Our Touring Past

That green sticky stuff on the 240v cable in caravans is the migration of the plastisiser in the pvc insulation. It was a common occurrence in 240v cables between the mid 60's to early 70's. The outcome is the insulation losing it's flexibility and cracking. For the technical minded it is called degraded di-isoctyl phthalate.

It was tested by the Electrical Safety Office with the following results

-The affected cables are V60 and V75 type PVC insulated and sheathed cables.

- The substance is a plasticiser used in the manufacture of the cable.

-The release of the substance is initiated and exacerbated by high ambient temperatures such as can be found in ceiling spaces and in hotter climates.

- The substance is not conductive and therefore not liable to electrical tracking.

- The presence of the substance will not alter the flame propagation characteristics of the cable.

- The presence of the substance does not necessitate replacement of the cable.

-Cables should be assessed for replacement only when insulation tests reveal failure or when cracking of the insulation becomes apparent.

- The green exudate is mildly toxic and can cause burning and irritation, especially to mucous membranes such as in the eyes, nose and mouth.

- There has been no epidemiological link established with cancer in humans



The worst part of this goo it will eventually come out through the switches.

Warren

Thanks for that Wazza....your info brings back memories....

I started my electrical apprenticeship in 1969 with a small electrical contracting co here in Newcastle

Often found the green goo when striping wires back behind power points etc when installing a new power point. Use to get it on my fingers / hands quite regularly... often wandered whether the stuff was toxic ???.. so we treated it as a "nasty" . as we where working out of panelvans The best we could do back then was to wash our hands in cold water / no soap before eating smoko or lunch sangas etc.
This was back in the days when the earth wire was bare and we had to use "green sleeving " to slip over the earth wires before connecting them into the back of the terminals of the power point (GPOs)

Did a bit of work on old vans back then as well..... quite often found ants living in/around the green goo in the back of the power points . most of the vans where wired with single strand cable ( 1/064 ) .... not sure when the standards changed requiring multi strand cable and insulated earth wires ( green with yellow stripes) to be used in caravans..... but it spelt the end of the green slime.