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While cleaning out our back yard shed, I came across a coil of cable of a kind that I have never seen before (image below). It was left here by the previous home owner, who worked in some kind of technical field.

It has some unusual features. Other than the fact that it has two pairs (blue, blue/white, orange, orange/white), the pairs are not twisted, and it's wrapped in a shield that is much more rigid than foil, more like thin copper (also below).

There are also what look like three streamers or tracers, two red and one blue, plus a string. The jacket is very thick, suggesting it's an underground cable. And one more thing: it's filled with some kind of grease, maybe silicone?

The jacket has some markings. One is "WE-B 2 PAIR." I did a search for that and couldn't come up with anything. Other markings are numbers, printed in vertical every two feet along the cable: 422238, 422240, 422242, etc., which obviously refers to a length measurement.

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    This site is not a forum but a question and answer site. The cable is an underground telephone cable for two telephones. Standard residential drop. – RussellH Sep 27 '22 at 22:35
  • @RussellHIt I agree with your identification, but it could be for a single telephone. Two wires come in from the exchange, they get split inside the master socket into audio and ringing circuits which then daisy chain on to one or more extensions. Usually only 3 of the 4 wires are used. Google "telephone master socket circuit" and look at the images. There is one from a defunct site (DaveFryDoes.co.uk) that is repeated multiple times on Pinterest that shows the connections. BTW the threads are for mechanical strength and their colours identify the manufacturer etc. – Peter Jennings Sep 27 '22 at 23:03
  • Why is it important to identify the cable? Do you think it has some value other than scrap copper? – Andy aka Sep 27 '22 at 23:19
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    @Andyaka "Inquiring minds want to know" - I'D want to know if I didn't know already. I have note seen identical here in NZ BUT long ago I I worked for Telecom NZ as an engineer and the colour scheme immediately cried out to me across the decades :-). I'd very very strongly suggest that the thought that this question is opinion based is very fallacious and suggestions along those lines should really not be entertained. – Russell McMahon Sep 27 '22 at 23:49
  • the string is for cutting the cable jacket ... the cable is probably good for connecting irrigation valves – jsotola Sep 27 '22 at 23:54
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    @Andyaka re "Why is it important to identify the cable? Do you think it has some value other than scrap copper?" --> For many people (like me) cable like this would be considered to have far more value in the 'resource box' that the small amount that it would return as scrap. Some tidy people don't think that way. Untidy people(such as me) certainly do. I have large quantities of cables of many different types eagerly waiting the day when they might be put to good use. Some even mnage :-). – Russell McMahon Sep 27 '22 at 23:59
  • @RussellH re "forum" --> Good advice on your part. || I also note that the term "forum" is a generic one which in this case could be felt by the OP to be synonymous with eg "site". I've edited his question to change 'forum' to 'site'. – Russell McMahon Sep 28 '22 at 00:04
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    @Andyaka - Just curiosity. What especially caught my interest was the grease inside the cable. I have never seen anything like that before. – Bill Norman Sep 28 '22 at 00:25
  • @RussellMcMahon - I am the kind of person you describe, who wants to hang onto something that may someday be useful. Consequently, I have lots of probably useless technical items squirreled away, but I can't part with them. There have been times when I was able to find some use for something there. – Bill Norman Sep 28 '22 at 00:29
  • @jsotola - Thanks for letting me know about the string. Also, thanks for the suggestion about irrigation wiring. I have been planning to add irrigation to my back yard, so that might come in handy. Will have to wait until prices come back down. If ever. – Bill Norman Sep 28 '22 at 00:33
  • @everyone - Thanks for your responses. I had wondered if anyone would have something to say about the grease or about the very rigid shielding. Seems like a POTS cable would not need either, unless it was for a highly specialized application. – Bill Norman Sep 28 '22 at 00:36
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    The heavy copper shield is resistance to vibrations encountered in many underground applications, especially in cities under roadways. It does limit the bend radius. Moisture can penetrate many sheathing materials especially over the long time period that these are expected to function. The grease serves to prevent moisture and oxygen ingress to the cable even in the presence of high groundwater. – RussellH Sep 28 '22 at 00:56
  • @Andyaka because and why not – Passerby Sep 28 '22 at 01:49
  • @BillNorman Used (or new) washing machine water inlet valves make good switchable water valves (as that's their intended role :-). Some are mains powered and some are low voltage - typically 12V. The latter probably suits you better. Cost is low o zero unless everyone in town gets the same idea. – Russell McMahon Sep 28 '22 at 03:30
  • Grease is quite common for buried data cables, cable manufacturer Belden says they use "Polyethylene grease", and that the grease prevents moisture from spreading in a damaged cable. – Jasen Слава Україні Sep 28 '22 at 04:44
  • On grease in cables: Gee, I wish our telephone cables had that. Because they dont, pre-fiber we used to have many instances of cables assuming the duty of a pipe, and carrying water right into the electrical box, which is shared by both the telephone and mains plugs. Fun times! It did not help that the jacket was oversized for some reason, conductors only took up like 50% of the internal area, rest was air – Anas Malas Sep 28 '22 at 09:19
  • If you believe [this document](https://www.telecomarchive.com/docs/bsp-archive/626/626-020-020_I3.pdf) the Cable was probably made for Western Electric by an external contractor in a Baltimore plant :-). See page 25. || In October 2021 Kraft Auctions sold [this roll of cable](https://kraftauctions.hibid.com/lot/102892838/we-b-2-twisted-pair-cable--solid-copper/) which has different wiresto your one, but the same sheat markings and a similar shield. No other useful information, alas. – Russell McMahon Sep 28 '22 at 10:56
  • @jsotola I fear that the string isn't man enough to cut through the copper armour. I've used quite a few multicore cables in my time and most of them had strings. We never used the string to cut the jacket, it was never strong enough. It may add some strength to the cable, but the colours are mainly for identification, see https://blog.loosco.com/bid/86266/what-s-with-the-colored-threads-in-my-cable – Peter Jennings Sep 28 '22 at 11:39
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    Please do not use this cable for anything carrying considerable voltage without performing a thorough inspection and insulation breakdown testing on it. You didn't say how old it was either and some of the plastics could have become brittle. Hence, be extremely careful about high voltage working. If it melts it could start a fire. – Andy aka Sep 28 '22 at 16:08
  • @RussellMcMahon Thank you for the link to that document. It makes more sense now. You must have done a lot of work to dig that up! And I seem to remember that it may have been Western Electric that the previous owner used to work. – Bill Norman Sep 28 '22 at 17:34
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    @BillNorman I liked the old roll sold at auction. The sheath looked much like yours. They included it in their "antiques and collectibles" section, suggesting that they considered it to be old. – Russell McMahon Sep 28 '22 at 18:38

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