sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Cable cleaner

Anyone have a great product for cleaning gel-filled cables. We use an orange peel based pad for small 25 pair cables and they work pretty well but it can be very time consuming on 200 pair cables. Any info would be great.

I've always used diesel and a rag.

Hydrasol HS-128 cable gel remover.

-Hal

I just got a sample of some Mohawk cable, instead of icky-pic it is more like a cream. Wipes off with a rag and seemed easier to work with.

we just throw some paint thinner on it and light a match. LOL Doesn't damage the insulation too much. HAHA

seriously, some thinner or acetone works good, along with some good absorbant cotton rags. use a dry rag first to clean the big stuff, then follow up with a wet rag.

D-gel or Hydrasol works best, then wipe with a dry rag.

Scott.

When I was splicing we never cleaned it. More trouble than it was worth. I haven't had to mess with it since starting doing the phone system thing. At least not more than a pair of two at a time.

I am with you Bill; I never cleaned it either. It's supposed to be spliced or terminated in a fire-retardant closure anyway, so who cares how nasty it is inside?

I think a lot of people worry about it when they are punching icky-pic on blocks indoors, which is a major no-no and a fire hazard. Somehow, that rule has never been enforced by anyone.

In a buried splice or pedestal, I say the more goo the better. It keeps moisture away. I never believed that cable should be cleaned so that encapsulants bond better, I mean isn't icky-pic there to keep water away?

I have never cleaned them either.

Did not know I was suppose to. I always thought it would keep the people that did not want to get their hands dirty off your block.

:confused:

Hey Mike, it's not supposed to be terminated on a block ever. Icky-pic is extremely flammable and not permitted to be used indoors at all. It can only be spliced to non-flammable cable stubs inside a sealed fire-retardant splice closure.

I know it happens all the time that people punch it down on blocks, but it never has, nor will it ever be legal. Not to mention, no matter how much you clean it, it will somehow continue to ooze out forever.