[David Dunlop]

Things took an interesting positive turn while working on the Negative Connectors Cable this last week.

I started with the usual cleaning to remove the years of waxy dirt accumulation, which resulted in pretty much the same amount of filth on my cleaning cloth as I obtained when cleaning the Positive Cable earlier. The surprise was in just how good a condition the original black coloured cotton loom was under all the dirt. So nice was it, I decided against applying any of the black shoe cream to it. Just a light rub of the Kiwi Neutral Shoe Polish and I was happy with the result.

Another find, or discovery, with the Negative Cable I had completely missed since obtaining the CONNECTORS, Twin, No. 17, was two little electrical tape patches on it. I have seen so many tape patches on electrical cables over the years, I rarely ever give them a second thought. They are always the same. A circular wrap of any number of layers of tape carefully wound over the damaged cable. These two were brand new to me, however. See the attached pictures.

When I first noticed them, I was looking at the full tape side and what struck me was that a rather wide roll of tape had been used to wrap the cable. Then, when I rolled to cable over to check for any possible loose end to the tape, I discovered these two repairs were not the usual circular warp of tape, but a careful build-up of several layers of rectangular cut patches of electrical tape. This was a first for me seeing this kind of repair. At first I thought the patches had shrunk and split but a careful look at the two opposite edges on both patches showed they were not the same lengths, even down through the layers.

I have no idea when these repairs were done, either in Military Service or in civilian life, but they are unusual enough to me to warrant they be preserved as is on the cable.


David