c/cable-installers

Found a trick to fish tape through insulated walls without snagging every time

I was working a job in Phoenix last month and kept getting my tape caught on that fluffy insulation in every bay (you know the stuff). After 3 tries on one run I tried wrapping the tip with a little electrical tape to smooth it out and it glided right through. Has anyone else tried something like this or got a better method for those tricky insulated walls?

Noticed a neighbor's coax junction box was completely upside down

I was swapping out a splitter for a buddy last week and saw his neighbor's box mounted with the F connectors pointing up. Rainwater pools right in the threads that way, I've seen it corrode connections in under a year. He said his cable company did it that way, which explains some of his signal issues. Has anyone else had to fix installs where the box orientation was just ignored?

Been seeing crews run coax too close to power lines in new builds

Was doing a walkthrough on a site in Phoenix last Tuesday and counted 3 different houses where the cable was stapled within a foot of the main electrical feed. That's just asking for interference or worse if that insulation ever wears down. How do you guys handle telling the GC their guys are cutting corners without making enemies on site? Any tricks to get them to fix it without it turning into a fight?

Pro tip: I used to think fiber splicing tools were overpriced...

For years I was dead set on doing all my fiber terminations with mechanical connectors and a cheap cleaver. Figured the $3000 fusion splicer was just for the big guys who wanted to show off. Then last month I had a job in Phoenix where I had to do 48 terminations in a crawl space. After 12 bad mechanical splices and a lot of cussing, my buddy loaned me his old Sumitomo. First try, 0.03db loss, took me 45 seconds. I literally just sat there staring at the thing. Now I'm looking at used ones on eBay for around $1500 and kicking myself for wasting so much time on cheap gear. Any of you guys run a budget splicer that actually holds up?

Saw a guy yesterday using zip ties on aerial drops like it was 1995

He cinched them tight around the messenger strand and I had to stop and show him how a proper lasher works, cable sag within 6 months guaranteed. Anyone else run into installers skipping the proper hardware just to shave 10 minutes off a job?

Old timer told me to use a fish stick as a grounding rod. I laughed.

Guy been doing this since the 80s. Said in a pinch a wet metal fish tape works just like a ground rod. I thought he was messing with me. Tried it on a sketchy attic run after my actual rod broke. Thing worked. Got the signal clean. Has anyone else tried something that sounds stupid but actually worked?

I finally found a use for those old cable spools

Instead of hauling them back to the shop, I started cutting them down to use as temporary cable holders on big jobs. Saves me from tripping over loose coils and I can stack three in a truck bed. Anybody else repurpose spools or just toss em?

Vent: Found a rat's nest inside a customer's attic in Aurora today

I was pulling a new line through a drop ceiling in an old house off Colfax and the whole bundle of cables was chewed through... must have been 50 feet of damaged coax. Homeowner said they heard scratching but figured it was just the pipes. How do you guys handle explaining these biohazard conditions without spooking the customer?

Blew $200 on a fancy toner that barely works in tight spots

I bought a high end toner kit thinking it would save me time on big apartment runs, but the signal keeps dropping when I'm near a power panel. Lost a whole Saturday chasing a dead line that the toner just wouldn't lock onto. Anybody else find the cheap tone generators actually hold up better in crowded boxes?

Three years ago I swore by fish tape now I barely touch it

Last week I ran a 150 foot run through an old office building downtown and used a fiberglass rod the whole way. Three years ago I would have fought with a steel fish tape for an hour on that same route. Month before that I tried one of those magnetic push rods and it saved me a trip back to the truck. I still keep a fish tape in the van for straight attic pulls but everything else gets rods or glow sticks now. Anybody else barely use fish tape anymore or is it just me getting old?

PSA: That fiber reel on the truck bed almost took out a parked car when I hit a bump on Oak Street yesterday.

I was driving through a tight residential block in Elmwood and the reel shifted forward and slammed into the tailgate, so now I always ratchet strap it down even for short trips between jobs, has anyone else had a load slide on them without warning?

Am I the only one who thinks horizontal cable management bars are overrated?

Went to a new data center in Austin last month and saw they had every cable tied straight into vertical managers with no bars at all. Looked cleaner than any rack I've seen with those horizontal bars hogging space and getting in the way. Am I missing something or are we all just following a trend that doesn't help?

Stuck on a job in a crawlspace with a bad ladder made me rethink my whole setup...

I was in a crawlspace last Tuesday in Portland and my old 6-foot fiberglass ladder kept sliding on the wet concrete. Has anyone else found a better way to secure a ladder on slippery surfaces without carrying extra gear?

Bought a $200 Klein crimper and it failed on job 3

I picked up the Klein VDV226-110 crimper from Home Depot a couple weeks ago thinking it would save me time on coax terminations. It stripped the connector threads on a drop at the Miller Apartments complex yesterday. Anyone else have trouble with these newer Klein tools?

Old guy in a pickup taught me something about lashing wire

I was out on a job in Greenville last spring, running new lines through this old neighborhood with trees everywhere. Pulled up to the pole and this older fella in a beat up Ford F-150 rolls down his window and watches me for a minute. He finally says "you're gonna fight that lashing wire all day if you don't let it run natural off the spool instead of forcing it." I thought I knew better but after 40 feet of it birdnesting on me I gave his way a try. He just nodded and drove off, never even told me his name. That one tip probably saved me 20 minutes per span on the rest of the job. Anyone else pick up a trick from a random bystander that actually worked?

Hit 15,000 feet of coax pulled this year and it caught me off guard

I was going through my job logs last night and added up all the cable I ran this year. 15,000 feet of RG6 just in residential installs around Phoenix. That's almost 3 miles of cable through attics and crawl spaces. Has anyone else ever checked their yearly totals and gotten surprised by the number?

Pro tip: Listen to the office manager, not the homeowner's promises

Last Tuesday in Phoenix I had a homeowner swear up and down that the coax was already run to the far bedroom. His office manager, Sarah, quietly handed me a flashlight and said "check the crawlspace first." Sure enough, the wire stopped at the living room wall, so I had to drill and fish a new line through 40 feet of attic. Sarah saved me from an hour of pulling my hair out. Anyone else have an office assistant who actually knows the real layout better than the owner?

A lady in Phoenix asked me if the cable box could also water her plants

Vent: My uncle told me to always carry a spare coax connector in my hat

He swore it saved him on a job in Tempe when his truck was too far away. I laughed, but last week I was on a third-floor balcony in a tight spot and dropped my last F-connector. Remembered his dumb advice, fished the spare from my baseball cap, and finished the install. What's the weirdest piece of advice that actually worked for you guys?

Heard a kid ask his dad what a 'cable guy' does now

I was at a hardware store in Springfield last week and a little boy pointed at my work van. His dad said, 'He sets up the internet,' and the kid just looked confused. It made me think about how we used to be the TV people, then the phone people, and now we're just the invisible internet utility. The job's the same wires, but nobody sees the work anymore. Anyone else feel like the trade's name doesn't fit the job we actually do?

My fish tape hit 300 feet on a pull and I was not ready for it.

I was running a new line in an old apartment building in Cincinnati, threading through a chase I thought was maybe 150 feet long. The tape just kept going until the 300 foot mark came out of the wall. I've never needed that much on a single residential job before. What's the longest pull you've ever had to measure for?

Warning: That crawl space under the old house on Elm Street was a nightmare.

Last Tuesday, I had to run a line through a space filled with old insulation and animal droppings. The heat was over 90 degrees and I was in there for two hours. My fish tape got stuck three separate times on rusty nails. Anyone else ever find a job that just makes you want to go home and shower for an hour?

My old boss in Phoenix made us use a knife and tape for every coax end, no exceptions.

I did that for three years, thinking it was the only way to get a good seal. Switched to a compression tool after moving companies, and my callbacks for water damage dropped by half in the first six months. The old method just couldn't handle the summer monsoon rains. Anyone else have a tool change that fixed a constant problem?

TIL the original coax cable spec from the 1930s could handle way more than I thought

I was reading up on some old telecom history and found out the first commercial coaxial cable, made by AT&T in 1936, could carry 240 phone calls at once. That blew my mind, thinking about the tiny copper core they were working with back then. It really puts into perspective how far the materials and shielding have come for what we run now. Has anyone else stumbled on a piece of cable history that surprised them?

I finally chose to fish a new line instead of trying to salvage the old one in a crawlspace full of rodent nests.

Spent 45 minutes wrestling with chewed-up RG6 that kept failing my meter, so I ran a fresh drop from the pole and billed for the extra 150 feet of cable, but now I'm wondering if anyone has a better method for convincing homeowners they need a full repull when the old stuff is clearly toast.