Old Italian installation methods....

[Leesparkykent]

Below is from a member called townfanjon from the plumbers forum..may be of interest to some members on here


Last week myself and Mrs TFJ caught up with our friends who bought an old nact up Italian farmhouse in the foothills of the Italian Alps. The whole house is wired like this , all exposed twin and earth fixed with metal nails / pins. PMSL , if anybody thinks our sparkie pals might want a laugh please post it over to the darkside. ( i ve no idea how to )

 

[Rosco]

Well that is defiantly "clipped direct"

 

[Wilko]

Neon screwdriver test points ?

 

[Andy78]

Is it actually designed so that the plastic webbing is there to clip through ?

 

[static zap]

Is it actually designed so that the plastic webbing is there to clip through ?

And some insulator on pin-head , "Good word" !

 

[drzsta]

This is NYIF cable, used to be very popular on the continent and was even experimented with in this country on high-rise council blocks.

It is usual practice to fix through the sheathing although this cable is usually direct burial only. Italy must be one of the exceptions that allow surface clipping of this cable.

 

[freddo]

Probably best it wasn't buried, that filling in is shocking.

 

[NDG Elecs]

The slightly stippled plaster coat is just as bad also! Maybe it's a standard rustic approach they have in such places. Either that or maybe there is only one plasterer and one electrician within a 50km radius!

 

[dmxtothemax]

it's a safer version of Knob and Tube wiring !
Not much safer, but a little bit !

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Quite unrelated to knob and tube. It's a regular double-insulated cable, designed to be as thin as possible, with the plastic web that can be cleated through, although often bonded to the wall before plastering. This might actually be a forerunner of NYIF, which I first met in Germany where it's called Stegleitung. It's funny how materials and methods from other places seem so peculiar. They probably laugh their heads off when they find out that the CPC in UK T+E is uninsulated and you have to prat about with bits of sleeving everywhere.

We had a very similar thing in the UK with rubber insulation, IIRC they offered special cleats that nailed through the web but with shoulders that supported the cores. I have a sample although no pics of it to hand, nor can I remember the name of it. Anyone?

 

[MJPD29]

I love the way they put in the effort to sink the boxes but not the cable. Why not just a surface box if you can't be bothered burying the cable

 

[Wilko]

Found this bit of light cabling on the net - a retro retail look

 

[freddo]

I would have been more impressed if they were bare conductors on those insulators. That would be much more fun.