Just realized old Romex has way more copper than the new stuff

I was rewiring a 1950s house last week and when I stripped the old cloth covered wire, the copper was thicker than any 12 gauge I've seen in 20 years. Took me an extra 10 minutes per box just wrestling it into the junction. What's the deal with this skimping on modern wire, or am I just getting old?

3 comments

3 Comments

miamitchell1mo agoMost Upvoted

Nah I gotta push back on this a little lol. The old stuff had more copper because manufacturing standards were different and they didn't have the same cost cutting pressures. But calling it "skimping" is kinda misleading. Modern wire has to pass way stricter safety tests and insulation requirements. That thicker copper you're remembering was actually harder to work with and caused more heat buildup in tight spaces. Plus the alloy thing is real but it's not about cheaping out. They tweak the blend to make it more flexible and resistant to corrosion over time. Honestly I'll take modern wire that doesn't crack when I bend it over the old rock solid stuff that fights you every inch of the way.

thea8571mo ago

Man, that old cloth stuff was a beast to work with but the copper was always thicc. My grandpa used to save the scraps from his jobs back in the 60s and melted them down into fishing weights, said the wire back then was almost pure copper compared to what they started putting in later. I noticed the same thing when I helped a buddy update his place from the 70s, the ground wire alone was like a solid rod. Makes you wonder if these companies are just using cheaper alloys now or if they figure nobody's gonna notice a few strands missing.

victor_adams14d ago

Your grandpa melted it down into fishing weights? @miamitchell that's wild I didn't know that was a thing.