amored with no outer plastic.......

[spidersparks]

Hi guys, I'm starting a job next week on a school built in the mid to late 60's, all their sub mains are running underground in tunnels, what's confused me is that these sub mains are amoreds but for some reason they have no outer plastic sheathing.... Never seen this before and one of them is due to be extended and I'm not sure how to go about this any help greatly appreciated
David

 

[ipf]

I was taught both at work as an apprentice and later by the EMEB the easiest, quickest method.

With a (Stanley) knife score around where you want the lead to terminate. From that circular score make two parallel “tram tracks” about ½“ apart to the cut end of the cable. At the cut end open up the two score lines with a heavy hack knife and a hammer. This will give you a tag that you can get you’re pliers on. Peal it back just like opening a can of corned beef. Once the strip is removed the lead sheath is just pealed off. Doing it this way the lead termination is slightly belled out thereby preventing a sharp edge against the cores.

The belting papers just after the lead should be bound for ½“ from the termination. The belting papers are then unwound to the binding and torn off. I’ve always use waxed string whipping to terminate the belting. (I’m old fashioned)

Must be 30 years since I last did a termination. Doing maintenance, repairs and alterations in glass fibre production plants during summer shutdowns. Early on, I was taught to strip the lead like that, we had a special chisel/knife, then peeled it inch by inch. It was the term wiping I got really good at. I was the kid given plenty of time to practise, while the others were running around like madmen, 'till brew time that is, then I was the one running about. Got sick to death of showing the finished article only to be told to get the blow torch out, strip it down and do it again proper. It was bloody perfect IMO, probably was too. Oh, for the days of the true apprenticeship.

 

[Knobhead]

The wiped lead joint can look granular if too much heat is used. The tin separates from the lead.
I was shown “plastic wiping” at the EMEB collage. You have to trust you’re mate, he has charge of a metal pot with “type D” plumbing metal in it. Using a soup spoon he would pour the metal on to the moleskin in your hand (gloves, don’t be silly). Then you could build up the plumb quickly and not overheat the cable papers by too much use of the torch. The other advantage with this method was I could add tinmans solder to the pot increase the tin content.
You couldn’t do that with a stick wipe.

I did about 40 185mm² terminations on one job using CMP lead lined glands. Brilliant things, wrap the base of the gland with asbestos string to seal it and just heat it up. The lead would melt and that was it, job done. I had a look for them for RoB, not made now.

I don’t miss mauling bloody great big cables about though. Rerouting a 50 year old 0.3”² was a swine of a job. I had to warm the cable with a space heater to stop the tarred hessian cracking and dropping off. Everyone got covered in tar. When I cut the cable back the papers were as good as new. The only time I’ve made off a cable and lowered the switchboard on to it afterwards.

 

[Fin170]

Currently stripping out thousands of miles of the stuff and although I have an appreciation for most flavours of old gear....those cable are not high on the list :lol: Kudos to the lads that pulled them in and terminated (for once I'd say the joints to the armour were not as good as quality as modern equivalents) them. I'd imagine the 240mm equivalents I've recently chopped (in sub meter lengths due to weight) were a pig to work with, every time you cut them the armour blows out followed by 60 years of dust and other unspecified crap filling the air

Also the large single core bitumen(?) wrapped cables have melted over time making them a pain to separate and cut