Got to be impressed with the craftsmanship...

[Baddegg]

Still relatively new to this electrickery game so never seen cable run in these before....

 

[Pete999]

Home made trunking ?

Silly Boy, capping and casing, proper tradespeople

 

[NDG Elecs]

A clearer photo.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Casing and capping... it was never called trunking and it wasn't normally 'home made', you could buy all different sizes at the wholesaler, largest was about 6 inches wide. There were fairly standard methods and rules for fitting it, chief among which was that cables of opposite polarity must run in separate grooves. You would never have line and neutral singles in contact anywhere, not even at tee joints. You had to make a flyover so that the branch could get over the run, remaning fully encased on all sides. There were sketches of the proper layouts in wiring handbooks of the day, just as there were sketches of different kinds of cable joints showing how to intertwine the strands, and how to insulate and vulcanise the joint afterwards. Not surprisingly, in dry conditions the insulation resistance of such work could be very high indeed, off the scale of any modern MFT.

Wooden casing did not fare so well in damp conditions, as the wood could wick moisture into contact with the singles, reducing the insulation instead of increasing it. For suspect areas where an all-insulated system was needed (i.e. not lead sheathed or conduit), open porcelain cleats were preferred over casing and capping.

I've been trying to build up a collection but it's scarce, hardly ever removable intact and often in pieces too short to bother with. Anyone coming across good lengths intact can exchange them for beers, or at least gushing praise.

 

[Andy78]

I've been trying to build up a collection but it's scarce, hardly ever removable intact and often in pieces too short to bother with. Anyone coming across good lengths intact can exchange them for beers, or at least gushing praise.

I have some short bits as samples in the shed. You don't want to know how many lengths of this I have left in situ on rewires.

 

[ruston]

I have some short bits as samples in the shed. You don't want to know how many lengths of this I have left in situ on rewires.

Same here , we left loads of it in an old hall for posterity , along with the old servants telegraph system that was an even greater work of art and engineering.

 

[Baddegg]

Sorry lucien,it basically fell apart...

 

[Silly Sausage]

bloody philistine. tha'ts bespoke cable trunking from c. 100 years ago. VIR insulated singles. installed when we took a pride in the work and didn't need to chuck it in for price. was generally a joiner installed the trunking, then spark would follow with cables.

I found some old wooden trunking once and it had machined lidding (you know what I mean), quality gear!

 

[Andy78]

@Lucien Nunes Just looked in the shed and the longest decent bit I have is probably a metre long if you would be interested ?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Thanks Andy, I'm really looking for runs of 6-8 feet minimum to make up a full size display. I have a few lengths so far but none in completely undamaged condition.

 

[westward10]

Lucien this was a new one on me, from the outside an Exel switch-fuse but was quite surprised what was on the inside.

 

[ipf]

Capping and casing reused....original vir's removed, by the looks.
Another section of the trade that used to be.
I don't see much these days as I do very little domestic but seen loads in the past....usually either too dirty or cream crackered to keep for reminders.
This, believe it or not, was a supply to two really big old houses, supplies side by side, meters one either side. I was working on the other one and got DNO involved.

....and through to the other side.

 

[sparks1234]

Still installing it, problem?? LOL

 

[Lucien Nunes]

@ipf, genuinely interesting and I can't recall when I last saw any in this area. Single-core non-armoured PILC service cable. I am trying to guess the conductor gauge, whether it's normal 0.0225 sq ins. (7/.064) or heavier.

I presume the DNO split off the shared service, but did they also replace this service cable? How was it configured where it entered the property - was there a joint at the far end of that wooden casing?

from the outside an Exel switch-fuse but was quite surprised what was on the inside.

I should do a whole thing about splitters and multiway versions of familiar switchfuses. We were caught out by a Simplex 60A cast-iron one many years ago. The SF was on a submain that we wanted to re-purpose but as it was in use when we did the recce and the lid is interlocked shut while switched on, we didn't look inside the SF. When we returned to do the work, as well as the expected 60A there was also a 30A pup fuse inside feeding some other sub-board that we hadn't allowed for, as the cable disappeared out of a back-entry into a cupboard on the other side of the wall. Caused us a headache as we had no way to re-feed it and hadn't allowed for the extra load.

 

[freddo]

There was loads of wooden casing/capping in a newish church we were working in recently, the huge notches in the joists had caused them to sag an awful lot, especially as many of the notches were right in the centre of the joists. Couldn't remove the casings as they were now jammed in the notch in the joists.

 

[ipf]

Cancelled