Lead-sheathed wiring – why?

[David Jupp]

On David Jupp Said:

Where I used to work, some of the older 11kV distribution cables were lead sheathed, paper insulated.

Remember that the polymers we take for granted simply were not widely available at the that time, and certainly had no history of use in cabling.

Polyethylene was very new during WWII, it was key to enabling airborne radar – only saw wider use an insulator in other duties later.

A metallic sheath would give a degree of fire protection.

Wish I had a £1 for every joint I’ve made !

H

 

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Don

If you had contacted your local electricity network operator, rather than your supplier, they would have either sweated the earth onto the lead sheath or replaced the cable with a modern plastic one.

You did not need a PME type earth, so the advice you were given was wrong.

 

Stuart

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