atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Outside Plant OSP Construction general questions

having being unfortunate enough to have to do direct burial and/or arial cable in the past, I want to make sure I have down this right.
1)I HATE ICKY PICK!!! (What I call the "jelly" in the cable)
2)see number 1
3)I always use "bulldog clamps". Wedged down into cable between outer sheath and foil liner over the final plastic liner of cable, these "bulldog clamps" have a terminal post that I then attach a grounding lug to and either attach to another cable's bulldog clamp or ground from there. I use about a roll of electrical tape to wrap the heck out of it!
4)I always use building entrance type enclosers with lightening protection, that are grounded. (I check for grounds by taking my meter,AC voltage,hook one end to an electrical outlet and start touching metal beams and /or water pipes till I read 120 volts)
Any problems with my sequence??

I'm not sure what a bulldog clamp is and neither does google. Assuming you have a good bond to the cable sheath, searching for ground by checking to a power hot is not a good way to check for ground. Having said that you will find several post on grounding and you will also find you can interpret the NEC about any way you want. I always look to make my grounds bonded and common. Meaning all grounds have the same potential to ground. Also your cable bond should "float" so you don't weaken it due to expansion and contraction. One more thing, using an ohm meter your source to ground should be no more than 5 ohms (more room for argument).

[This message has been edited by justbill (edited September 06, 2005).]

I believe the "bulldog" clamp has other names, depending on type. The long ones are also known as an alligator clamp. When you slot the sheath do it in several locations so it will open, place tape (or the plastic shoe that came with it), attach the clamp, then use that whole roll of tape. All kidding aside, once the ground is hooked to the lug, then tape it up good. Use grounding braid, highly flexible.

If you know a electrician, have him Megher the ground. The 5 ohms to ground is usually a very good ground. Depending on your area, an 1/2" ground rod by 5 ft. usually works. As that was what SBC used, most supply houses don't have them. A standard 5/8" by 8 ft can be found at any electrical supply house (with clamp). #1 solid ground to the ped. Then attach the bond/ground to the common ped grounding bar.

Now as for ICKYPIC, some manufacturers (Superior for one) used to make BurgerPIC. Just like ICKY only in chunks. Not as sticky, easier to clean. Also, some (General) used to make a powder PIC. Looked like it was full of talc. When water hit it the powder became a mush water block.

Now, take rags, not paper towels, and have a real fun time with the cable cleaner. You can then use your snips to trim your mustach without droping hair in the sink.

I believe the "bulldog" clamp has other names, depending on type. The long ones are also known as an alligator clamp. When you slot the sheath do it in several locations so it will open, place tape (or the plastic shoe that came with it), attach the clamp, then use that whole roll of tape. All kidding aside, once the ground is hooked to the lug, then tape it up good. Use grounding braid, highly flexible.

If you know a electrician, have him Megher the ground. The 5 ohms to ground is usually a very good ground. Depending on your area, an 1/2" ground rod by 5 ft. usually works. As that was what SBC used, most supply houses don't have them. A standard 5/8" by 8 ft can be found at any electrical supply house (with clamp). #1 solid ground to the ped. Then attach the bond/ground to the common ped grounding bar.

Now as for ICKYPIC, some manufacturers (Superior for one) used to make BurgerPIC. Just like ICKY only in chunks. Not as sticky, easier to clean. Also, some (General) used to make a powder PIC. Looked like it was full of talc. When water hit it the powder became a mush water block.

Now, take rags, not paper towels, and have a real fun time with the cable cleaner. You can then use your snips to trim your mustach without dropping hair in the sink.

OOOps ! Fat fingered the keys.

(I check for grounds by taking my meter,AC voltage,hook one end to an electrical outlet and start touching metal beams and /or water pipes till I read 120 volts)

You should never read 120 volts between ground , and the hot or common side... No way!!!!Right?

"Bulldog" clamps were made by Northern Telecom before they decided that systems were the only way to go, kind of like AT&T did. Hence, Northern and AT&T got completely out of the outside plant hardware business.

I would imagine that Canadian installers or splicers working for United Telephone System (now Sprint) adopted that name. United was a big user of Northern Electric (Canada's Western Electric) products. Since you are located in a part of the US where Sprint (UTS) has a significant service area, that's probably how the Bulldog name migrated from Canada.

Other people adopted "Aligator" clamps as a nickname for 3M's clamp that supposedly installs on small diameter cables without splitting the sheath.

Bulldogs were similar to 3M #4462's. As for your installation process, I like the BEP idea instead of a protected 66 block, which is never correct.

Too much tape on your bond clamps is a waste. You should wrap about 2 to 3 turns of tape (sticky-side-out) over the mylar core wrap, slide this wrap inside the cable jacket (after you have slitted it about two inches straight back). Flare the sheath outward slightly and slip the shoe of your bond clamp in so that it butts up to the edge of the jacket. If you can't get the shoe to slide in, like with small cables, slit the sheath on the complete opposite side-180 degrees. Squeeze the sheath up as tightly as you can around the clamp's stud so there is plenty of sheath for the shoe to grip and the teeth to bite. Don't worry about the opposite slit opening up. THEN, tightly wrap the entire end so that there is nothing showing except the bond stud from the clamp, which should only reqire a few wraps of tape. Install the shoe on top of the tape wrap over the stud and tighten with the first nut. This will also secure the tape that may have gotten icky-picked that may come loose. Finally, attach your bonding wire/braid over the stud with the second nut.

Personally, I prefer to slit the sheath back a bit further than necessary, maybe three inches, spreading it wide open (almost flat right along the seam in the shield). Then, gently bending the cable core away and punching a hole straight through the sheath about 1/2" back from the edge. I push the clamp's shoe stud through the hole then wrap the core with a few turns of tape, sticky-side-out so this tape projects past the edge of the sheath by about one inch. I then form the core and sheath back into their normal postions and tape-wrap the entire end normally. Lastly, the top shoe is clamped down and bonding wires/braids are attached. This guarantees that the clamp won't pull out.

As for testing, a simple Ohm meter really will suffice unless you are dealing with a very long run. Longer runs should really be tested with telecom-specific test equipment, which can be rented if necessary. If you install your bond clamps and perform your splicing correctly, you shouldn't even have to test your installation at all.

Yes, I have managed to use the no-testing strategy for years and have actually only had to go back about five thousand times.

I hope you detected my sarcasm there. You are dealing with a lot of factors other than your own workmanship. Protector modules can be mishandled during transport, pairs can be transposed, rocks can crush cable, and don't get me started on factory-installed stubs on terminals. It's worth an extra hour or two to just run a meter over T/R of each pair to save yourself many more hours later.

Hence, my famous closing line...........

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Ed
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How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

[This message has been edited by ev607797 (edited September 06, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by ev607797 (edited September 06, 2005).]

Ed thanks for the 3M part number, I looked it up and that's similar to what we used, bullet bond is what they were called, I think. On single sheath cable we did the same thing with the tape to protect the pairs. As far as the statement about checking from the hot side of AC to find ground only meant that a screw driver in the ground will show the hot side too, but that doesn't make it a good ground, heck you can lay a wrench on the ground and find the hot side.

Here are a couple of other good manufactures of cable shield bond connectors:

ElectricMotion, makes two different sizes dependant on cable diameter. They use a shear off nut that shears @ 40 inch pounds (instead of using the t-handle torque wrench, for those of you that know what I'm talking about)

Hubbell, makes a great 12pr and down bullet bond, p/n BC285SB100

Thomas & Betts is a great connector too. p/n C4040. Some of you may of remembered this from when they were sold under the name of CTC. For those of you in high lightning areas, you may want to consider this connector. IMO.