Why did I not die??

[JohnW2]

In Australia, the Red/Black days are still with us. ... (However, the flexible leads and cables now sold here do have insulated conductors of Brown, Blue and Green/Yellow.)

Maybe it is 'to come', then. As you probably know, in Europe, flexible cables changed to Brown/Blue/Green-Yellow many years before the "twin and earth" house-wiring cables made the same change.

Kind Regards, John

 

[FrodoOne]

Maybe it is 'to come', then. As you probably know, in Europe, flexible cables changed to Brown/Blue/Green-Yellow many years before the "twin and earth" house-wiring cables made the same change.


Kind Regards, John

I strongly doubt that it is "to come", at this late stage - since the Green/Yellow change for the Earth insulation in "Building Wiring" started in Australia in the 1980s
(Of course, Australia has had insulated Earth conductors [albeit previously Green] in cables since about 1966 and the UK seems not to have yet "caught up.")

The Red and Black supply conductors are still the "norm" for TPS cables here, 30 years later.

As I posted earlier, “no manufacturer in Australia makes TPS Twin and Earth cables with Brown and Blue insulated conductors (they are still Red and Black) and no such cable has ever been imported to Australia.”

After the time period involved, the situation seems quite unlikely to change.

 

[JohnW2]

I strongly doubt that it is "to come", at this late stage - since the Green/Yellow change for the Earth insulation in "Building Wiring" started in Australia in the 1980s ... The Red and Black supply conductors are still the "norm" for TPS cables here, 30 years later. ... After the time period involved, the situation seems quite unlikely to change.

You obviously may well be right, but I don't think you can use the UK experience to give much support to that belief.

The brown, blue & G/Y for flexible cables was introduced in Europe in 1969, and started to be used in the UK from the very early 1970's. Although much of Europe adopted the same colours for 'fixed wiring' much earlier, in the UK it did not happen in the UK until 2004 - so about 30 years later.

The colours currently being used in the UK are those dictated by an International Standard (IEC 60446 if I recall, but that may be wrong), so I wonder whether Australia will eventually feel obliged or inclined to align itself with that?

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I cannot think of any standards which Australia feels obliged or inclined to sign up to.

 

[EFLImpudence]

This is because it is NOT ALLOWED in Australia to re-purpose any conductor as something else, simply by slipping a piece of coloured tubing over it's insulation.

That must be rather restricting.

How do you manage with three core and earth where you may want to use it for various things - 3L for strappers, L & 2SL, etc.?

 

[JohnW2]

That must be rather restricting. How do you manage with three core and earth where you may want to use it for various things - 3L for strappers, L & 2SL, etc.?

Indeed. From what has been said, it sounds as if they have to use "DI" singles in those situations - alone or in combination with multi-core cables.

Kind Regards, John

 

[SimonH2]

From other threads, it sounds like Eire has a similar rule - and as a result they have multiple types of T&E and 3C&E. Eg, 3C&E with 3 browns, or 2 browns and a blue, ...
But the idea of sheathed singles sounds more flexible - we do have single+earth available to us.

 

[JohnW2]

But the idea of sheathed singles sounds more flexible - we do have single+earth available to us.

We do, and it probably makes sense for one of the 'singles' to be 'single+earth', since I think that otherwise a separate CPC would have to be at least 2.5mm² (even within mechanical protection, otherwise at least 4mm²).

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've always taken "mechanical protection" to include insulation, or sheathing, i.e. 6491X is mechanically protected.

 

[JohnW2]

I've always taken "mechanical protection" to include insulation, or sheathing, i.e. 6491X is mechanically protected.

Do you really believe that a single-insulated cable qualifies as being "mechanically protected"? If that were the case, the regulation regarding the required CSA of standalone CPCs would surely make little sense - since I don't think that (these days) anyone would even dream of (even if they could source it) running a bare 2.5mm² conductor as a CPC, would they?

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

543.3.201

 

[JohnW2]

543.3.201

Is that not talking primarily about electrical, rather than mechanical 'protection', particularly given the requirement in terms of 'voltage rating'?

As I wrote yesterday, if the insulation of 2.5mm² single-insulated G/Y were regarded as adequate mechanical protection, then that would effectively make nonsense of second part of the penultimate paragraph of 543.1.1, wouldn't it? - i.e. the only situation in which one would have to use 4mm² would be if it were a bare conductor without any insulation or other protection.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I don't know how old those regulations are, and whether they date to a time when bare conductors were more common.

 

[JohnW2]

I don't know how old those regulations are, and whether they date to a time when bare conductors were more common.

Like you, I don't know when that regulation first appeared, but doesn't the very regulation you are citing (543.3.101) effectively prohibit bare standalone CPCs (other than conduit etc.)? If so, that would make even more nonsense of 543.1.1 if you were right in saying that a single layer of insulation constitutes adequate mechanical protection, wouldn't it?

I may be wrong, but I get the impression that your interpretation is not a very widely accepted one.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

543.3.201 does not prohibit bare cpcs >6mm².

And its reference to voltage when describing a covering is the way it specifies the physical characteristics of the covering. i.e. how thick and how strong.