Will Sky installer route cable OVER the roof?

quenching

Just wondering if a Sky installer would be happy to route cables from the dish on the back of the house to a front downstairs room by throwing the cable over the roof and drilling through the external wall at the front of the house?

Is this standard practice or do they usually prefer not to do this?

Q

cullenswood

That's what they did when installing my dish and there was no issue at all.

Uthur

quenching wrote:

Just wondering if a Sky installer would be happy to route cables from the dish on the back of the house to a front downstairs room by throwing the cable over the roof and drilling through the external wall at the front of the house?

Is this standard practice or do they usually prefer not to do this?

Q

I just got Sky and the guy said he normally does this.

L1011

They often will.

*waits for bytech to explain why its a bad idea*

Rippy

Bad idea. I suppose The ability to throw a coil of cable over a roof comes easily to cowboys. Lassoo skills? If the cable is left loose on the roof it is going to flap around in the wind, ruubing against the abrasive tile edges until the outer sheating is worn away.and allows water into the cable. I had to replace a sat. receiver for a customer today where the original installer had done this. Water travelled down the cable into the tuner of the box.
I prefer to route cables through the attic. I know many sky installers do not go into the attic. If a cable does go over the roof , it should be secured every couple of metres with llops of wire pushed under the tile/slate.

L1011

Congratulations! Thats exactly what Byte was going to say!

Rippy

MYOB wrote:

Congratulations! Thats exactly what Byte was going to say!

I thought I would save him the bother. I bet his typing would have been better than mine though!:D
I had to replace another sat box this week with the same problem. This installation had only been in a couple of months, and this time I throw my hands up and admit it was one of my own!
Customer reported loss of signal. Removed cable from box and water pi$$ed out.
Centre core had rotted away in f conn. Checked connection at lnb , almalgamating tape ok and dry f conn. Water had got into the CT100 cable at one of the points where I had clipped it to the pebble-dashed wall. I guess a sharp little stone was enough to cut the outer sheathing. I very carefully hammered off the stones before fixxing the replacement cable. First, and I hope the last, time this has happened to me. I am considering changing my installation practice and fitting a f joiner (back to back connector) at the end of the cable before it attaches to the tuner as a water trap in case it ever happens again.
Anyone know if you can get replacement tuners for Technomate tm1000 s ?

byte

Rippy wrote:

Bad idea. I suppose The ability to throw a coil of cable over a roof comes easily to cowboys. Lassoo skills? If the cable is left loose on the roof it is going to flap around in the wind, ruubing against the abrasive tile edges until the outer sheating is worn away.and allows water into the cable. I had to replace a sat. receiver for a customer today where the original installer had done this. Water travelled down the cable into the tuner of the box.
I prefer to route cables through the attic. I know many sky installers do not go into the attic. If a cable does go over the roof , it should be secured every couple of metres with llops of wire pushed under the tile/slate.

What he said

L1011

I'm so messy with my cable installs they'd never be clipped tight enough to the wall for pebble-dashing to cut it... but it must have been a serious leak for water to make its way UP the drip loop...

You did put one of these in, right :P

Tony

Pebble dash is the worst idea ever thought of

Rippy wrote:

I thought I would save him the bother. I bet his typing would have been better than mine though!:D
I had to replace another sat box this week with the same problem. This installation had only been in a couple of months, and this time I throw my hands up and admit it was one of my own!
Customer reported loss of signal. Removed cable from box and water pi$$ed out.
Centre core had rotted away in f conn. Checked connection at lnb , almalgamating tape ok and dry f conn. Water had got into the CT100 cable at one of the points where I had clipped it to the pebble-dashed wall. I guess a sharp little stone was enough to cut the outer sheathing. I very carefully hammered off the stones before fixxing the replacement cable. First, and I hope the last, time this has happened to me. I am considering changing my installation practice and fitting a f joiner (back to back connector) at the end of the cable before it attaches to the tuner as a water trap in case it ever happens again.
Anyone know if you can get replacement tuners for Technomate tm1000 s ?

Raytown Rocks

If the wall is pebble dashed, would you not use t-clips.
Takes a bit longer as you have to drill, but saves the hassle of trying
to clip to pebble dash.
I have used them a lot of times and they are quite handy.

Raiser

Rippy wrote:

Bad idea. I suppose The ability to throw a coil of cable over a roof comes easily to cowboys. Lassoo skills? If the cable is left loose on the roof it is going to flap around in the wind, ruubing against the abrasive tile edges until the outer sheating is worn away.and allows water into the cable. I had to replace a sat. receiver for a customer today where the original installer had done this. Water travelled down the cable into the tuner of the box.
I prefer to route cables through the attic. I know many sky installers do not go into the attic. If a cable does go over the roof , it should be secured every couple of metres with llops of wire pushed under the tile/slate.

- For months at home I was occasionally getting a stalled picture and odd pixelisation on the screen - eventually the Panasonic Sky box failed. While waiting for the replacement box I noticed a pool of water by the cable as it lay on sitting room floor.

"Cowboys" had lasoo'd cable over roof - I just put a bit of silicone sealant into the end and carried on as I was getting Sky+ anyhow [fitted today in fact] & was careful to make sure it was alway switched off at the socket when leaving house or going to bed.

- This is a terrible idea that will save a lazy installer 20mins and may burn your house down as you snooze with your remote in yer hand.......

P.S. Opened first Sky box that had failed and it was nicely black and charred in there.

P.S.S. In the last house the installer wanted to mount the dish 7 feet off the ground just over the dining room window 'cause he wasn't arsed getting his self up his shiny new ladder - wasn't having that either :rolleyes:

legend99

Lads,

Where could I get enough amalgamating tape to just cover the 4 connections going into my Quad LNB....there is no tape on any of the 4 connections. Is it just a case of wrapping the tape around the F connectors and then tightening them back on?? Does that protective shield that is part of the Quad and which slides down over the actual connectors offer any protection from the rain?

My four wires as well are nailed onto pebble dash...any thing one can do to try and ensure that no water can get in?

Rippy

MYOB wrote:

I'm so messy with my cable installs they'd never be clipped tight enough to the wall for pebble-dashing to cut it... but it must have been a serious leak for water to make its way UP the drip loop...

You did put one of these in, right :P

Of course! A drip loop only stops water running down the OUTSIDE of the cable from entering the wall. Water inside will still flow some way up, and along the level.

Rippy

legend99 wrote:

Lads,

Where could I get enough amalgamating tape to just cover the 4 connections going into my Quad LNB....there is no tape on any of the 4 connections. Is it just a case of wrapping the tape around the F connectors and then tightening them back on?? Does that protective shield that is part of the Quad and which slides down over the actual connectors offer any protection from the rain?

My four wires as well are nailed onto pebble dash...any thing one can do to try and ensure that no water can get in?

I always wrap tte f conns on quads in almalgamating tape. Those built in sheilds uuually leave the bottom of the f exposed. Just scrounge a length of tape off of the next installer you see at work. Failing that buy a hose repair kit from a hardware store.

L1011

Rippy wrote:

Of course! A drip loop only stops water running down the OUTSIDE of the cable from entering the wall. Water inside will still flow some way up, and along the level.

Good, I don't have to hunt you down and kill you then The cowboys that have done some of the people across the road have done front wall, 8 foot off ground, cable straight in setuos

At least with a drip loop, and foam dielectric, the chances of water that gets into the cable getting in to the box is minimised somewhat - doesn't just run down the foam as it does the channels in airspaced cable, and then it has to fight gravity.

Tony

Raiser wrote:

- This is a terrible idea that will save a lazy installer 20mins and may burn your house down as you snooze with your remote in yer hand.......

A little dramatic, no? I've never heard of a house fire as a result of a satellite install.

watty

legend99 wrote:

Lads,

Where could I get enough amalgamating tape to just cover the 4 connections going into my Quad LNB....there is no tape on any of the 4 connections. Is it just a case of wrapping the tape around the F connectors and then tightening them back on?? Does that protective shield that is part of the Quad and which slides down over the actual connectors offer any protection from the rain?

My four wires as well are nailed onto pebble dash...any thing one can do to try and ensure that no water can get in?

The pop down cover is sufficient. You can't seal a Quattro or Quad LNB with tape.

The cable should go below any hole into a house (which should slope up slightly from outside) and in small loop curve back in. Possibly with Silicone sealant.

watty

Rippy wrote:

I always wrap tte f conns on quads in almalgamating tape. Those built in sheilds uuually leave the bottom of the f exposed. Just scrounge a length of tape off of the next installer you see at work. Failing that buy a hose repair kit from a hardware store.

If proper connectors:
1) They are not exposed at all
2) The bottom exposed doesn't matter anyway
3) Professional compression F-Connectors are waterproof.
4) It is junction of rotating nut/ shield and the thread of socket that must be protected from rain.
5) Since you can't tape the connectors individually on Quad/Quattro, you are creating a pocket for water to collect. Adding tape here makes it worse.

Rippy

watty wrote:

If proper connectors:
1) They are not exposed at all
2) The bottom exposed doesn't matter anyway
3) Professional compression F-Connectors are waterproof.
4) It is junction of rotating nut/ shield and the thread of socket that must be protected from rain.
5) Since you can't tape the connectors individually on Quad/Quattro, you are creating a pocket for water to collect. Adding tape here makes it worse.

1/ SOME models of quad (usually with a slide down cover) leave the bottom
of the F- conn. exposed.

2/ I have seen corroded terminals where the bottom has been left exposed.
Particularly on the coast.

3/ Compression F conns are very expensive. They are not the only
professional type of connector. I use Thomas and Betts crimp on.
I am considering using compression type subject to sourcing at a reasonable
price.

4/ Agreed these are the most vulnerable parts of the connection.

5/ If one is careful and dextrous it is possible to tape them individually.
It is usually then possible to pull the shield down over the wrapped connectors.

I have now also switched to wf100 (foam) cable rather than ct100 (air- spaced).

byte

I'd also be interested in a cheap source of compression F's.

Tony

byte wrote:

I'd also be interested in a cheap source of compression F's.

I use this guy http://www.siegershop.de/index.html?language=en