regards,

Andrew!

SimonH2 · 10 Oct 2016

And in demonstrating that sometimes, it's how they handle problems that counts, I got an email back yesterday (Sunday) saying they'll send out a replacement immediately. Full marks then to TLC

And then my mind started wandering ... With the amount of talc they must use, do they occasionally have "accidents" that result in a very dusty mess in the factory

I know they had some "interesting" events in the candle factory I used to work at

planemad · 11 Oct 2016

The talc is called French chalk.

I too hate it when there is too little but also too much is a pain

amjmfareham · 11 Oct 2016

planemad said:
but also too much is a pain

What I do when that happens to me when I have too much talc on a cable is to wipe it off with a dry rag, like an old pair of underwear to an old sock! Simples!

(P.S I love emojis!)

SimonH2 · 15 Oct 2016

And true to their word, a new length of cable turned up on Tuesday - with talc installed

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

"un-talced" cable ?

Similar threads