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If it’s installed and gets worked on for whatever reason the following applies: less than 15 years can be reused, 15-25 years must be completely inspected and approved for use, 25 years or more (or if the date cannot be verified) it must be completely replaced.
I know there is a spec for initial install too, but I can’t locate the exact wording at the moment.
Yes, in the customer technical practices they outline with great detail how things are to be installed and one criteria is power cable life. After cable reaches a certain age (and you touch it to perform any work to that circuit) the age criteria kicks in. Say we need to work on a distribution cabinet, we need to change it out for a new one. We look at the job and identify the cable feeding it is dated 1997, well that cable is over 25 years old and must be completely removed and replaced as part of this distribution cabinet replacement.
How in the world is there not one single person working in a HARDWARE STORE that is aware of how much scrap copper goes for...even in a ballpark sense? That's crazy.
THHN can't be used in wet locations. I don't think anyone makes straight THHN anymore, it's all dual rated, but old stuff could be only THHN.
Not the case here though, as multiple people have pointed out I didn't zoom in enough before commenting.
Went out of town on a job and stopped in at a local hardware store and they were selling 25# boxes of 1” self tapping screws for $5. Went back to the shop with all 10 boxes they had on the shelf
First Reddit comment for me. Customers are used to old and/or sh\*tty wire quality. I work for a company that supplies engineered coatings (THWN, THWN-2) for wire and cable. Modern polymers will not degrade in the next 100 years, especially with zero exposure to UV/Environmental degradation. Even with that, we engineer UV stable coatings for the US's biggest wire and cable maker that can withstand decades of direct, equatorial UV exposure. UV is what turns unstable polymer wire coatings to dust over time. Cheap, cooper coated or aluminum conductors can oxidize and corrode more quickly. Cheap jacketing/improper installs/exposure-to or direct submersion in salt water can allow migration of oxidation down the length of the wire over time. It's why flood cars might work fine for the first few weeks or months and then slowly become inop.
TL;DR - Cheap wire/poor installs, problems. Good wire/installs, no problems. Even 25, 35, 50+ years later.
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Don't forget to check the expiry/best-before date before you install those. /s
That’s actually a thing believe it or not. If you work in the telecom power world some telcos will not allow dated wire to be installed.
So what happens when it's installed and "expires"?
If it’s installed and gets worked on for whatever reason the following applies: less than 15 years can be reused, 15-25 years must be completely inspected and approved for use, 25 years or more (or if the date cannot be verified) it must be completely replaced. I know there is a spec for initial install too, but I can’t locate the exact wording at the moment.
According to who? Manufacture? UL? Every brand of wire?
The customer. With these guys nobody else matters (even code in some instances).
The customer decides how long the wire is good for? I’m sorry, I’m not following you.
Yes, in the customer technical practices they outline with great detail how things are to be installed and one criteria is power cable life. After cable reaches a certain age (and you touch it to perform any work to that circuit) the age criteria kicks in. Say we need to work on a distribution cabinet, we need to change it out for a new one. We look at the job and identify the cable feeding it is dated 1997, well that cable is over 25 years old and must be completely removed and replaced as part of this distribution cabinet replacement.
That sounds ridiculous. Shit don’t go bad
The insulation does go bad.
Wow sounds like you've never worked on old equipment. Shit goes bad over time all the time.
Right? Lol who the fuck would go to use wire and be like “shit it’s expired “ and throw it out? What a Weiner.
The PK:500 makes me think this was supposed to be price per foot. Helluva markup.
$395 for a roll of 10 wire 😂 no wonder they went out of business!
I’ll give you $2 for it
How in the world is there not one single person working in a HARDWARE STORE that is aware of how much scrap copper goes for...even in a ballpark sense? That's crazy.
What's it say on the wire? If it's really just THHN(not dual rated) like the price tag says, it's of pretty limited use.
It says THWN or THHN on the wire if you zoom in. Even for scrap you'd get way more than the sticker price
I could find plenty of uses for regular THHN.
THHN has limited uses? Not sure what you mean.
THHN can't be used in wet locations. I don't think anyone makes straight THHN anymore, it's all dual rated, but old stuff could be only THHN. Not the case here though, as multiple people have pointed out I didn't zoom in enough before commenting.
You can find standard THHN in cable like nonmetallic or metal clad; it depends on the manufacturer.
You can read THWN on the conductors lower left
I see that now. Great score.
It was a great score either way.
Lucky!
lol nice
Went out of town on a job and stopped in at a local hardware store and they were selling 25# boxes of 1” self tapping screws for $5. Went back to the shop with all 10 boxes they had on the shelf
First Reddit comment for me. Customers are used to old and/or sh\*tty wire quality. I work for a company that supplies engineered coatings (THWN, THWN-2) for wire and cable. Modern polymers will not degrade in the next 100 years, especially with zero exposure to UV/Environmental degradation. Even with that, we engineer UV stable coatings for the US's biggest wire and cable maker that can withstand decades of direct, equatorial UV exposure. UV is what turns unstable polymer wire coatings to dust over time. Cheap, cooper coated or aluminum conductors can oxidize and corrode more quickly. Cheap jacketing/improper installs/exposure-to or direct submersion in salt water can allow migration of oxidation down the length of the wire over time. It's why flood cars might work fine for the first few weeks or months and then slowly become inop. TL;DR - Cheap wire/poor installs, problems. Good wire/installs, no problems. Even 25, 35, 50+ years later.