Scrap Or Pull?

neolitic

I've got some 12/2 greenfield
with the 1/8" ground strip
salvaged from a job.
It's apparently 50's era temp
that was left above the ceiling,
and about 75' never even uncoiled.
Would this be a good thing to use
in my garage/shop?
Will that be a good enough ground
for saws and all, or should I
scrap it out and start buying conduit?

Add: Might be 60's...all plastic
insulation.

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mdshunk

What you describe is type AC cable, not Greenfield, and it is still 100% legal to use today. That thin strip is not the ground. The steel armor is the ground, and the strip is to short out the coils of the armor and is generally referred to as an internal bonding strip. For free, I'd use it.

neolitic

Good news.
The stuff is basically brand new,
just been "stored" for a bit.
I finally got curious about what
was in the barrel under the lumber
rack.
Thanks.

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mdshunk

http://www.nema.org/stds/eng-bulleti...e-AC-Cable.pdf

neolitic

Thanks for that.
I remembered what that looks like,
and I've got a bunch of new anti-short
bushings(?).
Now it will be a trick finding all of the
clamps/connectors...may have to
break down and actually buy new.

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Bkessler

Some one once told me you have to have six wraps of the bonding strip on AC cable. It was a long time ago and i never questioned it and have even repeated it.

bjgelect

Since the cable is from the "50's" it should either have thermoplastic insulated conductors (late fifties), or cloth covered rubber insulated conductors, (early fifties). If it's rubber, scrap it. If it's plastic, you can use it, but it will not be up to today's standards since it will have "TW" rated conductors, not "THHN" or "THWN". The bond strip will have a round cross section if it's earlier thermoplastic AC, or flat cross section bond wire if it's a later "vintage". I usually slip the anti-short bushing in first, then fold the bonding strip over the top edge of the bushing, then wrap around the cable at least 3 times. If you use this for yourself for your own property, fine, but you could not install this at a customer's property since it's obsolete.

mdshunk

Not true. See my link above, from NEMA. You can cut it off flush, if you want to.