TOPIC: Knob & Tube Question

Casey...

My feelings are hurt! (Enough said)! LOL!!!

Yes... K&T has a cloth mesh jacket,

No... K&T does not (normally) have rubberized insulation,

No... K&T should never be bare wire,

Yes... that appears to be tinned copper,

No... That is not aluminum,

Yes... Aluminum has a "Plastic" type insulation,

Yes... I have seen a home re-wired utilizing the old "Knobs" and "Tubes" with THHN and no grounding wire !!! Friggin' Harry !!!

Jeff according to the link I provided, www.inspectapedia.com/electric/Knob_and_Tube_Wiring.htm , K&T will have a rubberized cloth insulation, not just cloth. Although asphalt-saturated cotton cloth was used in the beginning, rubber became common.

Jeff, you were incommunicado when I needed that answer!  Must have hit a bad service spot, I tried calling...or you were just doing 110 down the interstate! 

Casey...

My feelings are hurt! (Enough said)! LOL!!!

Yes... K&T has a cloth mesh jacket,

No... K&T does not (normally) have rubberized insulation,

No... K&T should never be bare wire,

Yes... that appears to be tinned copper,

No... That is not aluminum,

Yes... Aluminum has a "Plastic" type insulation,

Yes... I have seen a home re-wired utilizing the old "Knobs" and "Tubes" with THHN and no grounding wire !!! Friggin' Harry !!!

Jeff according to the link I provided, www.inspectapedia.com/electric/Knob_and_Tube_Wiring.htm , K&T will have a rubberized cloth insulation, not just cloth. Although asphalt-saturated cotton cloth was used in the beginning, rubber became common.

Mike, yes, you are correct. (I didn't read your link). I was just giving a simplified answer to Casey (Based on "real world" for "our" area) as this thread was contradicting itself. I should have been more specific. My "does not have rubberized insulation" actually referred to "without the mesh covering", such as newer wire (conductors). Whether "rubberized" or "asphalt impregnated", K&T always had a "cloth" or "mesh" covering, and was never "bare wire". Hope that didn't confuse Casey even more. If it did, "he knows where I live" !!!
 

Jeff, you were incommunicado when I needed that answer!  Must have hit a bad service spot, I tried calling...or you were just doing 110 down the interstate! 

Let's see...

thread started wrote: Knob & Tube Question
« on: March 09, 2011, 05:39:40 PM »

That would be 04:39:40 PM, Mountain time...

I would have been passing through Rapid City, SD at about that time, and yes, cell service suk'd in western SD.

Okay... your off the hook, for now, but just so you know...

You left no voice mail, and you know, I always return your voice mails !!! 

Nope, I did some more research and made a phone call (sparky) that helped. 

I didn't leave a VM because I needed a quick answer!    You always return a call, that is quite true...not always the same day though, and I was already pushing the late button on getting the report sent.  Oh, that and being in the truck to the cabin!  lol

Photo courtesy of David Macy...