Gunge in mains cable

[Michael Maurice]

This afternoon, I had to get a piece of equipment out of the lost, something I built myself a few years ago (over25), when I noticed that the mains plug had a sort of green liquid in it.

This had come out of the mains cable. I put another plug on it and it worked fine.

Question: Is it safe to use or should I be replaced the cable?

I'm loaning it to a customer for a frew weeks.

[Nickthedentist]

Hello Michael,

I've had this happen before, too. I thought water might have got into the cable somehow, but I'm not sure. The whole length of cable was affected, and it had a rather unpleasant smell which I can still remember in spite of it being many years ago.

If anyone knows what's happening here, I too would be interested to know.

Nick.

[ppppenguin]

While we're curious as to what's causing the green slime from outer space I think it would be prudent to change the cable as it's going to a customer who might not be too amused if something went bang or gunged his/her carpet.

[Sean Williams]

We had this problem in our last house - in the whole of the fixed wiring!

It was diagnosed as a form of verdigris.

The only explanation given was down to the age of the PVC cable - something to do with the plasticiser breaking down, and the resultant acidic compound attacking the copper inside

It used to ooze out of the sockets, and drip down the lamp pendants......Great around Halloween!

Cheers
Sean

[stephanie]

That's exactly what it is. The plastic insulation has reacted with the copper wire and you get the green slime. Also, the mains lead itself sometimes gets sticky.

It's very common on some of the stuff I work on.

Is it dangerous? I don't think so. But it's royally disgusting.

Just change the mains lead and clean up any gunk that has oozed out with something that evaporates quickly....like Ronsonol (the gasoline used for cigarette lighters with wicks).

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by m1ecy

We had this problem in our last house - in the whole of the fixed wiring!

That's reminded me where I saw it - in my grandmother's bungalow, which was built c. 1965. Most sockets are affected

Nick.

[JoshWard]

Originally Posted by stephanie

That's exactly what it is. The plastic insulation has reacted with the copper wire and you get the green slime. Also, the mains lead itself sometimes gets sticky.

It's very common on some of the stuff I work on.

Exactly what I was going to say. I usually just clean out the plug and replace the mains lead. Josh.

[stephanie]

Originally Posted by JoshWard

Exactly what I was going to say. I usually just clean out the plug and replace the mains lead. Josh.

Well, on Western-market stuff, the plug is always moulded on to the flex, so you can't clean anything.

In fact, it sometimes gets bad enough where you see the ooze leaking around the sides of the plug pins.

If you see a conventional "screw-on" plug on any appliance here, it's a good chance that the original moulded plug disintegrated and was replaced.

I don't save anything. The mains lead getscut out, tossed and replaced.
Any screw-on plugs also get replaced by new ones. By then, the rubber housing has gotten brittle over the decades, anyway.

[zak]

The plastic has produced fumes and corroded the wire.I have had this with the plastic handle of a screwdriver,just oozes a sticky corrorisve substance that seems to attack anything,eventually the handle just dissapeared!
I have aslo seen corrosion in some rubber covered wire.
I would be inclined to replace the cable here.

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by zak

I would be inclined to replace the cable here.

I agree. A couple of metres of mains flex and a new 13A plug isn't very expensive, and it's better than leaving something horrible there.

[NST]

I brought a pair of Philips headphones from Argos once, that also leaked greenish gunge when the cable split, and they were only about 2 years old.