How bad is VIR wiring?

lucas20042004

Hello all,

I bought a 1950s house, had a level 3 survey done and in hindsight should have probably had some electricity checks done too.

I noticed today when taking off a socket that the house is wired with Vulcanised Indian Rubber and the light circuit is not earthed.

The light circuit isn't a big deal (I don't think) as I can replace the fixtures and switches with plastic ones.

However I'm concerned about the VIR wiring in general as I know that it can deteriorate and it's probably been 70 years since it was installed.

The wiring that I could see attached to the fuse box (which is also old but has RCD protection) appeared to be in tact, as did the wiring in the socket that I checked.

How urgent is it that I get a full re-wiring done? 

Thanks

Robin9

Have you also got a bakelite consumer unit with only 4 ways?   Has it got round or square pins ?

The installation would have been very simple -  no ring mains and probably just a single socket on the landing. The installation will have been tinkered with.

VIR gets very brittle and cracked. 

Rewire ,

Risteard

lucas20042004 said:

Hello all,

I bought a 1950s house, had a level 3 survey done and in hindsight should have probably had some electricity checks done too.

I noticed today when taking off a socket that the house is wired with Vulcanised Indian Rubber and the light circuit is not earthed.

The light circuit isn't a big deal (I don't think) as I can replace the fixtures and switches with plastic ones.

However I'm concerned about the VIR wiring in general as I know that it can deteriorate and it's probably been 70 years since it was installed.

The wiring that I could see attached to the fuse box (which is also old but has RCD protection) appeared to be in tact, as did the wiring in the socket that I checked.

How urgent is it that I get a full re-wiring done? 

Thanks

Extremely urgent. VIR is decades past its serviceable life.

lucas20042004

Here is the consumer unit

CSI_Yorkshire

Well that doesn't have RCD protection.  Those are MCBs.

Ectophile

Ever found an old rubber band that has been sitting at the back of a drawer for years?  The moment you try to stretch it, it disintegrated into a pile of bits.

Vulcanised rubber lasts a lot longer, but that wiring must be at least 60 years old.

It can test out absolutely fine on an Insulation Resistance test.  But when you start removing light switches and other accessories, to swap them out for plastic ones, there's a risk that the insulation will crumble and fall off.  At that point you've got a problem!

FFHillbilly

It's definitely urgent. your house isn't going to catch fire overnight but start budgeting and planning for a rewire now.
the insulation can just crumble to pieces and create a fault if the cable is even moved. 
this guy explains it pretty well from about 5 minutes in 
https://youtu.be/VqvLXSxQBR0?t=300

Risteard

FFHillbilly said:

your house isn't going to catch fire overnight

It could actually, depending on the condition of the wiring.

lucas20042004

Thanks. I think I'll have to just get it done along with a new fuse box! Probably not worth the risk of waiting.

lucas20042004

I noticed on my level 3 survey that the surveyor said that the unit has RCD protection, which apparently it doesn't? They also said "there are no areas of concern". Even though they state that they are not experts in the field I'd expect them to pick up on such old non-compliant wiring.

CSI_Yorkshire

lucas20042004 said:

I noticed on my level 3 survey that the surveyor said that the unit has RCD protection, which apparently it doesn't? They also said "there are no areas of concern". Even though they state that they are not experts in the field I'd expect them to pick up on such old non-compliant wiring.

That's quite an unusual thing for them to say.  General surveyors almost always say something like "I'm not qualified to comment on the electrical system, get a real sparky".

I wouldn't expect them to have a clue about whether wiring was old or not beyond what a layperson would guess (and I'm sure you saw that it was old).

Anything more than about 12 months old is non-compliant, but that in itself doesn't really mean much.

There could be an RCD somewhere else (like above a bathroom door), but I don't see any in your photo.