Whatever happened to those soft rubber test leads

Back in the 60's and 70s, test leads were coated with a nice soft
rubber, which was thick, had excellent flex, and felt good in the hands.
All test leads these days are a plastic material that is thinner and
does not have the flex or soft feel of those old rubber ones. These
modern ones are not much diferent than plain coated wire, used to wire
homes and electrical gear.

Dont they sell the rubber ones anymore, or are they only sold with high
end, costly equipment?

 

[whit3rd]

On Sunday, March 12, 2017 at 6:41:52 PM UTC-7, olds...@tubes.com wrote:

Back in the 60's and 70s, test leads were coated with a nice soft
rubber, which was thick, had excellent flex...

A 1972 catalog says Columbia
#01319 (red or black) 20 gage, 41 strands #36 AWG wire
#01321 (red or black) 20 gage, 41 strands #36 AWG wire
#01326 (red or black) 18 gage, 65 strands #36 AWG wire

and Dearborn
#982041 (red or black), 20 gage, 41 strands of #36 AWG wire, and
#981865 (red or black), 18 gage, 65 strands of #36 AWG wire

and Belden
#8898 (red or black) 18 gage, 65 strands of #36 wire, 10 kV insulation
#8899 (red or black or green or yellow) 18 gage, 65 strands of #36 wire, 5 kV insulation
#8890 (red or black) 24 gage, 45 strands of #40 wire, 2 kV insulation

all fit that description.

Belden still makes #8899 (Alliedelec.com has stock); a bit over a dollar a foot, 100foot spools

 

[Rheilly Phoull]

On 13/03/2017 9:40 AM, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:

Back in the 60's and 70s, test leads were coated with a nice soft
rubber, which was thick, had excellent flex, and felt good in the hands.
All test leads these days are a plastic material that is thinner and
does not have the flex or soft feel of those old rubber ones. These
modern ones are not much diferent than plain coated wire, used to wire
homes and electrical gear.

Dont they sell the rubber ones anymore, or are they only sold with high
end, costly equipment?

Theres a bit of "silicon" cable on ebay. I use it for test leads or
stuff that needs durable cables. It solders much better than the cheap
plastic stuff too.

 

[Tim R]

Yeah but those old leads are all sticky now, at least the ones I have.

I don't know what causes it but I dislike touching them.

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 03/12/2017 09:40 PM, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:

Back in the 60's and 70s, test leads were coated with a nice soft
rubber, which was thick, had excellent flex, and felt good in the hands.
All test leads these days are a plastic material that is thinner and
does not have the flex or soft feel of those old rubber ones. These
modern ones are not much diferent than plain coated wire, used to wire
homes and electrical gear.

Dont they sell the rubber ones anymore, or are they only sold with high
end, costly equipment?

Ah, you're in for a treat: Probemaster 8000 probes, $14 per set last
time I hought them:

http://probemaster.com/8000-series-standard

Nice thick gold plating, floppy silicone insulation, HV rated, I could
go on. Just buy a couple of sets and you'll bin all your old ones,
including the ones that come with Flukes.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

 

On Mon, 13 Mar 2017 11:28:21 -0700 (PDT), Tim R <timothy42b@aol.com>
wrote:

Yeah but those old leads are all sticky now, at least the ones I have.

I don't know what causes it but I dislike touching them.

I never ran into that. But I did have some (in the 70s) that dried up
and the insulation was falling off. (Needless to say, I saved the
probes, and tossed the wire in the trash).

I dont know what would cause them to be sticky, but just a thought...
wipe them down with 91% rubbing alcohol? I cant try this, since I dont
have any to try that on.... (If you try it, let us know if it worked).

I have a pair of the newer plastic ones, that probably date back to
around the late 1980s. The wires are still soft, but they developed a
tiny spot of bare wire where they enter the molded plugs on the meter
end. I fixed them with a small blob of hi temp (red) silicone caulk
intended for automotive use. Worked great!

 

On Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:34:43 +0800, Rheilly Phoull
<rheilly@bigslong.com> wrote:

On 13/03/2017 9:40 AM, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:
Back in the 60's and 70s, test leads were coated with a nice soft
rubber, which was thick, had excellent flex, and felt good in the hands.
All test leads these days are a plastic material that is thinner and
does not have the flex or soft feel of those old rubber ones. These
modern ones are not much diferent than plain coated wire, used to wire
homes and electrical gear.

Dont they sell the rubber ones anymore, or are they only sold with high
end, costly equipment?

Theres a bit of "silicon" cable on ebay. I use it for test leads or
stuff that needs durable cables. It solders much better than the cheap
plastic stuff too.

I'll have to look for that. Sounds like what I want. If it feels like
silicon spark plug wires (but thinner), that is probably ideal.

 

[Rheilly Phoull]

On 14/03/2017 3:45 AM, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:

On Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:34:43 +0800, Rheilly Phoull
rheilly@bigslong.com> wrote:

On 13/03/2017 9:40 AM, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:
Back in the 60's and 70s, test leads were coated with a nice soft
rubber, which was thick, had excellent flex, and felt good in the hands.
All test leads these days are a plastic material that is thinner and
does not have the flex or soft feel of those old rubber ones. These
modern ones are not much diferent than plain coated wire, used to wire
homes and electrical gear.

Dont they sell the rubber ones anymore, or are they only sold with high
end, costly equipment?

Theres a bit of "silicon" cable on ebay. I use it for test leads or
stuff that needs durable cables. It solders much better than the cheap
plastic stuff too.

I'll have to look for that. Sounds like what I want. If it feels like
silicon spark plug wires (but thinner), that is probably ideal.

Start with

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1M-Black-22-AWG-Soft-Silicon-Wire-Cable-300V-150-c-3239-/191231232382?hash=item2c8645097e:m:mPk_HULziaE-vUFaDV9nnWg