basic 3 core wire water resistance

james1345 · Dec 28, 2021

Dear Electric forum members ,Thankyou for reading this question maybe someone can help or point me in the right direction,I have been recently flooded and had water under my floor boards which covered some of the electric cables on the downstairs socket ring ,the cables were sitting in the water for a day until the water drained away ,no water reached the sockets ,this tripped the rca fuse on the fuse box ,when the water had gone the the tripped fuse would turn back on and power restored ,my question is can this cable with stand sitting in water for a short period of time ,unfortunately I have limited access to the cables because of laminate flooring that can't be taken up without breaking ,the cable is basac 3 core from 2017 when I had the house rewired ,if anybody has any advice I would be very grateful ,Thankyou for reading

littlespark · Dec 28, 2021

I can’t see water damaging the cables, if it’s general purpose 6242y, (twin and earth), however, if it tripped the rcd, dampness has got in somewhere.
The cable is a PVC coated, so it is waterproof, but if water gets into a cut in the cable, or a hidden joint box under the floor, there could be problems.
Might not materialise for a while though.

Would your insurance company not payout for even a investigative test by an electrician to see if the cables have been affected?

james1345 · Dec 28, 2021

Hi little spark thanks for the reply ,I can get my insurance to pay for repairs but don't really want to rip the floor up to find where the water has got in ,would be a major headache,
Im assuming if it stays dry from now on it will probably be ok ,I'm also assuming as long as it trips the fuse box if water does get back in it will prevent any further damage?

Avo Mk8 · Dec 28, 2021

james1345 said:
Dear Electric forum members ,Thankyou for reading this question maybe someone can help or point me in the right direction,I have been recently flooded and had water under my floor boards which covered some of the electric cables on the downstairs socket ring ,the cables were sitting in the water for a day until the water drained away ,no water reached the sockets ,this tripped the rca fuse on the fuse box ,when the water had gone the the tripped fuse would turn back on and power restored ,my question is can this cable with stand sitting in water for a short period of time ,unfortunately I have limited access to the cables because of laminate flooring that can't be taken up without breaking ,the cable is basac 3 core from 2017 when I had the house rewired ,if anybody has any advice I would be very grateful ,Thankyou for reading

You might find this of interest:

https://www.-----------------------.../technical-e-news/cables-and-floods-part-two/

Note that the above tests included submerging the stripped ends of cables in water, but in your case (hopefully!) the ends are all? above the flood level. Except as mentioned, cannot be sure no cuts in outer sheath!
Some insulation testing (maybe repeated over time) could help make a more informed decision.

james1345 · Dec 28, 2021

thanks I will get a electrician to to test the system if its possible

littlespark · Dec 28, 2021

Thats what I mean by testing. The lengths of cable can be tested from the sockets and the consumer unit… there’s no need to lift floors unless a problem is discovered and needs remedied.

james1345 · Dec 28, 2021

Yes the ends of all the cables were above the water level but there could be a cut in the cable somewhere although all the cable was new 5 years ago unless a animal has knawed into wire ,I will get the cables tested first and see ,as long as it trips out if there is a problem ,is it possible it may not always trip the fuse box ?

timhoward · Dec 28, 2021

A low resistance fault will always trip the protective device. A higher resistance fault may not. So while the protective device not tripping is a good sign it isn’t the whole picture.
It’s fairly quick to test and prove circuits are ok. I could have done the test in the time it took to type this. It can however take much longer to work out why test results are telling us that the circuit isn’t ok.

james1345 · Dec 28, 2021

maybe its best to keep the affected circuit switched off until its checked out

pc1966 · Dec 28, 2021

It would be very unusual for a flooded cable alone to be so low as to trip the RCD, but there might be a junction box under the floor or similar where water got in and caused enough stray current to trip it.

Generally speaking PVC wire holds and recovers quite well from immersion basic water (rain water, generally muddy stuff, etc, without anything specifically corrosive or solvent), but accessories such as junction boxes or sockets, etc, usually degrade due to corrosion.

nicebutdim · Dec 28, 2021

Did this flooding, and subsequent trip, extend to the kitchen?

james1345 · Dec 28, 2021

the kitchen is on a separate circuit and wasn’t affected

james1345 · Dec 29, 2021

Thanks to everybody who replied,just to up date you ,not being able to find a available electrician this time of year ,i found a loop testing device which i used on all the sockets on the affected circuit and it didn’t throw up any problems,off course im not sure how reliable the unit is but thought it worth trying