Hi,

I have two phone lines coming in to my house underground. They're both 2 pair with a heavy steel braid. It looks like solid #18 if I had to guess. I can check it again tomorrow.

I need to make an underground splice, and move these cables 25' underground to a new location. that means I need 50' of this type of cable and a procedure for a good underground splice.

BTW, is the braid some type of drain wire or strictly for protection? These wires will be passing under what will soon be a 5" slab

Any help would be much appreciated

call in someone qualified to do it for you

you don't want a splice under the slab , best not to splice at all and just run new cable

The braid is just for bonding/grounding. You'd need some 2 pair buried drop and I have had good luck with Serviseal's for closures. As Skip stated, get someone who knows what they are doing or you'll be paying more later. Also this drop belongs to the phone company, from your description, call them and tell them you need it relocated due to construction.

The phone company won't touch the job since I'm not a customer. My phone service currently comes in on the CATV line. I'm not sure how involved the cable company is going to want to get in this project.

I don't think re pulling is a great option here. I live on the side of a mountain and cutting a new ditch would be incredibly difficult at this stage.

The thought of having to pay someone a couple hundred dollars to splice 4 wires seems a little silly to me. I may be able to dig back enough to get the splice away from the pour though.

It's even more silly to have to come back later, find the trouble spot and fix it. Do you know how to bond it? Do you have the proper crimpers and connectors? Do you have the proper closures? Do you know the right drop wire to get?

No matter who's service you're using, if this is from the cable terminal to your house it still belongs to the phone company.

The phone company won't touch the job since I'm not a customer. My phone service currently comes in on the CATV line. I'm not sure how involved the cable company is going to want to get in this project.

So then what the heck are you worrying about a probably 50 year old UG phone service wire that isn't even being used??

Bury some 2" PVC conduit under the slab before you pour. That way if you go back to the telco sombody can pull a new wire then. You are an electrician, you should know how to do that.

-Hal

Hi guys,

Thanks for the turn out. I dug up a procedure on line using "click it's" (enclosure) and UY2 connectors. clicky I'll go ahead and purchase the specific crimp tool while I'm at it. If I could just get my hands on 50' of this braided 2 pair burial drop cable (#18/#20 solid) I think I could handle the splice.

Any ideas on where to pick up a small length of cable?

"hbiss" had a pretty good idea, it's concievable that I could run at least a 1" conduit out past the slab before making the splice. I'd still like to get the cable reconnected and run to it's new location rather than leaving it in the ground.

Being a trades person I understand where you guys are coming from on getting a professional out to do the job, but after spending 20 minutes on the phone with the phone company and being transfered to six different departments I was ready to seek out other alternatives. I understand that the phone company owns this drop, I just didn't get why they wouldn't come out and move it?

I appreciate all the advise so far. Keep it coming

Glen:

It seems as if you really want to move forward with this, so we certainly aren't going to stand in your way.

The problem is that the type of cable you have mentioned is no longer made to the best of my knowledge. I also don't think that UY's will be your best choice of connector. UR2 connectors handle a wider range of wire sizes.

The Click-It enclosure is the one we use and they work very well. I have plenty of the new style buried drop wire in stock if you'd like to buy some. Send me a PM if you are interested and we can discuss the details. I've also seen three pair buried drop wire for sale by the foot at Lowe's stores around here.

Sheath is sheath, you don't need an exact match, but you do need to bond it through. I've never used the closure you mentioned, but the Serviseals have a very easy bonding system and are on the same principle with the grease filled for water proofing, personally I wouldn't use a closure that just had the "snap-in" bonding connections. I would think there would be places around your area that sold buried drop by the foot.

if your a electrician your electrical supply house of choice should be able to help you out and order what you need

Bill: These closures come with a separate split bolt that allows any type of sheaths to work. They are actually pretty nice little units.

Thanks for the info Ed. Might look at them a little harder next time I order buried closures.

I found some 8 pair burial cable (cat 5) at a local supply house, but no ground sheath. Would you guys hate me if I took two pair and used it as the ground?

BTW does the ground wire tie in to earth ground at the house, or is it more of a drain wire that is only grounded at the sourcing end?

I sent you a pm Ed for a price on your product.

thanks everyone for the advise so far.

I ordered the click it's, plus got a hold of the UY splicers. I just need the cable to make it all work.

If there is no sheath ground there is no real reason to grd any of the pairs, it doesn't afford the same protection at all if that was your thinking.

What are click its? I googled but did not find anything.

Hit the "clicky" in Glen C's message above - Oh, and it's "Klick-It", which is probably why Google didn't find it.

I've used both Klick-it and Uraseal ck series. The Uraseal product does have a shelf life!!
This thread sure took a turn.

I found some info on them, thanks!

Too late to matter but I always run direct burial cable in pipe! Always. It saves a lot of future grief and it's very professional. I personally would not try to splice into the existing. I just run new cable that way I am sure it's good viable cable. :db:

Hi guy's one more dumb question I promise. What's the most common pairing if my colors are red,green,black,yellow other cable orange, orange/white, blue, blue/white

Thanks

w/bl to green, bl to red, blk to w/or and yellow to orange.

seems to me if it is the phone company's cable, they would be required by charter to relocate it when requested. Part of the government giving them the monopoly meant they had certain obligations. I believe the first 1000ft is their responsibility and over that, you pay them to do it.

second thing, you don't get dialtone via this cable, allow it to be "abandoned inplace". It should not be a concern unless you want to switch from the cable-voip back to telco. THEN, it WILL BE their responsibility. If you installed the pipe hbiss recommended, you're 1/2 way there.

NAD, if you are going to pour a 5" cement slab over this cabling, make sure you have adequate clearances from the slab to prevent electrolysis from the cement to leach into your cabling.

Cement does a lot of odd things as it cures for 40-50 years.

AND, if you are going to splice this cabling, do not cover a splice with cement. Cut the cable back, or roll up the excess on the street side of the slab, make the splice at a point it would be accessible after the slab is in place.