Pyro Underground!?

Piratepete · Feb 20, 2014

Hi Guys.
Doing a CU change.
Found a supply to the swimming pool pump shed done in orange Pyro. The cable is clipped along the outside of the house and then disappears underground reappearing in the shed.

I know nothing about Pyro.

1. Is it allowable to use it this way (instead of armoured)? If not, should I condemn it? Insulation between cores is good > 500Meg.

2. How can I work out the current rating? The end is potted and has tails printed 1.0/1.5 sqmm. Can I tell from the diameter?

Cheers
Pete

Des 56 · Feb 21, 2014

Geordie Spark said:
Looks bloody awful.

I decided that when "I got big" I would be a Royal Navy Engineer. I never did though..

That must have left just Butlins and a career as one of their Redskins

Geordie Spark · Feb 21, 2014

Des 56 said:
That must have left just Butlins and a career as one of their Redskins

No, I wanted to be an Engine Driver, Electrician or an Engineer like me Dad.

By the time I was coming up to school leaving age I didn't want to be an Engine Driver because Diesels were taking over and they're boring, soulless things. Electrician was out too because Dad said I wasn't clever enough, so that just left Engineering.

UNG · Feb 21, 2014

Tony said:
I’d love to see it being made. I know the principle, but how it comes out the end undamaged considering the mauling it goes through in manufacture I don’t know.

There is a couple of different methods of pyro manufacture, they used to make the stuff just up the road from where I used to live but the old BICC rolling mills closed down a few years ago they used to start off with a big copper tube and put the conductors in and pack the insulation then it was extruded though dies until it got to the size they were manufacturing some of the other makes are seem welded and if the weld is not properly annealed it can cause problems when you strip it as it has a hard spot in the copper sheath.

When the BICC was in Prescot you could ring the Pyro sales people and they would organise glands and pots drilled to suit imperial pyro's if you were doing repairs and you could pick them up from the factory or the rep would drop them off doubt you would get that sort of service these days

Knobhead · Feb 21, 2014

BICC were fantastic to deal with.

Following a bit of a disaster I needed 600m of 500mm² cambric singles in a hurry. This is on the Monday, I phoned them expecting a week next Shove Tuesday for delivery. What I got was “is Wednesday OK for you? Can’t do tomorrow unless you send your own transport.” I was gob smacked, they’d diverted an order that wasn’t urgent and sent it to us.

That’s service.

UNG · Feb 21, 2014

Tony said:
BICC were fantastic to deal with.

Following a bit of a disaster I needed 600m of 500mm² cambric singles in a hurry. This is on the Monday, I phoned them expecting a week next Shove Tuesday for delivery. What I got was “is Wednesday OK for you? Can’t do tomorrow unless you send your own transport.” I was gob smacked, they’d diverted an order that wasn’t urgent and sent it to us.

That’s service.

The company I served my apprenticeship with and worked for for a few years often sent me to the BI to collect stuff for panic jobs as they had places in Wrexham, Helsby, Runcorn and Prescot and possibly some I've forgotten which covered most of what BICC manufactured you could phone up in a morning and some stuff could be collected the same day

For those that are interested in Pyro I found a document that gives some history of pyro and it's composition and some working comparisons to those inferior fire rated cables http://www.aeicables.co.uk/literature/MICDataIntegrity.pdf

benji · Feb 21, 2014

we replaced a whole switchboard at Rohn Hass in jarrow all pyro,s were imperial and some had to be re-terminated we went to pyrotennax factory in hebburn to get them from old stock that they had (for free)

shanky887614 · Feb 21, 2014

benji said:
we replaced a whole switchboard at Rohn Hass in jarrow all pyro,s were imperial and some had to be re-terminated we went to pyrotennax factory in hebburn to get them from old stock that they had (for free)

Think you guys will appreciate these pics of pyro's I spotted today

[ElectriciansForums.net] Pyro Underground!?

High Tower · Feb 21, 2014

shanky887614 said:
Think you guys will appreciate these pics of pyro's I spotted today

View attachment 23155

I could make em off in my sleep, but I honestly don't think I could dress em in anywhere that neat!

Geordie Spark · Feb 21, 2014

High Tower said:
I could make em off in my sleep, but I honestly don't think I could dress em in anywhere that neat!

It's just .... sublime.

Fin170 · Feb 21, 2014

I'd still consider them un-neat to what I'm having to rip out at the moment, similar to that, but about 10x as much with much larger sizes going in multiple directions with the additional piles of stainless steel flavours along with 4 inch copper bussbars attached to the same tray. Be very lucky to be given the time and budget to do it now

Geordie Spark · Feb 21, 2014

Pyro going underground??? The Jam - Going Underground - YouTube

Alex Ramage · Feb 21, 2014

Ooh going all gooey looking at the dressing and terminations. Love the stuff but most customers wont wear the cost of it

shanky887614 · Feb 21, 2014

Geordie Spark said:
Pyro going underground??? The Jam - Going Underground - YouTube

thanks for that geordie, i have only ever heard the parody London underground

Guest111 · Feb 25, 2014

UNG said:
There is a couple of different methods of pyro manufacture, they used to make the stuff just up the road from where I used to live but the old BICC rolling mills closed down a few years ago they used to start off with a big copper tube and put the conductors in and pack the insulation then it was extruded though dies until it got to the size they were manufacturing some of the other makes are seem welded and if the weld is not properly annealed it can cause problems when you strip it as it has a hard spot in the copper sheath.

When the BICC was in Prescot you could ring the Pyro sales people and they would organise glands and pots drilled to suit imperial pyro's if you were doing repairs and you could pick them up from the factory or the rep would drop them off doubt you would get that sort of service these days

If that was the plant at Leigh,I worked on it,had to supervise the destruction of some of the machines that were being scrapped so they couldn't just be dismantled and sold abroad.