Over the past 4 or 5 years I have been noticing a rather worrying trend regarding conductor sizes.

10 years ago if I looked at conductor sizes I could tell the size straight off the bat. Over the past 5 years this is getting more difficult.

I am now refering to gp wire, twin & earth, norsk/surfix and armoured cables.

Is it just me that is going loopy or are other guys finding the same things.

To give you an example I bought some 6mm twin and earth and stripped the ends. Now if I look at it and guess I straight away think it is 4mm. But it came from a 6mm roll. A 6mm lug fits rather loosley and a 4mm lug goes on quite easily. The cable definately came from a roll marked as 6mm.

Another problem I have is the earth sizes on surfix and norsk cable.

I also notice that the insulation is getting thinner and thinner.

Now I brought this up at the wholesaler where I buy my material from earlier in the week and they told me they had also been noticing it.

Is this cable manufactured locally or does it come from China?