New Install Today Extra Cable for Sky +

SPARTAN33

Hi Folks

Just one other quick query, when the guy installed the Sky today, he had to run an extra cable for the Sky plus, When we bought the house a few months ago the sky dish was left by previous owners. And the cabling was exsiting since the house was built. But we wanted Sky plus in the sitting room so he had to run an extra cable so he ran it through the attic and out the front of the house down the along the wall to ground level and drilled through to the sitting room and connected from there, is this the norm for this type of installation or could he have done it differently? Its a superwarm home so the interior walls are timber frame, could he have just drilled down from the attic to the downstairs and the internal wall? I guess the existing conduit wouldnt have been wide enough for another cable?.

von Smallhausen

his way would of been the quickest way for him....as im sure he had more installs to do that day.

Sam Radford

Sky installers are generally not permitted to drill internal walls or ceilings because (I think) there's a risk of hitting mains wiring, central heating pipes, gas pipes etc.

Aquos76

Plus the conduit does not always go the full length of the wall, especially on timber frame houses.

Qprmeath

Sam Radford wrote: »

Sky installers are generally not permitted to drill internal walls or ceilings because (I think) there's a risk of hitting mains wiring, central heating pipes, gas pipes etc.

Is there not the same risk with drilling through the external walls? They are just cutting corners, trying to save themselves 5 inutes rather than doing it right.

Tony

Drilling down through an internal wall would take a lot longer than five minutes and is both risky to the customers property and dangerous. What alternative would you suggest to drilling an external wall?

Qprmeath wrote: »

Is there not the same risk with drilling through the external walls? They are just cutting corners, trying to save themselves 5 inutes rather than doing it right.

TheDriver

think about the price of installation, there is barely any money going for installation compared to say what you would pay an electrician to put in wires. I did the internal wire route in my house myself and it took a long time so external wall is usual way to do these things.

Qprmeath

This is my experience whidh I posted on another thread

"When I originally got Sky the installer wanted to run the cable through the wall beside the telly rather than going in to the attic which was wired for installation. For the sake of saving him about 5 minutes I would have had an ugly great hole in my sitting room wall and the cable running around my sitting room to the decoder."

The whole thing was set up for the installer but he still wanted to drill through solid block walls to save him time. Maybe installation is not as simple as this in some cases.

TheDriver

Thats a different story then when existing wiring is there unless getting into the attic was a difficult job.
To actually run cables through a house is asking someone to do a fairly big job that they aren't being paid for.As much as I agree with people's annoyance that drilling holes is a last resort, I see why installers drill from outside in due to cost and time

Tony

Thats an entirely different situation to what the OP referred to.

Qprmeath wrote: »

This is my experience whidh I posted on another thread

"When I originally got Sky the installer wanted to run the cable through the wall beside the telly rather than going in to the attic which was wired for installation. For the sake of saving him about 5 minutes I would have had an ugly great hole in my sitting room wall and the cable running around my sitting room to the decoder."

The whole thing was set up for the installer but he still wanted to drill through solid block walls to save him time. Maybe installation is not as simple as this in some cases.

zagmund

Just as a matter of interest, what is the recommended/standard install method in a house without any sort of distribution mechanism and when does it start to become a 'special' job for the installer ?

We got Sky in just before Christmas and the work appeared pretty good at first glance. At the end of the day, the dish is wired up and the boxes are working, so everything is functional, but the finish on the job isn't the best.

Before the guy came I had a look and thought the easiest way was likely to be to run the cable along the gutter/eaves, around the front of the house and down the wall and then pass it through two new holes in the wall to the rooms. This is pretty much what he did, but instead of tacking the cable along the underside of the eaves he put it into the gutter itself. I know this isn't exactly ideal and the cable will get damaged in the long run, so I am going to get the ladder out and tack it along the eaves myself.

He didn't seal the holes he drilled in the walls. As it happens, this suits since I will pass a power lead for the Christmas lights out before I seal it up myself to make it easier for next years lights, but I presume sealing would normally be part of the deal ?

And finally, the cable comes down the outside of the down pipe (better than the inside I guess) with a few cable ties - it looks a little tacky to be honest and I was expecting the cable run down from the eaves to be more flush to the wall. Is it normal to bring the cable down the down pipe ?

Finally, finally he left about 3m or so of the working cable inside the living room - at the moment it's behind the sideboard so it's not a problem, but again I would have expected the cabling to be tacked above/to the skirting board rather than just left loose on the floor. Or am I just sounding too fussy ?

z

zagmund

Just to be clear, a number of the bits I mention above actually suit me so I'm not really giving out. I could certainly do without having to get up the ladder and tack the cable under the eaves, but it's not going to kill me.

I'm just wondering what the normal level of finish is supposed to be like. Sky aren't that good at specifying it on any of the documents or webpages I have seen so far.

z

TheDriver

zagmund wrote: »

He didn't seal the holes he drilled in the walls. As it happens, this suits since I will pass a power lead for the Christmas lights out before I seal it up myself to make it easier for next years lights, but I presume sealing would normally be part of the deal ?

Thats the only big no no as far as I can see, rest is just neatness issues.

Tony

TheDriver wrote: »

Thats the only big no no as far as I can see, rest is just neatness issues.

Indeed yes holes should have been sealed however passing 220v mains through the same hole is not the best thing to do as its usual to have separation and a physical barrier bewteen high and low voltage cables.

jaggiebunnet

the install sounds like my sky+ install (i don;t mind the cable down the front of the house although my wife was not best pleased), no sealant either - not that it has ever caused a problem - should i seal for good measure though - what is the recommended sealant?

Tony

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

t what is the recommended sealant?

Silicone works best and also worth checking that there is a "drip loop" on the cable

jaggiebunnet

Tony wrote: »

Silicone works best and also worth checking that there is a "drip loop" on the cable

by drip loop do you mean the cable goes up through the wall leaving a curve in the cable for drips as opposed to the cable being level into the wall or the cable running down into the wall? (poor description but hopefully gives the picture) if so it does i remember checking that based on recommendations on this forum before and have never found any water in the house (thank God!)

Tony

It means the cable goes down before it enters the hole so that rainwater drops off.

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

by drip loop do you mean the cable goes up through the wall leaving a curve in the cable for drips as opposed to the cable being level into the wall or the cable running down into the wall? (poor description but hopefully gives the picture) if so it does i remember checking that based on recommendations on this forum before and have never found any water in the house (thank God!)

jaggiebunnet

Tony wrote: »

It means the cable goes down before it enters the hole so that rainwater drops off.

yeah thats the one

muffler

A couple of years back I was getting the sky+ installed (already had the standard sky box) and these 2 geezers landed at 8 in the morning and having looked at the existing set up one of them said he would have to charge an additional €50 as it wasn't a "standard" installation despite the previous installation being "standard".

I just give him one of "those" looks and he immediately said he would do it for €20. I told him I would think about it while he was installing and the idiot went on with the installation. I did however give him the €20 although I could have turfed him out as i hadn't agreed to anything.

Watch yourselves people. I think some of these installers arrive on horseback.

martincodd

Been thinking about getting the old sky+. I'm in a rented property which had a dish on the wall when we moved in. It's a sky dish - I know by the shape. I use this dish with a satellite box which receives all the free to air channels. I checked out the sky website and the install costs €50. Here lies my problem. It's a simple job to hook up the new box so will they let me off the install fee or do i have to pay for some dude with a cordless drill to come out and drink all my tea and eat all my biscuits. This €50 will decide whether or not I subscribe to sky - cause I'm not giving them money for nothing. Recession and all that...

muffler

martincodd wrote: »

Been thinking about getting the old sky+. I'm in a rented property which had a dish on the wall when we moved in. It's a sky dish - I know by the shape. I use this dish with a satellite box which receives all the free to air channels. I checked out the sky website and the install costs €50. Here lies my problem. It's a simple job to hook up the new box so will they let me off the install fee or do i have to pay for some dude with a cordless drill to come out and drink all my tea and eat all my biscuits. This €50 will decide whether or not I subscribe to sky - cause I'm not giving them money for nothing. Recession and all that...

If you need a box they will insist that the installer comes out and fits this for you so you are going to be out the €50 Im afraid. Why not pay the money and get a new dish, cables and box and this should all be supplied for the same money.

If its a sky box you already have then they will post you a card and you wont have to pay anything if you intend using the old sky box.

byte

martincodd wrote: »

Been thinking about getting the old sky+. I'm in a rented property which had a dish on the wall when we moved in. It's a sky dish - I know by the shape. I use this dish with a satellite box which receives all the free to air channels. I checked out the sky website and the install costs €50. Here lies my problem. It's a simple job to hook up the new box so will they let me off the install fee or do i have to pay for some dude with a cordless drill to come out and drink all my tea and eat all my biscuits. This €50 will decide whether or not I subscribe to sky - cause I'm not giving them money for nothing. Recession and all that...

Sky+ will require a second cable from dish to new Sky+ box.

Even if both cables were present for Sky+, I think the install charge still applies, and Sky won't send out the box for people to rig up themselves.

Sam Radford

zagmund wrote: »

instead of tacking the cable along the underside of the eaves he put it into the gutter itself.

No professional would do that, for a number of reasons:
1. The cable can be moved around by wind, which can cause unwanted noise and abrade the cable sheath so water gets inside.
2. The cable may trap leaves and dirt, which can block the gutter, leading to damp walls and damage.
3. The cable will be immersed in water, at least during rain, and this can cause rapid deterioration compared with normal exposure to rain droplets.

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

what is the recommended sealant?

I actually use "Blu-Tack" rolled in brick dust from the drill. Pressed firmly into the hole, it lasts forever and the dust makes it blend with the bricks. (I'm not a professional - just a dabbler - but I learned this trick from a local aerial installer.)

Tony

Was it a metal gutter by any chance as he may have cabled tied it at the back of the gutter under the tiles using the support bars which metal gutters have?

jaggiebunnet

Sam Radford wrote: »

I actually use "Blu-Tack" rolled in brick dust from the drill. Pressed firmly into the hole, it lasts forever and the dust makes it blend with the bricks. (I'm not a professional - just a dabbler - but I learned this trick from a local aerial installer.)

Thanks for the tip - save someone like me who is useless with sealants making a complete mess