When I started my apprenticeship as a tech 7-ish years ago, I was told there wasn't much lead on the network, and I'd probably never see it.

I know how to lead wipe now, because sometimes it's simply easier to seam open a sleeve, work on what you need to, and seam it back closed. Lead cable, like the copper network itself, isn't going anywhere in a hurry. Most exchanges have lead cables coming out of them in the main cable well still, and there's tonnes of it in the manholes around most cities. Hell, in rural places you'll still find stuff like odd pair count lead cabling, I've worked on 46(?) pair cable before.

It was installed in the 40s and 50s in NZ (State Houses used to have it as part of the single line internal wireing / The US Armed Forces used it extensively in many of the building they used or built in NZ in the 1940s  / The last seriously used amount that I had to strip out or over run was in Middlemore Hospital in the late 80s ( when their PABX system/s were completely replaced ) / I still come across it now and then in some old buildings where it has been used as part of there (older) fire alarm wiring.

Its not that bad to work with as long as it has never gotten wet  ( cotton insulated copper sheathed in lead (generally the lead is about 2-3mm thick)) - Voice only - dont try to push DSL on to it.

If you spend the time stripping it out is worth it to take it to the scrappies.

Isnt that stuff what is in the ground and still driving the copper DSL network in many suburbs still? Was told that it was here on the last many DSL faults I logged. So glad to be off whatever trash cables they were and on shiney new glass now ;)

InstallerUFB:

 

It was installed in the 40s and 50s in NZ (State Houses used to have it as part of the single line internal wireing / The US Armed Forces used it extensively in many of the building they used or built in NZ in the 1940s  / The last seriously used amount that I had to strip out or over run was in Middlemore Hospital in the late 80s ( when their PABX system/s were completely replaced ) / I still come across it now and then in some old buildings where it has been used as part of there (older) fire alarm wiring.

 

Its not that bad to work with as long as it has never gotten wet  ( cotton insulated copper sheathed in lead (generally the lead is about 2-3mm thick)) - Voice only - dont try to push DSL on to it.

 

If you spend the time stripping it out is worth it to take it to the scrappies.

 

 

 

In the above reply I was refering to the single pair stuff that was used inside houses

If you mean the paper insulated lead sheathed multi pair cable - that is still live and working in the copper network - there are thousands of kms of the stuff out there and it will be till the end of time :-) (of the copper network)

InstallerUFB:

 

InstallerUFB:

 

It was installed in the 40s and 50s in NZ (State Houses used to have it as part of the single line internal wireing / The US Armed Forces used it extensively in many of the building they used or built in NZ in the 1940s  / The last seriously used amount that I had to strip out or over run was in Middlemore Hospital in the late 80s ( when their PABX system/s were completely replaced ) / I still come across it now and then in some old buildings where it has been used as part of there (older) fire alarm wiring.

 

Its not that bad to work with as long as it has never gotten wet  ( cotton insulated copper sheathed in lead (generally the lead is about 2-3mm thick)) - Voice only - dont try to push DSL on to it.

 

If you spend the time stripping it out is worth it to take it to the scrappies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the above reply I was refering to the single pair stuff that was used inside houses

 

 

 

If you mean the paper insulated lead sheathed multi pair cable - that is still live and working in the copper network - there are thousands of kms of the stuff out there and it will be till the end of time :-) (of the copper network)

 

 

 

If you mean the mighty PCQT-Paper Cored Quad Trunk Paper insulated, quad construction, lead sheathed cable, constructed to meet the high transmission standards required by long distance circuits. There would still be a bit of it kicking around ^Mike