Ducting for FTTH

chrisdj_sa

Hi all,

Recently had Eir coming around and did the trees on the road, so assume things are getting closer to having the main works for the lines to be installed. My house was built in 2008, and I have a length of black PVC pipe sticking protruding from the ground, approx 2 meters away from the telephone pole. There is no pull string in the pipe. I have no idea where this pipe ends up at, as I have walked around the house and cant see anyplace it rises. My builder has moved to sunnier climates, so asking him doesnt help. Is there any way to find out what this pipe is, or is it a question of digging it up, and following it to the end? I also have an ESB line that crosses in front of the house, I assume that the installer would not be allowed to cross that line if I chose to have the line installed to a gable? Means I have to go the ducting route, why I am intrigued with that PVC pipe sticking out of the ground! Any advice appreciated.

Regards

Chris

tsue921i8wljb3

chrisdj_sa wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently had Eir coming around and did the trees on the road, so assume things are getting closer to having the main works for the lines to be installed. My house was built in 2008, and I have a length of black PVC pipe sticking protruding from the ground, approx 2 meters away from the telephone pole. There is no pull string in the pipe. I have no idea where this pipe ends up at, as I have walked around the house and cant see anyplace it rises. My builder has moved to sunnier climates, so asking him doesnt help. Is there any way to find out what this pipe is, or is it a question of digging it up, and following it to the end? I also have an ESB line that crosses in front of the house, I assume that the installer would not be allowed to cross that line if I chose to have the line installed to a gable? Means I have to go the ducting route, why I am intrigued with that PVC pipe sticking out of the ground! Any advice appreciated.

Regards

Chris

Do you have a small white box on the side of your home? It would usually be near to the larger ESB meter box. If you do have such a box the black pipe would usually be going into it.

If you don't have such a box it becomes more difficult to ascertain where the pipe goes. From your description it was most likely intended for phone cable, however finding where it ends may prove difficult. The builder may have brought it into the house through the footings but it equally could end buried somewhere outside the house.

If you don't want to dig you could perhaps hire duct rods and push them through the pipe until you meet resistance. Have someone in the house listening for a noise of the rods hitting flooring etc. Measuring the distance that you were able to push the rods through should give you an indication of the length of the pipe.

All this assumes the pipe isn't blocked which unfortunately is also possible. Best of luck!

chris_ie

It’s difficult getting someone to try and sort out duct! I’ve contacted a few contractors to see if they could put a draw wire in for me and check if it’s clear. Most said “eir will sort that” and not much else.

Marlow

chris_ie wrote: »

I’ve contacted a few contractors to see if they could put a draw wire in for me and check if it’s clear. Most said “eir will sort that” and not much else.

Eir used to sort that. They won't anymore, because it's not their duct anymore.

I don't understand contractors turning away business. Life must be good.

/M

chris_ie

Marlow wrote: »

Eir used to sort that. They won't anymore, because it's not their duct anymore.

I don't understand contractors turning away business. Life must be good.

/M

Must be! Either that or I'm not getting the right fellas..

Johnboy1951

First I would encourage you to take up the suggestion made earlier to "hire duct rods and push them through the pipe" yourself.
Get someone to help with this.

You might get lucky and have no blockage .... or only a partial blockage which you can get past.

Doing this should give you some perspective on where the duct is going and for what distance.

chris_ie

Bought a cheap endoscope on amazon earlier in the week. Arrived today. Handy tool! I had tried rodding (cobra) from etu end. Got about 2 feet and got stuck. Thought there was a blockage and might need to remove block to see. Also looked to be turning opposite direction to the road. After putting the scope down I could see there was another pipe inside the pipe at the etu. The rod would have been getting stuck on the outside of the inner pipe. So rodding from the other end would have a better chance. I didn’t have access to the chamber though. So it goes right but you can see the cable then go down again and likely head back towards the road.

Johnboy1951

chris_ie wrote: »

Bought a cheap endoscope on amazon earlier in the week. Arrived today. Handy tool! I had tried rodding (cobra) from etu end. Got about 2 feet and got stuck. Thought there was a blockage and might need to remove block to see. Also looked to be turning opposite direction to the road. After putting the scope down I could see there was another pipe inside the pipe at the etu. The rod would have been getting stuck on the outside of the inner pipe. So rodding from the other end would have a better chance. I didn’t have access to the chamber though. So it goes right but you can see the cable then go down again and likely head back towards the road.

Once you know what stopped the first attempt, you might well be able to get the rod past it with a bit of fiddling.

chris_ie

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Once you know what stopped the first attempt, you might well be able to get the rod past it with a bit of fiddling.

Yeah might give it another go. Just hope the bend isn’t too sharp where it turns back towards the road.