Rewire House?


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Old 07-09-05, 03:07 AM
C
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Rewire House?

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but I'm an electrical illiterate: My house was built in 1960's and it has the old style wiring with woven fabric covering. And that fabric is pretty badly deteriorated in the bits of wiring I've seen. I've worked with some of this wiring installing some light fixtures and outlets and the plastic insulation below the fabric cover seems okay, no sign of cracking that I could see. Frankly, I'm not sure if I should be alarmed or not. We haven't had any trouble except once I felt a mild electrical zap when washing the exterior siding near the power meter. Any advice? My house is about 1200 square ft single family, single story near Seattle. If I have to rewire about how much $$ are we talking about?
 
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Old 07-09-05, 06:58 AM
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Carnac,

I would not consider this a big issue in regards to the outside jacket on the old style romax....it has been in use for years and usually the insulation coating on the wires itself is fine....as opposed to the old BX cable with a fabric coating on the conductors which is a problem...in you case the wire should be fine as long as you do not get involved in trying to mess with it....leave it intact and should be fine.......However, The consider to upgrade needs to be more is the system needing upgrade for other reasons and not simply the jacket on the cable....for example.....no ground wire and you wish to have a grounded system..then that would be a better reason to consider upgrading in your case but not something i would tell a client to rush out and do unless you need it done for a safety reason....the fabric jacket on the cable is not a good reason to venture into that right now.

As for the correction you feel near the meter....That I would contact your local utility company and have a tech come out and check the meter cab as this could simply be a improper grounding issue....happens alot in the older homes. However if the siding is plastic or Vinyl then it wont conduct voltage so not sure what to tell you on that....if aluminum or other metal contact your local utility company if you are concered over that.

P.S. Not a stupid question at all......their are millions of homes I am sure with that type of fabric cable......if left alone usually fine.
 
 

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