Section 300.14

[ActionDave]

Back in the war years when there was a copper shortage electricians were trained on how to save copper.
The boxes had a internal clamp for the BX, the installers would push excess BX into the box to work, then strip it about 2-3" long make a soldered splice and a pigtail for the outlet or light, tape it with rubber tape then pull the cable tight out of the box so there was never anywhere close to 6" in the box.
Legend has it the copper shortage was so bad at one point that some large substation transformers were shipped with silver cores 'on loan' during the war until they could be replaced with copper ones.
This affected an entire generation so later they had to be retained it's OK to have some extra wire.

I always suspected those old guys pulled the cable back after making splices.

 

[Little Bill]

I always suspected those old guys pulled the cable back after making splices.

Or had the smallest hands in the world!

 

[gene6]

Rereading my own post I decided to fact check myself on the silver transformers, I had herd the story second hand from a retired plant electrician I was able to find a history write up about it you all might find interesting:

Archives:Transformers at Pittsfield, part 1

ethw.org

So yeah they really had a copper shortage and that 3" of extra extra copper wire in each box was needed for the war.

 

[hbiss]

If that were today, they would have had to have armed guards 24/7 where the transformers were installed. Otherwise, all of a sudden the plant would lose power and they would go out and find them missing.

-Hal

 

[jap]

Rereading my own post I decided to fact check myself on the silver transformers, I had herd the story second hand from a retired plant electrician I was able to find a history write up about it you all might find interesting:

Archives:Transformers at Pittsfield, part 1

ethw.org

So yeah they really had a copper shortage and that 3" of extra extra copper wire in each box was needed for the war.

That is very interesting.

A long read , but, did the Treasury Dept. ever get their silver back out of the transformers?

Jap>