I found this old thing

[drooper]

Not posted for a little while , focusing on nvq , work ect .
Came across this little gem while doing rewire in east tilbury just before christmas , 2 inch crabtree switch on a porcelin base , just couldnt skip it!! Its going on my garage wall!! Any idea of a date ,
Ps , johnb very impressed with battery thread , some talented people out there , keep it up thru 2023 guys





Split from original post as too far off topic

 

[Phoenix]

I'm sure @kerching will be along in a bit to reminisce on jobs where he was fitting them, and speculate that he might still have some in stock

More seriously, the conductors look to be ashathene insulated untinned 3/029. So likely from the second half of the 1960s though switches didn't tend to look like that back then, so either it was intended to match existing, or more likely the cable to it was rewired at that time to replace some VIR that had been installed 30ish years previous

 

[drooper]

, was mounted on a wooden block but could not get bleeding slotted screws out!

 

[johnb2713]

not posted for a little while , focusing on nvq , work ect .
Came across this little gem while doing rewire in east tilbury just before christmas , 2 inch crabtree switch on a porcelin base , just couldnt skip it!! Its going on my garage wall!! Any idea of a date ,
Ps , johnb very impressed with battery thread , some talented people out there , keep it up thru 2023 guys

I would guess late 50's / early 60's for the switch, I do remember them well!
Thank you for the kind words about my battery, it was a very steep learning curve for me, thanks to the knowledgeable and helpful members here and other forums, it works.

 

[mort2376]

When I think of the switches and sockets that I've chucked out over the years when rewiring. They can be worth a fortune now.

Mind you I've no where to store the important stuff I have let alone keep stuff just for memories, but like you I'd definatly put it to use. Maybe find some bakerlight lampholder and 15a sockets and do a complete back in time retro fit lol.

Must admit I'm still removing the odd 15a socket on rewires !

 

[ProDave]

I did a job in a "bungalow" a few years back. The history was it was once 3 tiny cottages, each with rooms in the roof. Then at some point all 3 were knocked into one but only downstairs to make the present bungalow. Up in the loft(s) it is a time capsule. Untouched and unused apart from a bit of storage. It still has the wooden panelling on the walls, original wooden doors and door furniture, wallpaper over the wooden panelling in some rooms, but the interesting bit is all the round light switches, round bakerlite sockets etc, all wired in VIR but no longer connected. A couple of rooms had cast iron bed frames in them still.

 

[binky]

Best I've found to date still in service

 

[Phoenix]

Best I've found to date still in service

Looks like that might have been re-wired at some point judging by the t/E entering the bottom with the earths looped out to somewhere else, likely done about mid-70s, whereas the board... probably 40's I'm guessing, I think DP fusing was banned by the 13th edition in '55 and small amounts of unsheathed conductor around switchgear I think went about similar time (possibly in an admendment?)

Wheres @kerching when you need him?.....

 

[kerching]

FFS lads, I'm only 66 and I take umbrage at these comments
However since it's a family firm I was on site at about 12 drilling joists with a hand auger and cutting in boxes! No pocket money without slave labour! But it taught me a lot!
I could terminate Pyro at 14 and also wipe lead joints
I had some of those switches and sold them to the production team of The Crown (seriously)
As others have said, it's frightening what We have binned over the years

 

[binky]

Looks like that might have been re-wired at some point judging by the t/E entering the bottom with the earths looped out to somewhere else, likely done about mid-70s, whereas the board... probably 40's I'm guessing, I think DP fusing was banned by the 13th edition in '55 and small amounts of unsheathed conductor around switchgear I think went about similar time (possibly in an admendment?)

Wheres @kerching when you need him?.....

It had been rewired alright, around the 1980s, at a rough guess The house is 1930s, so I reckon it's original to that date.

 

[Flylead]

My father removed the gas lighting from my gandmother's house and installed electic lighting in the early 1950s, this pattern of light switch was used there complete with round wooden pattresses. These switches were wonderfully made devices.

 

[mort2376]

Wiring regs issue 1.

One of the very few guidelines was you cannot run electric cables down gas pipes !

I think that's where the old saying of "Plumbers are only electricians with their brains removed" comes from as I'm guessing alot of plumbers made the step from gas work to electric work.

Wonder how many cables were run down live gas pipes before the regs said you can't do it ????