How old is my cable

[aveatry]

I brought a table lamp from a charity shop and trying to find out how old it is and google is not helping but I do have a clue which is the flex and printed on it is VDE +s+s+s OVE Kema-KeurCEBEC calbelton N/12017
So am I right in thinking that N/12017 is the 1st month of 2017

 

[CBW]

I copied and pasted some of the text above and it brings a link to a Chinese company for the flex.

 

[aveatry]

Thanks Yeh I got that far but no indication of age.

 

[securespark]

What colours are the individual conductors inside the flex?

 

[aveatry]

What colours are the individual conductors inside the flex?

Ohh good one I never thought of that -- checking

 

[aveatry]

Brown and blue - no earth

 

[securespark]

In flexible cables, those colours were introduced in 1970 or 1971, but as the cable looks like it has been manufactured in China, I believe the oldest it could be is 1985.

AFAIK, that is when the first company to manufacture cable in China was established.

 

[aveatry]

Ok thanks - so you do not think that the N/12017 is a date code then- as i the 1st of the month of 2017

 

[JohnD]

Post some photos of the ends and of the cable sheath please. Also of the underside and inside the plug.

It sounds like it is PVC in modern colours. Do you have reason to believe there is something wrong with it?

 

[aveatry]

No nothing wrong with it. Just trying to identify it as its a charity find and some lamps are worth a lot more than others. The ends of the cables are crimped and are brown and blue. The plug could of well been replaced in its past.

 

[EFLImpudence]

could have ...

 

[aveatry]

could have ...

Its one with a far too large hole needed for a 0.75 flex where I would of thought that an original shop brought would have an extra reducing sheath thing. Either way its a replaceable plug so cant go by that as an indication of age, the flex though looks to me to be original by the way it is fitted and sealed at the lamp end.

 

[plugwash]

I'm not sure when embossing/printing stuff on the outside of flexes started, but I'm pretty sure it was far more recent than the switch to brown/blue for flex.

 

[aveatry]

So no one seems to think that the printed on the cable is a date then -- N/12017

 

[securespark]

Date codes can be all sorts of formats, but I've not seen that one.

More common would be 01/17 or 0117.

Often it's week number plus year eg:

4422 is week 44 of 2022.

Sometimes I have seen our usual date format reversed eg:

21/10/23 becomes 231021.

This is awkward as you could read it as 23 October 2021.