Loading…
12
Vent: newer guys keep zip tying the drop to the mast, and two crews in Phoenix just failed QA because of it
I keep seeing this on almost every ride along I do lately. The new guys are zip tying the drop cable tight to the mast right where it comes off the hook, and it looks clean, I get why they do it. But here is the thing, that cable needs to move. When it gets to 115 degrees out here in Phoenix, that jacket expands, and if it is pinned tight to the mast it has nowhere to go. I have pulled three drops in the last 6 months that were crushed flat right at that tie point, and the signal loss showed up on the meter every time. The old rule I learned from a guy named Ray back in 2011 was leave a loop the size of your fist and let the cable hang loose before you dress it in. So which side are you on, do you zip tie at the mast for the clean look, or do you leave that slack loop and let it breathe? I want to hear from guys working hot climates especially, because maybe I am wrong about this.
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
paul_stone2919d ago
Man, I gotta push back on one thing here. The heat is not what's crushing those drops, it's the tie itself. That cable jacket does not expand enough at 115 to crush itself flat, if it did every drop in a vault would be toast. What actually happens is the zip tie gets cranked down way too tight and the cable can't slide, so when it does move from heat or wind or a tech bumping it, it kinks right at the pinch point. I ran a route in Mesa for 4 years and every bad drop I found had a zip tie mark, not a heat mark. So yeah, leave the loop and let it breathe, but the real fix is a loose tie or a proper hanger so it can slide. Ray was right about the fist loop, he just had the reason a little sideways.
7