atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Pet Peeve

We have both 66 and 110 block connections at our sites. I really hate it when the wiring installer doesn't mark or verify the connection from the room to the 66/110 block. Makes it kind of hard to finish the install when it isn't marked correctly or tested. Unfortunatly I no longer have the ability to "pick" the wiring contactor. Our administration does that.
So guys be nice and make sure the connection is a good one.
Thanks for the chance to vent this.......

I would agree that the wiring contractor should be responsible for his work. However it should be no problem for you to find the pairs on the block, mark them as necessary and test them. Matter of fact I don't even know why you allow or expect a "wiring contractor" to do more than run the wire. Most have enough of a problem with that.

-Hal

i dunno why you guys dont use bix man its so nice and takes no room i cringe when i see 66 blocks or that 110 crap

I don't care what kind of term block you use, Bix, 110, 66, Krone or whatever! What corks my bottle is going into a job where some so called installer/s decided to use one of each! You know what I'm talking about...you have to play musical punch down bits to get the job done!

I feel your pain Telecomgod! Remember when a job wasn't done until staking/termination sheets or "as builts" were provided by the installer let alone certification reports and continuity tests. :shrug:

Ah, yes, Mr. Canuk, BIX is a four letter word in the real world.

We've had this discussion before, used them all, went with the tried and true. No bit changing and duribility. 66 #1, 110 #2, Bix #10 !!!!

Label and furnish sheets --- even for myself. One set in the job file, one set at the project in a jacket on the backboard, one for the customer.

Telecomgod, back charge for your time (or deduct from payment). Then administration may have to wonder why? There is NO EXCUSE for the contractor to not stand behind his work.


My 2 pence. (Limey money)

KLD

When I was in phone school, one of my very fine instructors, Sid Welvang, had a motto that he would often repeat upon looking at individual projects.

"If you don't label each wire, you don't wipe your ass."

It was true then it is true today.

Last night I spent an hour and a half on a ROOF MPOE. I would like to say that SBC didn't do that but they did, 1930 Hillcrest, LA.

We went around and around with the installer and his supervisor and the end result of the installer not labeling things was that he spent several hours putting in two new demarks, one for each building and he would like me not to file a PUC report.

Had he labeled two pair of wires last night everything would be fine. And, he had 28 years with Pac Bell now SBC. Can you imagine just how many hours he cost people just by not labeling wires?

There is always someone after you, don't leave them a mess.

I have seen many messes completely unlabeled...go figure. I actually met my boss at the hardware store when I went there to buy a phone jack for the drugstore I worked at. We have another building, a big industrial warehouse, and he had me take a look at their phone wiring situation. It was unbelievable. Probably miles of cabling going nowhere, way too big of a job for me to handle.
The phone wiring at my school is pretty bad too, it's labeled but still a mess.
Jeff

The real sad part is, it doesn't take any longer to do it right.

I hear that!!
Sometimes it's faster...especially in the long run

Folks, I have to take both sides on this issue. Yes, blocks and jacks should be neatly and properly labeled. If 110 or BIX blocks, there should be color-coded printed labels on them. That's hands-down with me, no argument at all.

Blocks and jacks should never be labeled with telephone or extensions numbers. Those can change easily and somehow, the labeling never gets updated. Cable numbers only, please! Don't forget about remote programming or extension number portability on most newer systems.

A technician who knows what they are doing doesn't need this labeling. A toner and probe are all that is necessary. Those who don't have this equipment should have required that their wiring be terminated on patch panels.

Quite honestly, I almost prefer that blocks not be labeled. We recently received a call from a customer demanding that we tell them what pair the music on hold input was on. She was furious that we didn't mark this on the block, but my response was that a trained technician would know what each pair did.

Had another situation with a Verizon technician who bad-mouthed us to the customer because we didn't have everything marked to his liking. It was one of those riser closets on the 10th floor full of abandoned 25 pair cables. We ran a couple of cables for phones on our system. We could have easily identified them using standard test equipment, but since he was illiterate and worked for God (Verizon), he had the ultimate say about proper workmanship.

How would you even label something in a closet like that, numbers one and two? There were hundreds of one's and two's in that closet!

He was there to install a fax line and must have been P.O.'d becase he actually had to work for some of the three hours that he charged the customer. The customer was mad at us because we "cost" them money by not marking the cable pairs.

Lazy "technician" in my opinion......