atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Cutting Lead Pipe

Any secret sauce on cutting old telco lead pipe.
50 Pair Riser Cable enclosed in it.
It's more like a lead pipe ~skin~

Hackzall, sawall....any saw will do ?
Never cut a lead pipe before

Dumb question, why do you need to get into it?

What are you trying to do with it? Are you cutting all the way through it or are you just looking to remove the outer lead sheathing? It is surprisingly soft and easy to work with.

Lead cables were manufactured until well into the 1980s, so the lead cable you have might not be as old as you think it is. When you said that there's a riser cable inside of it, I get the impression that this is what you have.

If it is of more recent manufacture, and all you're looking to do is to strip it open, you can just make a ring cut with a knife a few times around the jacket, then bend it slightly to break it. It will then slide off, exposing the inner PVC jacketed cable that can be prepped using standard practices. This will also work on older cables if you're only pulling a few feet of outer sheathing off since there's a rosin paper sleeve between the outer sheath and the inner cable core.

If it is a REALLY old cable, stripping it is accomplished very gingerly using a chipping knife and a unique set of skills. I wouldn't do that if I were you. It is going to expose you to something that you have never seen before and it will be a complete mess if you get in there the wrong way.

If you're just cutting it out, then by all means, the most efficient way is to use traditional crosscut cable cutters. 50 pair is not very difficult to work with. You can also use a SawZall, but use a fairly large-tooth metal cutting blade since the lead will soften and clog smaller teeth. Since it's lead, I'd be sure to wear eye/breathing protection and wear gloves to minimize your exposure.

Ed , great lesson,thanks

I had my lec contact out on the pren. He's in OSP Engineering
I needed some ~advice~ on how to relocate it.

I didn't ~hear it from him~ but he told me to cut it at the house box *it's old, uses screw terminals*, relocate the run back to where I need to, submit a ticket...let 1st tier tech come out and say he can't work with it, and then I just give him a call with my ticket # and he can send one of his guys come out and deal with it.

Per the last post, bearing lead is soft, would it be better to just ~score it with a tubing cutter~ and then cut the wire once it's scored...

Now that was a good one! It's funny how the only acceptable standard for OSP cross-connect cabinets utilize binding post (screw terminal) connections in Verizon's network around here. They still install them brand-new. I will say that they are using more of the Raychem/Tyco 'rocker' connectors on small-count indoor terminals and NIDs. I think that's geared more toward the DIY element of our industry.

They've tried everything out: 66, 88, 110, MS2 and all kinds of other IDC systems, yet they keep coming back to the good old screw terminal systems. Sounds like your LEC's OSP engineer is a rookie.

Na. I've got 2 options. He can ~draw it up~ and he send me the cost for the relocate. Then submit it to bldg for yadda, yadda, yadda.

And or I cut the damm thing, right where it goes to the house box, I relocate the wire and then....do the aformentioned.