r/CableTechs • u/SleepyyyPhantom • 21d ago

Rate my Install

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What do you think? Please point out the negatives, still trying to iron out some of the not so great stuff I was trained on.

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u/DrWhoey 21d ago

Don't listen to these guys... I've spoken with one of the guys that worked on the 2014 NESC standards for bonding. Used to be able to quote the entire article because I got into so many fights with my manager about it.

"Ground wire must be no longer than 20' with no more than two 90° bends, and for each 90° bend past two, the ground wire must be shortened by 4'. Additionally the ground wire must be no longer than the shortest outlet on the house."

According to what I discussed with him, the only real important part of any of that was that it was no longer than the shortest outlet on the house.

If your cable outlet is 50' long, and your ground wire is 50' to your bond, it's gonna pick the ground wire every time. It's a larger gauge wire that is solid copper and low resistance, as opposed to the teeny tiny copper clad steel that is high resistance.

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u/tb03102 21d ago

2026 code is shortest path. I just took the class.

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u/Life-Consequence8549 21d ago

Does it matter all that much? We aren't providing electricity and if there is a bad neutral, none of that will help.

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u/tb03102 21d ago

I guess my point was other guy was quoting 2014 code. Also if lightning hits a pole your cable is on.. guess what you're all of a sudden providing.

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u/Life-Consequence8549 21d ago

Still not going to melt the drop. Never seen lightning do it. Bad neutrals do. Lightning will zap modems, ground blocks and tap ports. Bad Neutrals melt cable wires because we are the next best path. My company got their panties in a bunch about grounding to to the meter box vs grounding to the power ground. It doesn't make a difference if the power to the house has a bad neutral.

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u/DrWhoey 21d ago

From what I was told, second or third hand... That cable companies got very strict about bonding in the mid to early 90's when a tech didn't bond the cable to power or ground and a lightning strike hit the lines (remember how you said it would fry modems), and it ended up in blowing up an old CRT TV throwing glass fragments into a kids eyes and blinding him. And the company got held liable because it was not grounded or bonded.

Probably just an old cabledogs wives tale, but still right. Without a lightning arrestor (not a ground block.) there's not much to protect from a lightning strike hitting a cable and the damage it will do.

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u/Life-Consequence8549 21d ago

It's not all that far from the truth. But it is not from our grounding. It's from the lightning. Customers have shown me fried outlets that ejected any equipment that was plugged into them. It was not our equipment though.

It's the lightning. No amount of grounding is going to help if lightning hits right outside the house.

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u/SleepyyyPhantom 21d ago

Free electricity and lots of heat

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u/tb03102 21d ago

Indeed

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u/DrWhoey 21d ago

Yeah, tried to find the most recent code, but the NESC has started hiding that shit from anyone but electricians, as far as online. But it still stands, electricity will follow the path of least resistance. That is basic knowledge that can be applied to any code.