Age of cable

[cajar]

I have some cable marked 2004 in the loft. seems to be in good condition.

Advisable to use or not?

It's been sitting on the reel in the loft. never had current applied to it.

On the other hand it is 11 years old, and the pvc jacket must have a lifespan if nothing else?

Advice?

 

[Iggifer]

PVC cables are good for many, many more years than 11.

There are no requirements for life expectancy set out in cable standards and specifications. However, reputable cable manufacturers will state a probable life expectancy for their products, which for building wiring is usually 20 years when run at the rated temperature. However, under ideal circumstances, with lower loadings and minimal heating, it has been observed that cables can remain safely in operation for up to 50 years

I wouldn't even remotely worry about it

 

[JohnW2]

I have some cable marked 2004 in the loft. seems to be in good condition. ... On the other hand it is 11 years old, and the pvc jacket must have a lifespan if nothing else?

A 'lifespan', I suppose, but probably very many decades. It's fine. There's plenty of 1960s/70s PVC cable still in service, and still doing fine.

The one thing to be aware of is that (assuming it's twin/earth cable) 2004 is the year the insulation colours changed - so it might be red/black rather than the 'modern' brown/blue.

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Advisable to use or not?

Now that would depend on what is was being used for

 

[cajar]

Its red black right enough. It's 1mm and I want to use it to reroute my existing lighting circuit slightly without using junction boxes.

 

[Iggifer]

no worries then, I would go for it.

Having said that, 25m of 1mm will set you back a massive £11. Even 50m is only £18. 1mm is cheap as chips because there's basically no copper.

But red and black makes it look like no DIY has been done

 

[cajar]

I like that thinking

 

[JohnW2]

But red and black makes it look like no DIY has been done

Sort-of, although the "2004" printed on it would also give a clue about age ... even if it were brown/blue (which is possible for 2004). .... after all, it's a 'well known fact' that all DIY electrical work using brown/blue cable was undertaken in the latter half of 2004 (although a bit of a pity if the cable has a later date printed on it)

Kind Regards, John

 

[RF Lighting]

I've seen some of the earlier 60s plastic cable deteriorate quite badly, but am yet to see any problems with pvc cable as we know it unless it's been abused with high heat / chemicals / UV / mechanical impact etc.

 

[plugwash]

My understanding is that PVC cable that was not defective at the time of manufacture, is not exposed to UV light and is not subject to full loads for long periods or otherwise running at elevated tempreatures* lasts a very long time. AIUI we don't really know how long modern PVC cable lasts because it simply hasn't existed long enough.

I'd have no qualms about using old stock or even reused cable to modify an installation that is of similar vintage to the cable i'm using or older*. If it does turn out that PVC cable degrades after 70 years or so at room temperature then a rewire is going to be needed regardless of whether I did my modifications in brand new cable or old stock/reused cable.

For a rewire I would probablly use entirely new cable.

* in fact I installed some cable that had been sitting in one of my parents sheds for years in their garage last weekend. I might have ended up using a reused bit but the reused bits weren't long enough.

 

[sparkwright]

I have some cable marked 2004 in the loft. seems to be in good condition.

Advisable to use or not?

It's been sitting on the reel in the loft. never had current applied to it.

On the other hand it is 11 years old, and the pvc jacket must have a lifespan if nothing else?

Advice?

The only thing that may be an issue is if it has got damp - the ends of the copper can go black.

If this is the case, I would be inclined to strip the reel back until you find clean bright copper.

There are ways of cleaning the copper ends, but it's not worth it.

 

[securespark]

I've seen some of the earlier 60s plastic cable deteriorate quite badly

The dreaded green goo?