Question about old wire

[mresistor]

What do you guys know about using old cloth covered wire from old organs? The wire looks pretty good and is in very good condition, and there is plenty of it in many color schemes. Some of it is solid conductor and some stranded, and it looks to be about 20ga. I'm wondering if there is any asbestos or similar harmful substance in the sheath. It doesn't smell good at all when it gets burned.

Anyone have any info?

[Tiny_Daddy]

Some is cotton saturated with clear lacquer. Some is lacquered cotton woven over natural rubber which is usually hard and brittle by now.

[mresistor]

This stuff is very flexible and in really very good condition. It dates to probably 1955-57.

[PRR]

I have worked with theater-lamps with asbestos wire.

It is very unlikely to be asbestos in organ wire. As cheap as it was, asbestos wasn't cheaper than cloth and varnish, so was not used except around BIG power which might start fires.

[Tiny_Daddy]

There were some radios sold with resistor power cords that contained asbestos covered by a cotton weave. Essentially they were very long wirewound resistors. I remember when you could buy replacement resistor power cords for those radios.

[Cygnus_X1]

I use harvested organ amp wire frequently.
Baldwins especially.
The cloth covered with an additional PVC looking inner wrap, certainly it's not rubber.

It doesn't smell bad if overheated.
In fact some of it has that familiar vanilla smell like Fender.

[mresistor]

Thanks Cygnus - I think this wire is going to look great in vintage amp re-creations, like a 64 VibroChamp. Appreciate the info.

[RicharD]

Asbestos is no where nearly as dangerous as it's public perception.  You have to take in quite a bit of it in it's airborne fibrous form to do any real damage.  Cigarettes are far more dangerous.  All the people who got asbestosis either worked in an asbestos factory or sprayed it as insulation in a shipyard.  Nobody has gotten asbestosis from scraping paint off of asbestos siding.  The old lead paint might actually be more dangerous.  Owens Corning Corp was the primary lobbyist to get asbestos banned at a time when they had a hot new patent on a nasty pink substitution.  Asbestos abatement is big business based purely in public fear.  The containment is this elaborate dog -n- pony show.  The bags end up in the landfill right along with regular household garbage.  Working with asbestos insulated wire is quite safe.  Maybe don't sniff or lick your fingers as you work.  I know it's difficult but it can be done.  It is extremely unlikely wire reclaimed from an organ is asbestos insulated.  Asbestos wire was designed exclusively for high temp and highly corrosive applications.   

[John]

Glad I'm not the only one who rolls their eyes at the asbestos thing. Lead paint too for that matter. Sure, don't chew it off the window sill, but seriously... how did our grandparents ever live to be 90? (which all but one of mine did). Life is a risk.

[John]

John,
Did your grandparents live near any red barns? 

Yep. And my avatar is the view from our front garden. ;)

[billcreller]

In the old days we used leaded gas for cleaning parts (& hands) all the time.  It's just more of the hype like "one whiff of that second-hand smoke will do you in" crap.  Lead does show up in children's teeth etc, airborne ?

[thelonious]

Sub-question re old wire:
Some of the wire I've harvested from old amps seems to have developed some oxidation on the copper under the cloth sheath. Does this affect the wire's performance? Or as long as I clean off the oxidation from the section the solder touches, is that enough?

[RicharD]

>oxidation on the copper

It can make for a crappy solder joint. A touch of contact cleaner, scrape it with a razor blade, and sweat the joint pronto before it oxidizes again.

[mresistor]

All the wire in this old Baldwin seems to be silver plated.