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meirman
 
Posts: n/a
Default neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.
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zxcvbob
 
Posts: n/a
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meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.




That's not your phone cable, it belongs to the phone company. Call them
and let them deal with it. (your phone cables begin at the Network
Interconnection Device, probably on the side of your house.)

Best regards,
Bob
  #3   Report Post  
Jeff Wisnia
 
Posts: n/a
Default

meirman wrote:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


From the way you describe the repair I think it should hold up fine for
quite a while. as long as it stays above ground.

If it was me, I would have slid an appropriate diameter piece of heat
shrink tubing about 6" long onto the jacket on one side of the break,
made the four staggered in line soldered splices each covered with heat
shrink tubing, and then slid the larger heat shrink tubing back over
those four joints and over the outer jacket of the wire on the other
side of the splices and shrunk it in place. That should last as long as
the original wire itself, particularly if it's not buried.

But then, I'm anal about those kind of things.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."
  #4   Report Post  
Art Todesco
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In Illinois it is against the law for a
contractor or home owner, that is digging
on the property, to NOT to call the
Joint Utilities Locating service. They,
then
have all of the individual utilities
come out and mark the area where cables,
pipes,
etc. are buried. If someone cuts a
cable and didn't have the stuff marked, they
are liable and there may be fines imposed.

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
meirman wrote:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.
I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.



From the way you describe the repair I think it should hold up fine for
quite a while. as long as it stays above ground.

If it was me, I would have slid an appropriate diameter piece of heat
shrink tubing about 6" long onto the jacket on one side of the break,
made the four staggered in line soldered splices each covered with heat
shrink tubing, and then slid the larger heat shrink tubing back over
those four joints and over the outer jacket of the wire on the other
side of the splices and shrunk it in place. That should last as long as
the original wire itself, particularly if it's not buried.

But then, I'm anal about those kind of things.

Jeff

  #5   Report Post  
RBM
 
Posts: n/a
Default

The bottom line, if this is going underground and moisture leaks into your
splices, you're going to have hum on the phone line


"meirman" wrote in message
...
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.





  #6   Report Post  
Harry K
 
Posts: n/a
Default


meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.


So what's the problem? Get a signed slip from the contractor or
neighbor that they will pay and call the phone company. How are you
planning to explain to them a year or two down the road when your
'temporary' fix fails?

Harry K

  #7   Report Post  
CL (dnoyeB) Gilbert
 
Posts: n/a
Default

meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.


its about the same as the phone company did for my above ground line,
and it has tension on it. so that should be fine.

If it fails just call the phone company, its their line anyway. My line
is kinda low and trucks kept ripping it down. After It became appearant
to them they they would have to put a new pole up, then decided to
tighten the lines on the existing poles straigntning out the dip a bit
to get me over the trucks. Cable did same thing. So your probably good.

--
Respectfully,


CL Gilbert
  #8   Report Post  
HorneTD
 
Posts: n/a
Default

meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.


Reply is also posted.

As others have pointed out that telephone cable does not belong to you
it belongs to the telephone company. It needs to be repaired using
standard techniques. This is especially true if the cable has a copper
shield beneath it's plastic jacket. There are repair kits available
from Greybar electric that reestablish the continuity of the grounded
shield but you really need to turn it over to the telephone company and
let the contractor take his lumps on the utility locating service issue.
If you don't have it repaired by the telephone company then you may
end up footing the bill later. You didn't cut the dammed thing why make
it your problem.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison



--
Tom Horne


Well we aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards to.
We're just working men and woman most remarkable like you.
  #9   Report Post  
Dick Yuknavech
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 23:14:47 -0400, meirman wrote in alt.home.repair:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

Call the phone company.

Last month the people burying the TV cable made hash out of my phone
cable. BellSouth came in promptly and repaired it free. If you can be
home when the repair person does the job, watch it and marvel at the
technology in that splice.

Besides, it's a real hoot going through the automated menu system as it
tries to suggest different possibilities for where the problem might be
while you're sitting there holding a foot of severed cable in your hand
and no way to say so.

--

Why put fault tolerance in the OS, when it's already built into the
User?
  #10   Report Post  
meirman
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:18:17 GMT HorneTD
posted:

meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.
...

Thanks. Meirman


Reply is also posted.

As others have pointed out that telephone cable does not belong to you
it belongs to the telephone company. It needs to be repaired using
standard techniques. This is especially true if the cable has a copper
shield beneath it's plastic jacket. There are repair kits available


There definitely was no copper shield. Just 4 wires. Each insulated
of course with another layer of insulation around all four.

This doesn't change your mind, does it?

BTW, two of them were white! They connected the white wires one way
and my phone didn't work. So they reversed it and my phone does
work**.

As to the other pair of wires, I can't tell because there is no phone
number on that line. Maybe they could if I plugged a phone into the
second line of the interface box.

from Greybar electric that reestablish the continuity of the grounded
shield but you really need to turn it over to the telephone company and
let the contractor take his lumps on the utility locating service issue.
If you don't have it repaired by the telephone company then you may
end up footing the bill later. You didn't cut the dammed thing why make
it your problem.
--
Tom Horne


BTW, I like to see people's signatures when I quote them, but your
double hyphen, --, makes it look like you are trying to avoid that.
Add one space after the second hyphen and it will work.

P&Mailed

Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.


  #11   Report Post  
meirman
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In alt.home.repair on Sat, 20 Aug 2005 23:30:31 -0400 Jeff Wisnia
posted:

meirman wrote:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.

......


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


From the way you describe the repair I think it should hold up fine for
quite a while. as long as it stays above ground.


Well I don't have to look at it. It's on their side of my bushes.
FTM, they had bushes or plants there too and plan to plant new ones.

But someone might bury it, come to think of it, if not them, whoever
comes later.

If it was me, I would have slid an appropriate diameter piece of heat
shrink tubing about 6" long onto the jacket on one side of the break,
made the four staggered in line soldered splices each covered with heat
shrink tubing, and then slid the larger heat shrink tubing back over
those four joints and over the outer jacket of the wire on the other
side of the splices and shrunk it in place. That should last as long as
the original wire itself, particularly if it's not buried.


I normally do all this when fixing something indoors or in my car. I
hate to say it, but I was intimidated by the fact that the 2 guys were
waiting. And that all four pair had already been twisted together.
Then again, they probably could have found something to do.
But they didn't say anything like "Take your time" and one even
insisted that twisting the wires and taping was good enough, and I'm
sure that's not true.

But then, I'm anal about those kind of things.


I think you do it right.

Jeff



Meirman
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meirman
 
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In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:09:20 GMT Dick Yuknavech
I-give-up.@dontspamcom posted:

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 23:14:47 -0400, meirman wrote in alt.home.repair:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

Call the phone company.

Last month the people burying the TV cable made hash out of my phone
cable. BellSouth came in promptly and repaired it free. If you can be


They didn't charge you because you didn't do it. But either they
charged the cable tv people, or they have some sort of deal between
mutual repeat offenders.

BTW, I forgot that although my dial-up connection speed varies quite a
bit, in about 15 connections since then, it has never gotten to the
speed it used to get to often. At least 13K short.

I know with cable a bad connection can cause reflections, maybe like
splicing a heavy rope to a string or light rope, and then shaking the
light rope, I think it is. You'll see a wave go down the light rope
until the splice and then part of the wave will continue onto the
heavy rope, and part will reflect back on the light rope. This will
cause ghosts with cable tv sometimes.

I don't know if a solder joint that is thicker than the original wire
was, or more or less conductive than the original wire, can cause a
reflection or some other phenomenon, but I wouldn't be surprised.

In fact, I'm not sure now any repair they can do will leave me in as
good as a situation as I was.

But you've convinced me that it would be better than what I did.


home when the repair person does the job, watch it and marvel at the
technology in that splice.

Besides, it's a real hoot going through the automated menu system as it
tries to suggest different possibilities for where the problem might be
while you're sitting there holding a foot of severed cable in your hand
and no way to say so.



Meirman
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meirman
 
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In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 05:05:35 GMT Art Todesco
posted:

In Illinois it is against the law for a
contractor or home owner, that is digging
on the property, to NOT to call the
Joint Utilities Locating service. They,
then
have all of the individual utilities
come out and mark the area where cables,
pipes,
etc. are buried. If someone cuts a
cable and didn't have the stuff marked, they
are liable and there may be fines imposed.


Just about the same thing here, in Md. I think the phone number is
Miss-utility. (Or Miss-uti) They advertise it all the time.

But in this case, they saw the phone lines. They come out of the
ground and then go seven feet across our little patios to the front
wall. One of the men was holding the wires out of the way, while the
other one used a five-foot rod with a wider part on the end (I've
never seen one before) to jab at the cement in the ground. The top of
that was about 8 inches down, in the hole that removing the old 4x4
fence post made, expanded by them.

Eventually they got the chunk of cement out so they could put the new
4x4 farther into the ground. I don't think jabbing it with that rod
did any good but I wasn't watching. Maybe they pushed the cement chunk
sideways with the rod, so one of them could put his hands on either
side and pull it out, but they should have pried instead.

Or used a shorter rod, held it in the right place, on the cement 8
inches below the wires, and hit it with a sledge.



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Art
 
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Here in NC I have had the phone company make a repair on cable cut by a
contractor and they don't ask for names so I assume they are not charging
anybody. It surprised the heck out of me. Maybe they prefer a good free
fix rather than a burried amateur splice that they will have to find in a
few years.


"meirman" wrote in message
news
In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:09:20 GMT Dick Yuknavech
I-give-up.@dontspamcom posted:

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 23:14:47 -0400, meirman wrote in alt.home.repair:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

Call the phone company.

Last month the people burying the TV cable made hash out of my phone
cable. BellSouth came in promptly and repaired it free. If you can be


They didn't charge you because you didn't do it. But either they
charged the cable tv people, or they have some sort of deal between
mutual repeat offenders.

BTW, I forgot that although my dial-up connection speed varies quite a
bit, in about 15 connections since then, it has never gotten to the
speed it used to get to often. At least 13K short.

I know with cable a bad connection can cause reflections, maybe like
splicing a heavy rope to a string or light rope, and then shaking the
light rope, I think it is. You'll see a wave go down the light rope
until the splice and then part of the wave will continue onto the
heavy rope, and part will reflect back on the light rope. This will
cause ghosts with cable tv sometimes.

I don't know if a solder joint that is thicker than the original wire
was, or more or less conductive than the original wire, can cause a
reflection or some other phenomenon, but I wouldn't be surprised.

In fact, I'm not sure now any repair they can do will leave me in as
good as a situation as I was.

But you've convinced me that it would be better than what I did.


home when the repair person does the job, watch it and marvel at the
technology in that splice.

Besides, it's a real hoot going through the automated menu system as it
tries to suggest different possibilities for where the problem might be
while you're sitting there holding a foot of severed cable in your hand
and no way to say so.



Meirman
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or not you are posting the same letter.
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  #15   Report Post  
Don
 
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"meirman" wrote in message
...
In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:18:17 GMT HorneTD
posted:

meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.
...

Thanks. Meirman


Reply is also posted.

As others have pointed out that telephone cable does not belong to you
it belongs to the telephone company. It needs to be repaired using
standard techniques. This is especially true if the cable has a copper
shield beneath it's plastic jacket. There are repair kits available


There definitely was no copper shield. Just 4 wires. Each insulated
of course with another layer of insulation around all four.

This doesn't change your mind, does it?

BTW, two of them were white! They connected the white wires one way
and my phone didn't work. So they reversed it and my phone does
work**.

As to the other pair of wires, I can't tell because there is no phone
number on that line. Maybe they could if I plugged a phone into the
second line of the interface box.

from Greybar electric that reestablish the continuity of the grounded
shield but you really need to turn it over to the telephone company and
let the contractor take his lumps on the utility locating service issue.
If you don't have it repaired by the telephone company then you may
end up footing the bill later. You didn't cut the dammed thing why make
it your problem.
--
Tom Horne


BTW, I like to see people's signatures when I quote them, but your
double hyphen, --, makes it look like you are trying to avoid that.
Add one space after the second hyphen and it will work.

P&Mailed

Meirman
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or not you are posting the same letter.
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You might want to look carefully at the white wires for a color tracer.
Standard color coding for the first two lines is as follows:

Line 1
Tip green OR white with blue trace
Ring red OR blue with white trace

Ling 2
Tip black OR white with orange trace
Ring yellow OR orange with white trace

HTH!

Don





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HorneTD
 
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meirman wrote:
In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:18:17 GMT HorneTD
posted:


meirman wrote:

The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.
...

Thanks. Meirman


Reply is also posted.

As others have pointed out that telephone cable does not belong to you
it belongs to the telephone company. It needs to be repaired using
standard techniques. This is especially true if the cable has a copper
shield beneath it's plastic jacket. There are repair kits available



There definitely was no copper shield. Just 4 wires. Each insulated
of course with another layer of insulation around all four.

This doesn't change your mind, does it?

BTW, two of them were white! They connected the white wires one way
and my phone didn't work. So they reversed it and my phone does
work**.

As to the other pair of wires, I can't tell because there is no phone
number on that line. Maybe they could if I plugged a phone into the
second line of the interface box.

from Greybar electric that reestablish the continuity of the grounded


shield but you really need to turn it over to the telephone company and
let the contractor take his lumps on the utility locating service issue.
If you don't have it repaired by the telephone company then you may
end up footing the bill later. You didn't cut the dammed thing why make
it your problem.
--
Tom Horne



BTW, I like to see people's signatures when I quote them, but your
double hyphen, --, makes it look like you are trying to avoid that.
Add one space after the second hyphen and it will work.

P&Mailed

Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.


Meirman
It's your lifeline that you are splicing with materials that are
not suitable for burial. It will go bad at the worst possible moment.
You didn't cut it so it should be repaired at the expense of the
contractor that did cut it. The splice kit for the two pair cable you
describe comes with a mold and an epoxy filler that makes an absolutely
waterproof seal over the Insulating Displacing Connectors (IDCs) that
are prefilled with water proofing compound.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison


--
Tom Horne


Well we aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards to.
We're just working men and woman most remarkable like you.
  #17   Report Post  
Tony Hwang
 
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meirman wrote:
The neighbor's contractor cut my phone line

Is soldering and taping good enough for an outdoor phone line repair?

Or should I have the phone company come and do it according to its
standards?

I don't want to get stuck paying later, when the contractor is long
gone and maybe the neighbor too.


The neighbor's contractor was working right at the property line and
cut my phone line. I found him with the 4 wires stripped from each
end, and he was wrapping the wires together, and going to use wire
nuts and electrical tape.

I stopped him and soldered the connections, used his wire nuts for
some reason, and then used stretch tape (I think it is called silicon
tape) which normally gives a much better seal, afaict. But I don't
really know how long the tape lasts. The splice is two inches above
the dirt, and would look better covered with dirt (which I guess they
didn't do, because I had complained that just wrapping the wires isn't
good enough for an underground connection.)

All 4 of my solders were good. No possible cold solders.

The neighbor himself suggested I call the phone company, and that he
would pay. The woman at the repair office won't tell me how much they
charge for this until the repairman comes out. And then I will have
to pay for the service call. The woman admitted a lot of people don't
call them, of course.

I don't want the neighbor or even the contractor to pay if my repair
is good enough, but if I don't get him to pay now, when it breaks
later, the contractor will be long gone, and maybe my neighbor too.
And I'll have to pay.


(The contractors didn't cut a buried wire. They knew the wire was
there and one was holding it out of the way, while the other used a 4-
or 5-foot rod to jab at the cement left in the ground from a fence
post. He hit it several times before he cut the wire. ) They
should have used a rod that they held in place, and hit it with a
sledge or something, instead of moving the whole 5 foot pole, right?

(FWIW, they also didn't tell me they had cut my line, didn't apologize
when I found out (I was 15 feet away and on the ohter side of bushes,
but I heard one talk to the other), didn't tell me they were going to
"fix" it or when, and I was going to call the phone company when I
went outside again to do a temporary repair, and saw that they had
started their repair. I don't think they planned to tell me at all
that they had cut it.)

Thanks.


Meirman
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or not you are posting the same letter.
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Hi,
Your job is to report the incident to your phone co. They'll take care
of everything. The cable is not your property. Your phone service is
interrupted for whatever reason, they will take care of it properly.
Tony
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Dick Yuknavech
 
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On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:53:34 -0400, meirman wrote in alt.home.repair:

In alt.home.repair on Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:09:20 GMT Dick Yuknavech
I-give-up.@dontspamcom posted:


Last month the people burying the TV cable made hash out of my phone
cable. BellSouth came in promptly and repaired it free. If you can be


They didn't charge you because you didn't do it. But either they
charged the cable tv people, or they have some sort of deal between
mutual repeat offenders.

I didn't get that impression from the phone repair guy, but then he's
not in Legal or Accounting. What he did say that was real cute was after
I'd idly mentioned that the spray-paint marking of the gas line was a
good, almost solid yellow line but the phone line marking was just a few
orange dots in the dirt. He came back with: it doesn't matter how well
you mark it; those cable clowns think the orange line marks where
they're supposed to dig. A bit of levity. I didn't ask how often the
phone-line burying guys slice and dice the TV cable.

BTW, I forgot that although my dial-up connection speed varies quite a
bit, in about 15 connections since then, it has never gotten to the
speed it used to get to often. At least 13K short.


Roger that. My phone line got cut right after I moved in here and I
spliced it myself. Did rather a fine job if I do say so myself. The
phone cable is filled with a gel-slime (probably a lot of silicon chains
in there), so I used solder, shrink-wrap, much tape, and over all some
plastic tubing just a bit larger in I.D. than the cable's O.D. I then
pumped that full of the highest quality silicone caulk, taped the ends
closed and re-buried the cable. That was a few years before 56KB came
in, but when it did I was enjoying 46-point-something KB for quite a
while. It then slowly started to deteriorate. BellSouth came in when I
asked a couple of years ago and replaced the entire 50-something foot
run from the curbside box to the house entry box. After that I was
locked in at 49.x KB, which persists even after last month's splice.

The official splice is a big heavy plastic thing that clamps onto all
the little wires AND the conductive sheath. The repair guy said that
last was more important than you'd suppose. It's also full of the same
sili-slime that's in the cable. Well, at least it feels the same. Uck!

I don't know if a solder joint that is thicker than the original wire
was, or more or less conductive than the original wire, can cause a
reflection or some other phenomenon, but I wouldn't be surprised.


It's been a long time since I've looked at that kind of stuff, but I'd
really suspect that the frequencies of interest in an analog phone line
wouldn't be sensitive to that.

In fact, I'm not sure now any repair they can do will leave me in as
good as a situation as I was.


As I said above, it's working for me - for a couple of months anyway.
Ask me next decade. BTW, there are TWO of those splicy thingys in the
cable. When I said they'd made hash out of the thing I wasn't kidding.
There were no fewer than five breaks in it, so the Bell guy just cut out
that whole section and spliced in about 10 feet of new cable.

But you've convinced me that it would be better than what I did.


Yeah, that's my gut feeling.

--

Why put fault tolerance in the OS, when it's already built into the
User?
  #19   Report Post  
Bob Vaughan
 
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In article ,
Don wrote:


You might want to look carefully at the white wires for a color tracer.
Standard color coding for the first two lines is as follows:

Line 1
Tip green OR white with blue trace
Ring red OR blue with white trace

Ling 2
Tip black OR white with orange trace
Ring yellow OR orange with white trace


The wires are probably solid colors, without stripes.

The color code varies slightly between indoor station wire, and outdoor
cable.

On indoor cable, sometimes you find color+stripe, paired with the matching
color+stripe (ie: white/blue stripe paired with blue/white stripe).

On outdoor cable, you normally find color paired with opposing color, without
the additional stripe. (ie: white paired with blue).

The manufacturers sometimes make it easier on inside wire, but not always.
I have used a lot of cat-5 cable that was coded using solid colors only.
Standard cat-1 telephone station wire tends to have the additional stripes,
cat-5 seems to be about 50/50.


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