Trying to identify type of external cable

[JohnD]

can you wrap more insulating tape round it please? It gives me a better grip while i'm doing my pull-ups.

 

[Little Plumb]

Finally got a "pyro experienced" electrician to have a look at this and he reckoned it needs a new cable.

Said because the way it had been terminated exposing the copper sheathing the cable was knackered.

I asked could it not be cut back and reterminated but he said it couldn't.

My question is would exposing a few inches of copper sheathing cause the cable to fail to the point of needing replacement?

Also if it does need replacing what's the best cable to use? 25metre run
feeding a 70w sone & 150w pir flood. Being run along a brick boundary wall at a height of about 2metres.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Finally got a "pyro experienced" electrician to have a look at this and he reckoned it needs a new cable.

Said because the way it had been terminated exposing the copper sheathing the cable was knackered.

Hmmm.

Did he suck air in through his teeth and shake hie head slowly just before then?

I asked could it not be cut back and reterminated but he said it couldn't.

That is quite probably untrue.

My question is would exposing a few inches of copper sheathing cause the cable to fail to the point of needing replacement?

Even if the exposed copper is kaput, it will be OK under what remains of the plastic sheath, particularly as water will not have got very far in.

The real problem with the cable is not the exposed copper cover, it is the fact that the pot has come off, allowing moisture to get inside the cable.

To be fair, none of us know how far that has travelled, but I can't see how it will have got all the way through the cable.

Given that all the other cables have to be replaced anyway, could the junction box be re-sited further up the pryo so that a reasonable length can be cut back?

BTW - what horrors lie under that mass of insulating tape?

 

[Little Plumb]

The junction box could be re-sited no problem in fact it probably needs replacing with a more appropriate box. I think it could be cut back as much as 2ft from where the box is now.

The cable with the insulation tape on is going nowhere and will be removed.

 

[securespark]

I see MICC all over the place, and have installed it myself in dom sitns.

Why are you so shocked to find it here? It is often used for exterior lighting/sockets, etc....

 

[Little Plumb]

Why are you so shocked to find it here?

Well I'm not an electrician but it just seemed a bit ottp for an external floodlight, and an expensive ottp at that.

Perhaps when it was put in, poss 30 years ago, it was the option of choice.

Anyway if you know about pyro what's the position about cutting it back and re-terminating it? that's my reason for resurrecting this link?

 

[securespark]

Well, the powder inside the cable (magnesium oxide) is hygroscopic (ie attracts moisture) so may need to be stripped back a fair way to re-terminate.

You should peel back the copper sheath, then you can screw a new "pot" onto the sheath, fill it with compound, and compress. But you need specialist tools to do most of these jobs, not least an IR tester to check you have no shorts.

 

[Little Plumb]

Looks very interesting

http://www.tycothermal.com/uk/engli...naxCables_IR200.pdf#search="terminating pyro"

Think the best course of action is to ditch the pyro and have a new cable put in.

Don't think I could face another trawl through yellow pages searching for another pyro experienced electrician, they're pretty thin on the ground.