Identifying cables help please!

[Olec]

Hi there guys and girls, hoping you can help me.
A while back I did a cu upgrade and some accessory changes for a property that was being let. It had at some point been part rewired and all cable in the cu were t&e copper but some of the lighting and switch drops were wired in what I thought was tinned copper. All my test results were fine.
Since then iv'e done a bit more research and found this ali cable that is apparently much more risky and needs to be rewired if found.
Can anyone help me identify the differences between these two cables for future ref?

Thanks

 

[Darkwood]

i dont know what you have been reading but house wiring has always been done in copper whether tinned or not, larger supply cables in industrial and commercial buildings may harbour some old aluminium cables 'within' the installation but if you are still unsure you can look at a cut end of wire for copper inside or scrap it to reveal the copper but aluminium cables in domestic would be a new one to me but will stand corrected if anyone else has come across it.

 

[Andyfm]

I have found it a few times over years, its always single core rather than stranded like tinned copper and it is very soft and light and should be rewired, I`ve also found several jobs wired in Copperclad T&E, which is better as the ali has a coating of copper, but I think it still has to be replaced when found.

 

[nickblake]

i have in the past found houses wired in aluminium , or you may just get a circuit wired with this

 

[Mark_Burgess]

I came across stranded aluminium rubber sheathed cable at the weekend, no earth, reasonable condition in a 50's ex council house.

Take a look at this thread The History of Cable

 

[Graeme Harrold]

This was posted in another thread regarding VIR cable Wiki Cable Facts

 

[Olec]

Thanks for responses guys. That is exactly where i'd read it (wiki).
so am I write in thinking it normally comes as solid core rather than the multi strand?
The install i talked about above had pvc sheath and insulation and multicore (I think 3 strands) so hopefully that was tinned copper as that article dosen't make a nice read.

 

[Andyfm]

Yep , whenever I`ve come across it its been solid core

 

[oldtimer]

I came across stranded aluminium rubber sheathed cable at the weekend, no earth, reasonable condition in a 50's ex council house.

Take a look at this thread The History of Cable

Yep I have come across 2 core (in grey like T+E but no earth) aluminium stranded on a lighting circuit

 

[telectrix]

i have frequently come across the old 3/029 tinned copper on lighting. as suggested in a previous post, cut an end and see if it is actually copper