# Lead coated cable?



## dmerkel

Working in the basement of a very old hotel while remodeling it, I came across what looked like a 2-conductor cable of 12 gauge copper with cloth covering the conductors all coated in a lead jacket. It was flat like romex, no ground... Anybody ever see that and have more info?


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## Ty Wrapp

Sounds like old antique buried telephone service wire.


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## dmerkel

Ty Wrapp said:


> Sounds like old antique buried telephone service wire.


There was a thick lead coated telephone cable as well, like 80-100 pair, 22 awg. This stuff I first described was like 12/2.


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## Vintage Sounds

Was it still in use?


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## dmerkel

Vintage Sounds said:


> Was it still in use?


No. Didn't appear to have been used in a long time. Also found some #3 awg solid copper conductors run free-air in the basement with some kind of asbestos coating. 3 conductors running parallel about 4" apart... 3 awg solid. It wasn't even remotely flexible.


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## BBQ

About 8 bazillion buildings in Boston and Cambridge are supplied from the utility underground with lead covered cables. 

It appears the stuff lasts forever if back-filled correctly.


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## chicken steve

didn't know it was lead...

the lead nazi's here haven't mentioned it.....

~CS~


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## Tonedeaf

Yea that's sounds slike a POTs tele phone cable, that stuff last forever.....there is a ton of medium voltage and multi pair telco lead cables still in service around here. a lot of times u can't tell it them apart.


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## Bulldog1

BBQ said:


> About 8 bazillion buildings in Boston and Cambridge are supplied from the utility underground with lead covered cables.
> 
> It appears the stuff lasts forever if back-filled correctly.



I saved a piece of it I removed a few years ago out of an old building here. It was the first time I saw it.


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## denny3992

Ive seen the lead rx also... They used it as uf also..zz


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## Big John

denny3992 said:


> Ive seen the lead rx also... They used it as uf also...


 Old timers seemed to have had a hard-on for lead, I'm guessing because it was reasonably malleable and didn't rust, but just about every type of cable we can think of--SE, UF, NM, medium voltage feeders, telephone cabling--can be found with a lead jacket.


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## Shockdoc

Came across that in PA , feeding the post lights at an old doctors mansion, still in use.


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## gnuuser

this type of cabling was used extensively in the 40'sand 50's
ive found reference to lead cladding cables in my old electricians mate manual from the navy
as long as the cabling wasn't flexed too often it would last forever


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## Phil DeBlanc

For want of a better descriptor lead covered romex was the UF of the 40s & early 50s. 

It worked very well in most soil conditions, some ate the lead. The arrival of plastic coated UF that was "usable" wasn't till around 65.


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## Bearufisr

Used lead coated 4/0 ground cable in a nuke back in the early 80's


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## uconduit

lead, asbestos, pcbs ... they don't make 'em like they used to


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## RWeisberg

saw it once used underground for an old house in los angeles. it was powering landscape lights. my guess is that it was the UF cable of those days.


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## holmeselectric9

Dug some up with a ditch witch in a new York state prison


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## kbsparky

Phil DeBlanc said:


> For want of a better descriptor lead covered romex was the UF of the 40s & early 50s.
> 
> It worked very well in most soil conditions, some ate the lead. The arrival of plastic coated UF that was "usable" wasn't till around 65.





RWeisberg said:


> saw it once used underground for an old house in los angeles. it was powering landscape lights. my guess is that it was the UF cable of those days.





holmeselectric9 said:


> Dug some up with a ditch witch in a new York state prison


Lead encased cable was extensively used for underground installations back in the mid-20th century. They also had BX cable with lead encased guts for the same purpose.


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## metal.management

Hi

we do historical restoration on 1920's switchboards
and looking for some original #16-12 AWG Lead Covered Cables
any decent length is OK. Please let me know if anyone got it.
CM


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