UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - When were ring mains introduced in domestic housing?

Lucien Nunes · 30th Apr 2021, 4:35 pm

'Stranded in Prescot,' the BI infomercial film from the mid-1930s, advocates surface cabling when first wiring existing occupied housing. At the time, lead-sheathed cables with both paper and rubber insulation were available, as well as TRS.

One might suppose that BI stood to make more money per point selling sheathed cables than singles for conduit installations; first on account of the higher price of the cable and second due to the longer routes usually needed to follow architectural edges (compared to concealed conduit, which due to its labour-intensive nature typically took short, straight routes.)

By the time rings made an appearance, conduit was obsolete for low-rise domestic work and 7/.029 TRS, soon followed by PE/PVC, was the cable of choice.

30th Apr 2021, 4:35 pm	#28
Lucien Nunes Rest in Peace Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: London, UK. Posts: 2,508	Re: When were ring mains introduced in domestic housing? 'Stranded in Prescot,' the BI infomercial film from the mid-1930s, advocates surface cabling when first wiring existing occupied housing. At the time, lead-sheathed cables with both paper and rubber insulation were available, as well as TRS. One might suppose that BI stood to make more money per point selling sheathed cables than singles for conduit installations; first on account of the higher price of the cable and second due to the longer routes usually needed to follow architectural edges (compared to concealed conduit, which due to its labour-intensive nature typically took short, straight routes.) By the time rings made an appearance, conduit was obsolete for low-rise domestic work and 7/.029 TRS, soon followed by PE/PVC, was the cable of choice.