Brown, Blue, Black and G/Y flex?

[JohnW2]

Whilst exploring my cellar, I've just come across an unlabelled drum bearing a substantial amount of 4-core flex with brown, blue, black and G/Y. I have no recollection of where it came from or why I come to have it, but it's a new one on me - do others know of such a cable?

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

Heating controls. ?

Dual immersion if thick and heat resistant

 

[sparkwright]

What do you mean? Have we ever seen 4 core flex?

Yes, very common in central heating systems, and useful for PIRs, dusk to dawns, and emergency lighting in commercial premises and the like.

Usually white sheath though perhaps.

Is that what you're asking?

 

[JohnW2]

What do you mean? Have we ever seen 4 core flex?

No, of course not - I use 4-core flex 'all the time'

I think all harmonised-colours 4-core flexes I've seen (and used), plus things like SWA, have had brown, black, grey and G/Y cores. My point was that I don't recall ever having seen brown, blue, black and G/Y before - have you?

Kind Regards, John

 

[chivers67]

No can't say I have, bit odd.

 

[JohnW2]

Heating controls. ? Dual immersion if thick and heat resistant

As per my reply to sparkright, it's not 4-core flex (which has a myriad of uses) I'm asking about, but the colours of cores in this particular one.

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

I think it used to be like that - I remember 5 core flex consisting of G/Y, brown, blue and TWO blacks years ago.

 

[AndyPRK]

Yeap. Used to it having 2 blacks.

 

[sparkwright]

Yeap. Used to it having 2 blacks.

Refresh my memory, did have a blue - or was it a grey?

 

[AndyPRK]

Blue


Basically old flex colours before they came up with silly ideas of using grey

 

[Risteard]

Used to be very common (and as mentioned good for dual element immersions, but has recently become difficult to get hold of. If anyone has a source for it in butyl (either 1.5mm^2 or 2.5mm^2) then I'd be interested.

 

[securespark]

You used to be able to get anything from 4 to 7 core flex with the additional cores all black. They needed numbering or sleeving to ID them.

 

[sparkwright]

You used to be able to get anything from 4 to 7 core flex with the additional cores all black. They needed numbering or sleeving to ID them.

Likewise you could get swa with something like 5-7 approximately cores - and these were all white.

 

[JohnW2]

I forgot to say that the irony is that it was not very long ago that I was saying (I think here) that I would very much welcome 4-core flex with colours such as this one I've found....

...particularly in the case of small CSAs, it's probably fairly unusual to use 4-core flex for 3 Phase+E, yet it nearly always seems to be Brown/Black/Grey and G/Y. Far more commonly, one wants to use such a cable in single-phase applications which require N, E and two Ls (one often, but not necessarily, one 'permanent L' and one 'switched L') - in which case it would be far more logical/convenient to have blue, brown & G/Y (as with 3-core) plus an additional black or grey for the second L.

... and now I've found some of what I was 'wishing for', in my cellar!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Likewise you could get swa with something like 5-7 approximately cores - and these were all white.

Indeed. Part of my garden lighting uses 7-core all-white (with numbers) SWA.

Kind Regards, John