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