Estimate of electrical wiring age

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Dratsab

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Topic # 114619 25-Feb-2013 20:56
I'm hoping there's a sparky here who can estimate the age of the wiring (pictured below) in my (soon to be) house. My neighbour has been in her house for forty years and says, to the best of her knowledge, my house hasn't been rewired in all that time. I've checked a large number of power switches, light switches and light fittings as well as the meter board and this type of wiring is all I've found. I haven't found any writing stamped into or onto any of the cabling. Cheers Steve Chuck Norris has abolished the periodic table of elements. The only element he recognises is the element of surprise!

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Reply # 770102 25-Feb-2013 21:09
AFAIK there's no issue with age of Tough Plastic Sheath TPS wiring. Your pics show early with bare earth and later with green earth. Latest has green/yellow earth. Insurance companies get nervous with earlier Tough Rubber TRS and fabric and rubber covered conduit wiring.

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Reply # 770107 25-Feb-2013 21:13
1st picture looks like mid 70's, nothing wrong with it, 2nd photo could be anywhere from late 80's onwards, but judging from the socket wired to it, it is a PDL 600 series, so mid 90's onwards on.

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Reply # 770152 25-Feb-2013 21:59
Ick at those old tiny flushboxes. And the horizontal socket in a vertical flushbox is a sign it was done by someone that doesnt give a damn. Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 770194 25-Feb-2013 23:15
Thanks for the replies guys. The house was originally built (according to one unverified source) in 1853 then had additions from 1910 to 1919. At some stage it's been renovated inside and rewired and, as Bung has correctly picked, my insurance company has gotten twitchy over the age and wants to know it's all post 1945 wiring - which I guess is the difference between TRS and TPS. A builder did an inspection report about 9 months ago and wrote "parts of the property have been rewired however it is expected some areas have not been rewired due to the inaccessibility of the walls". Given that I've not been able to find anything but TPS he obviously spent zero time actually verifying his expectations. Pretty crap really. Having rented the house for 6 months already, when I originally read through the report I was a bit sceptical about some of the things that were written. This strengthens my beliefs. Chuck Norris has abolished the periodic table of elements. The only element he recognises is the element of surprise!

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Reply # 770199 25-Feb-2013 23:32
Dratsab: Thanks for the replies guys. The house was originally built (according to one unverified source) in 1853 then had additions from 1910 to 1919. At some stage it's been renovated inside and rewired and, as Bung has correctly picked, my insurance company has gotten twitchy over the age and wants to know it's all post 1945 wiring - which I guess is the difference between TRS and TPS. A builder did an inspection report about 9 months ago and wrote "parts of the property have been rewired however it is expected some areas have not been rewired due to the inaccessibility of the walls". Given that I've not been able to find anything but TPS he obviously spent zero time actually verifying his expectations. Pretty crap really. Branz put the introduction of TPS as late 50s early 60s. Legally a builder wouldn't even be able to open switchplates to look behind them so he could only admit to a visual inspection of the attic for example. If there's nothing but TPS leaving the switchboard it would be unlikely that older wiring was left anywhere else. Old houses with sarked walls didn't have dwangs so the walls are very accessible if you can get to top or bottom plate.