Re: Interesting Comcast Story in Comcast HSI http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r16990018 en Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:14:30 EDT Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:14:30 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16999810 K Patterson : Good post!

One issue here is that the concept of grounding of electrical equipment as we know it today is fairly recent. The grounded receptacle didn't happen until the sixties. Moreover, 240 VAC outlets for dryers and ranges were not required to have a separate grounding conductor until much later, some time in the '70's if my memory is trustworthy.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16999810 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:09:58 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16998703 jfoj : Bobcat,

You are on thin ice here as am I!!

I plan to duck and run after this response!!!

There can be a lot of discussion about Ground and Neutral connections, what their function is and how and why they can be similar or different. Depending on who you speak with, when a installation was performed and how much someone really reads and understands the NEC (National Electrical Code) a Ground and Neutral can possibly be one in the same (to a point) or could be entirely different.

Also depending on who you converse with a Neutral may be considered a Ground, however a Ground is generally not to be considered a Neutral. It is also partly based upon how the circuit breaker panel is configured. Really somewhat confusing!!!

Anyway, a Ground connection is usually just this, a ground rod usually a minimum of 8 feet in length driven into the soil near a service entrance or circuit protection panel. Sometimes under the basement slab, sometimes just outside the service entrance. It should really be called an Earth Ground IMHO.

The Ground is generally not meant to act as a Neutral connection from the center tapped line transformer. It is usually considered a "safety" path for high Voltage/Current transients. Although the Neutral may be bonded to an Earth Ground at the transformer feeding a number of houses, the soils resistance is usually not low enough to take the place of a missing or damaged Neutral connection.

What typically happens is the CableCo's trunk lines, trunk amps, drops taps and messenger wire on drop wire are usually bonded to an Earth Ground as is typically the "Neutral" center tap of a AC line transformer. So this can and will give the coax drop shield the ability to act as an additional or supplemental Neutral for the power feed for a house if there is a problem with the neutral connection between the street transformer and the meter box/circuit protection panel withing a facility.

Telephone wiring can have a very similar situation.

The failure mode would have been the house neutral was either very high in resistance and/or open causing the CableCo's coax outer shield to carry the bulk of the Neutral load to the house. The more imbalanced the phases are, more neutral current would be present.

This is why some of the folks indicated they carry clamp on Ammeters, so they can measure the AC current load on a ground before attempting to disconnect it.

Disconnecting a Ground connection this is acting as a Neutral connection can cause a phase imbalanced circuit breaker panel to have dangerous and unexpected Voltage swings, possibly causing damage to electrical equipment within the facility.

jfoj]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16998703 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:01:11 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16997934 Bobcat : I'm still trying to understand the failure mode here. I agree it appears the neutral was open. But does it also require that the house was not grounded?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16997934 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 12:39:46 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16997760 saratoga66 : JT, In this case it is pretty obvious that Comcast’s drop was bonded (grounded) to the houses electrical system. The shield of the coax was able to carry enough current to keep the voltages within the house fairly stable. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16997760 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 12:06:39 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996942 fruhead :
said by JTRockville See Profile :

And you are always quick to deny Comcast's responsibility. No surprise there either.
Bwa ha ha ha. It is to laugh.

Have you ever read any of the things I post here? I'm more critical of Comcast's practices and condemning of bad/lazy techs than 95% of the people who post here. You obviously have no clue. Just keep painting everyone who works for Comcast with the same broad brush. It just makes you irrelevant.

I don't think anyone expects Comcast to be responsible for the house's electrical problems. However, it does appear that, in this case, Comcast is responsible for installing an ungrounded drop (which is against the law), and apparently they owned up to their responsibility, even if you aren't willing to admit it.

There are reasons for safety codes. Comcast would do well to abide by them.
JT, a cable ground isn't there to act as a house neutral for the full load of AC. It's to dischard any potentiality and/or try to deflect transients. Can you tell me exactly how a cable ground is supposed to act like a fully-rigged house neutral? If the cable is bonded to the house electrical mast and there's an electrical problem within the home or between the home and the pole, the cable is bonded to a bad apparatus that is NOT controlled by Comcast.

If a car's engine blows up, is it the fault of the tires that the car isn't moving?

If anything, the cable acting as a neutral or ground SPARED the house from damage for who knows how long. Note the damage didn't happen until AFTER the cable was disconnected.

Why does it ALWAYS have to be Comcast's fault with you?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996942 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 09:20:48 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996499 JTRockville :
said by fruhead See Profile :

The obvious question is whether or not the house ground had been damaged AFTER the install had taken place. JT is quick to blame Comcast. No surprise there.
And you are always quick to deny Comcast's responsibility. No surprise there either.

said by fruhead See Profile :

Saratoga66 is correct. Comcast isn't responsible for the house electrical problems. Either the homeowner or the electricity provider is. The tech was lucky to survive.
I don't think anyone expects Comcast to be responsible for the house's electrical problems. However, it does appear that, in this case, Comcast is responsible for installing an ungrounded drop (which is against the law), and apparently they owned up to their responsibility, even if you aren't willing to admit it.

There are reasons for safety codes. Comcast would do well to abide by them.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996499 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:47:07 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996424 tshirt :
said by K Patterson See Profile :

From Comcast's perspective, they have to deal with "your man worked on my cable then my house burned, including your coax." Try defending that one in court.
The court of public opinion, ie bad PR, is probably the main reason it is far cheaper to pay a few large claims (and quite a few small ones).
In most cases the public never knows, so much better than even one news story about "Mega-cable company destroys house, refuses to pay homeless victim!!"
That sort of story takes years to die, lots of PR dollars as well as legal costs, and loses future customers.
As long as no one is seriously injured, the replacement costs are cheap, even if they are $1000's.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996424 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 05:57:39 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996372 K Patterson : The problem may well be real. If so, it happened because the neutral was disconnected, not the ground. I got through engineering school doing fire repair electric, shortly after AC current replaced DC, and yes, it does happen. I've never seen one this bad.

From Comcast's perspective, they have to deal with "your man worked on my cable then my house burned, including your coax." Try defending that one in court.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16996372 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 04:55:26 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16995785 anon : Does not surprise me. Had a neighbour who got shocked every time he touched the shower head. Other neighbour across the street had a bad ground. Took first neighbour a long time to find the problem.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16995785 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:37:06 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994856 CableTool : I thought it was a great and infromative story.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994856 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:57:42 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994785 RockyCJC : WOW!!!

I am learning from this post thread that most of the users of this site are cynical and do nothing more than look for any reason to jump down a posters throat by way of slamming on the keyboard in an effort to generate a rebuttle.

Funny part is, I don't know what anyone is rebutting. I guess I need to clear up my purposes for this post.

A. - This is not a made up story. I make no claim in terms of whether or not the story I heard from my neighbor is 100% accurate or true - but the new cable wire leading to their home, the fire trucks that were in the street on Saturday and the pile of burnt out appliances in the corner of the house are clues.

B. I made no claim that Comcast was to blame for the issue. As a matter of fact, I expressed surprise that they were paying for damages. I was only questionning the fact that the tech who installed cable in the house initially did or did not notice there was no ground wire in the house to connect to.

C. It is wholly possible that the ground was removed after cable was installed inthe house, BUT, who would remove a ground and/or remove and not replace. To clarify, animals did not chew through the ground, there was no ground or ground stake.

I have read many posts on this site in an attempt to provide whatever suggestions or help I can. Unfortunately, I notice that too often, people are very rude and aggressive in their responses. People should think twice before they post. That is why there is a PREVIEW button.

Now - my reason for this post was merely to post a story and see if anyone could validate such an occurrence with similar stories or to hear some opinions - not to invite an attack.

With that being said - I DO want to thank those that post meaningful and constructive information in their replies. Don't want to make it seem like they don't exist.

Oh and ropeguru - that news story was not related to my neighbor but that was really interesting - I know somebody who lives in that street in Southside.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994785 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:47:36 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994556 deez20 : Not sure how comcasts techs work but I know where I work we amp clamp the ground or incoming drop to check for amperage before disconnecting it. Anything over 1 amp we don't touch and call the power company to come and check things out and this is exactly the reason why. I've seen many melted drops due to improper grounding.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994556 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:16:53 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994509 fruhead :
said by BS_Alert :

Instantaneously exploding appliances? Yah, right!
said by Xzibit See Profile :

Or cause this story is fake.
said by sonofjay See Profile :

Uh huh, it was obvious. We should all believe what everyone writes in the first person here at DSLR? Link anyone?
So, apparently three posters here have never had the lights in a customer's house dim out or flash when they've disconnected a cable at the ground-block. Trust me, it DOES happen. It's not a regular occurence, but house fires have happened, techs have been injured, taps blown off poles, other drops feeding from the same tap have fried, drastic humbars, amps or LE's blowing fuses...

Yah, it's real. I hope it never happens to you.

We take our chances every single day in the field. We do it for a paycheck, we do it for our families, we do it because most of us really want to do our best. We do it for you.

peace,
Tim from Jersey]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16994509 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:11:42 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993768 cb4492 : I had the same problem a few years back at my home. My power comes from overhead and where the neutral is spliced up top the connection starting flaking out. The first splitter on my cable lines is grounded to my electrical system. Well apparently my electrical system was using my coax coming into the house as the neutral along with the electrical systems neutral. If I was to disconnect my cables line into the house from the splitter all my lights would get very bright and my voltages would be around 50 or so on one leg and around 180 on the other. When the electrical tech came out to look at it he knocked loose the neutral at the house drop and my coax fried two feet back from my splitter. I also burnt out a PC power supply from that incident to but I should have know better. Problem here is I didnt have a ground rod to share the current so it all went to the coax. Fortunately none of the cable companies equipment seemed to be affected by the voltage spike. So yeah, this is a scenario that is definitely possible. I'm glad to see comcast foot the bill even though it wasn't their fault.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993768 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:06:23 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993697 cableguy619 : A hot wire is always looking to ground, and for what ever reason it tends to want to ground to cable, so hence the tech pulls the cable line off(disconnects) and boom surge right back through the house....

Never was the Tech's fault, but as others stated bad ground from builder.. older houses for one thing had been grounded to the cold pipe on water heaters, well when many peeps get new ones sometimes this never gets put back on...

Run of bad luck for those customers...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993697 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:58:10 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993675 Joe12345678 : at least the tech did not ground it to the gas line like that other comcarp installer did.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993675 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:54:22 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993650 sonofjay :
said by fonzbear2000 See Profile :

said by sonofjay See Profile :

can you please post a link to the story?
it's not a news story-it's what actually happened to rockycjc, the poster-the fact he talked in first person should have made this obvious
Uh huh, it was obvious. We should all believe what everyone writes in the first person here at DSLR? Link anyone?
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Mission Accomplished]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993650 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:51:39 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993573 rody_44 : this sounds just like a instance i had last year. i was running a underground for a house and was getting voltage from the ped side that shouldnt be there. i called for a line tech who also was a electrician. he came out and took voltage readings and then went and disconnected the main feed to the neighborhood. when he did that the whole area went black. one house recieved the worst end of the stick. that house lost its range and all tvs. the line tech took readings in the house and came out with 212 volts on one line that should only have 115. the other had only 44 volts. the sub lost the range and tvs for good and the problem was a electrical fault. comcast also payed all damages to the sub even tho it wasnt their fault. even tho its the fault of the electric company comcast usually pays for damages. for the record i was getting one hell of a shock when i was hooking the new line up.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993573 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:41:09 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993336 jfoj : The National Electrical Code has some really boring minimum grounding requirements that have been updated over the past few years. There is a reason this issue is covered by the NEC.

Some light reading for the un-informed!!!

»www.panamax.com/pdf/groundbondca···drops%22

Although the original story may be urban myth or BS, it is highly probable.

I have heard of a number of house fires after people with frozen water pipes call the local welding shop to come and thaw pipes out with portable welders. Burnt neutral/grounds are usually the cause. Many times not even on the house that had the frozen pipes thawed, but in the neighborhood.

I also remember a big initiative a few years back where many of the cable companies had to revisit, check and reground most all drop connections.

jfoj]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993336 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:05:16 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993175 NormanS : Ah, just more recursion! :p]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16993175 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:34:39 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16992745 FlsRend : Maybe they payed because it was the least costly option. Even if the home owner didn't sue comcast and instead went directly to the electric company, comcast would have to be dragged into it any way. Court fees and lawyers aren't cheap. Not to mention the PR nightmare it would cause...
--
Like Metal? -- Shined!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16992745 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:26:46 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16992228 Xzibit :
said by Trinijoy See Profile :

Because people are sue happy and will probably sue happy even though it's no there issue.

That's why they footed the bill.
Or cause this story is fake.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16992228 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:56:09 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991996 CableTool : Whats odd to me, without looking at the setup, is why the current would travel all the way back to the tap, through the tap, down his neighbors drop and ground THERE. Was that REALLY the closest ground?

Comcast will foot the bill because they are in the business of making customers happy. Believe it or not, contrary to many posts on this -HELP- forum, most of these HORROR stories arent typical, much like techs horror stories arent typical. They are the asides, the one offs, the excpetion to the rule.

Ive handeled damage complaints for years and I rarely have an issue paying. Even the times I suspect Im paying for the customers negligence and not my companies, I want to get their service working again and keep them as customers.

Even when their cousin wires their new condos electrical outlets and the flatscreen on the wall has a burn that originates from the tv RF port DOWN THE CABLE line to the cable outlet and burns our cable to the centerconductor and BBQ's the RF port on the tv while the rest of the cable all the way to the tap is unaffected and the three tvs at the begining fo the run are pristine. ;)
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]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991996 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:14:45 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991882 Trinijoy : Because people are sue happy and will probably sue happy even though it's no there issue.

That's why they footed the bill.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991882 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:55:26 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991607 ropeguru : Hey RockyCJC..

Wasn't anywhere near this address was it???

»www.nbc12.com/news/state/4253736.html
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FWD#: 223611]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991607 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:12:20 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991468 peter_m :
said by saratoga66 See Profile :

Peter M, do you have any idea how a typical residential electrical service works?
Thanx saratog, I really needed that :D. I do know how a typical residential electrical service works. Problem is forgot about the 240v supply and center tap... The storry is totaly plausible then.

But why did Comcast foot the bill? That is still weird.

Peter]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991468 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:49:01 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991184 saratoga66 : Peter M, do you have any idea how a typical residential electrical service works? You have a single phase 240 volt transformer with a center tap which is your neutral conductor. Ideally the loads connected to line 1 and neutral are about the same as the loads connected to line 2 and neutral. If the loads are not balanced the neutral carries the unbalanced load. If the neutral conductor becomes open your loads are now connected in series to a 240 volt transformer. The voltage on the line with the lesser load will increase and the voltage on the line with the greater load will decrease. You may end up with some loads seeing 60 volts and others seeing 180 volts. This WILL cause damage to most electrical appliances.

As jfoj said this shows that Comcast did have a good connection to the houses grounding electrode system. You would typically see only see a few amps on the hoses neutral so the coax shield could easily carry the current. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991184 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:05:30 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991182 tomp0624 : I call Bravo Sierra! A floating ground will not cause everything to blow up. Usually there is a secondary path to ground through a water pipe somwhere such as a heating system, dishwasher, garbage disposal, etc]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16991182 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:04:47 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990972 peter_m : I think if a large company like Comcast decided to foot the bill, then they must have been advised by their in-house, available 24/7 legal department. If the house had faulty wiring, there is no way Comcast would even think of paying anything.

Something else that doesn't make sense to me... if the ground is somehow missing or defective... who cares! It's only used for safety reasons. It basically just sits there doing nothing and connects to the metal casings of your appliances.

What allot of people call the ground in error is the NEUTRAL wire. If the O.P. meant the NEUTRAL wire was faulty and was somehow connected to the Comcast wire instead of the powers company's neutral, then there is no way that Comcast cable could never carry that much current for more then a fraction of a second, let alone for years...

And when the Tech would disconnect the Super resistant Comcast cable, the circuit would be open. Every appliance in the house would be getting one HOT wire and no NEUTRAL... they would just stop working allot like when you just turn off a switch. No exploding appliance or melting wires would ever happen under this scenario.

Something is missing from this story. I beg the O.P. to give us more details when he finds out. Interesting still!

Peter M
--
a wise man said:
"...the boobs are not growing as you would like them to!!!!"
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990972 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:30:39 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990926 peter_m : My telco's techs are not better. I had problems with my demarcation box and asked to have it replaced. They did just that but didn't connect the house alarm properly. After they finished the work, the alarm no longer had priority over the house extensions. So if the alarm was triggered, it would never be able to dial out in the event I forgot one of the phones off the hook...

Took me 1 1/2 minutes to fix it and these tech actually do this for a living???

I should have staged a false burglary, collected the insurance money and let the insurance's lawyers have fun with the telco! I can be spiteful but I'm way to honest :huh:

Peter

--
a wise man said:
"...the boobs are not growing as you would like them to!!!!"
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990926 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:22:26 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990923 Steve :
said by sonofjay See Profile :

can you please post a link to the story?
Sure: link here

:-)
--
Stephen J. Friedl • Unix Wizard • Microsoft Security MVP • Tustin, California USA • my web site]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990923 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:21:39 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990761 spartus4 : I have had Comcast in Fort Lauderdale, FL and they never connected up a ground wire even though a grounding rod is only 12 inches away from the box on the outside of the house. Let me tell you that the Comcast Techs that I have experenced are not dealing with a full deck. You tell them what wires are which and it takes them 2 hours to figure out that you where right. Comcast doesn't train their techs very well and most of them are Contractors.

If they come out, hover over them if you know better. You can save yourself a lot of headaches.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990761 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:50:03 EDT Re: Fake Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990727 ninjatutle : Sure]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990727 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:44:04 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990488 juniorx : I checked all my sources for Comcast Damage complaints and i dont see any listed there about an issue like this. sounds suspicious to me]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990488 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:54:26 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990446 jfoj : IMHO, the disappearing ground clearly happened after the cable install. Otherwise the home owner would have seen big electrical problems before the cable was even connected. Additionally, the cable installer probably would have been in for a shock at time of install.

Sounds like Comcast probably had a ground block with a good ground wire connected to the house common ground. This would provide a good ground path to the coax drop from the street. I would bet the Comcast Tech was really surprised when he disconnect the drop. At least nobody appears to have been hurt in this situation.

Now the real question is how and why did the house neutral ground fail?? Utility crew damage the wiring, corrosion, storm damage, human error, animals??

Comcast should not have to pay, however, they may choose to get the customer back to "normal" then go after the utility company or whom ever may really be to blame.

This is like the house with the gas leak that blows up when someone turns on a light switch. Is the person who turned on the light switch at fault? No.

Fault/Blame is with the appliance, connection or workmanship of either the gas company or someone who worked on or replace a gas appliance.

jfoj]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990446 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:48:36 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990437 JohnnyG101 : This thread is worthless without pictures.
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Driving with 2 feet since 1999]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990437 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:47:58 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990436 RayW : And 100+ feet of RG59 (or whatever they are using now) carried that much current?
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I am not lost, I find myself every time.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990436 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:47:47 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990211 fruhead : The obvious question is whether or not the house ground had been damaged AFTER the install had taken place. JT is quick to blame Comcast. No surprise there.

I've seen this several times here in NJ, with old houses and an older electrical infrastructure. When I've found it in the past, I stayed at the house until PSE&G or GPU has arrived to take the handoff. It's an incredibly dangerous situation. We always check for AC on and around the tap, strand, groundblock and any aluminum siding. That way one stays alive.

Saratoga66 is correct. Comcast isn't responsible for the house electrical problems. Either the homeowner or the electricity provider is. The tech was lucky to survive.

-Tim from Jersey]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990211 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:03:51 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990018 jloren :
said by saratoga66 See Profile :

Most likely the problem was a bad utility neutral (grounded conductor). This happens frequently especially on overhead services. The most common cause is damage from squirrels who like chewing on the bare aluminum wire. Since all of the utilities are supposed to be connect to a common grounding electrode system the current will flow on the phone, cable and water services and many times the problem will go unnoticed. The cable tech did nothing wrong since he did not cause the initial problem. Comcast is being very nice if the pick up the cost for the damage. The electrical utility should be the one possibly picking up the tab depending what the actual problem was. They are generally not liable for natural casues (squirrels, tree branches, etc.).
Yeah definately the grounded conductor, not the electrode. If the loose 'neutral' is on the utility side of the meter, then they are responsible, but if it is on the customer side, its on you. The tech is lucky he didn't get hurt.


Fixed misplaced quote tag. ~sorto']]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16990018 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:14:25 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16989776 anon :
said by rockycjc :

Upon disconnecting the incoming line, every appliance in my neighbors house instantaneously exploded, a crack opened in the ceiling, and the melted insulation on the cable wire was revealed.
Instantaneously exploding appliances? Yah, right!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16989776 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:00:16 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16989491 fonzbear2000 :
said by sonofjay See Profile :

can you please post a link to the story?
it's not a news story-it's what actually happened to rockycjc, the poster-the fact he talked in first person should have made this obvious
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»never pay full price for high speed again!!!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16989491 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 02:10:53 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16989080 saratoga66 : Most likely the problem was a bad utility neutral (grounded conductor). This happens frequently especially on overhead services. The most common cause is damage from squirrels who like chewing on the bare aluminum wire. Since all of the utilities are supposed to be connect to a common grounding electrode system the current will flow on the phone, cable and water services and many times the problem will go unnoticed. The cable tech did nothing wrong since he did not cause the initial problem. Comcast is being very nice if the pick up the cost for the damage. The electrical utility should be the one possibly picking up the tab depending what the actual problem was. They are generally not liable for natural casues (squirrels, tree branches, etc.).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16989080 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 00:25:12 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16988972 sonofjay : can you please post a link to the story?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16988972 Thu, 28 Sep 2006 00:05:27 EDT Re: Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16988728 JTRockville :
said by RockyCJC See Profile :

Though it would be expected that the tech which installed the cable would have advised the owner that there was no house ground cable for which to connect the cable wire.
Who's expection is it for the tech to violate the law?

The install should have never happened, since it does not adhere to the safety code.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16988728 Wed, 27 Sep 2006 23:24:00 EDT Interesting Comcast Story http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16988599 RockyCJC : So I was having an intermittent connection issue recently. After much calling and complaining, I finally got competent techs on the job and it was apparently fixed for me. Days after two amps were replaced in my neighborhood, my neighbor directly across the street advised me that he was now having problems as well as the remainder of the neighbors around him.

A tech came to his home and did what every tech does when they first arrive, they tested the signal where it enters the home. Little did the tech know what the Comcast line was doing for the house. Upon disconnecting the incoming line, every appliance in my neighbors house instantaneously exploded, a crack opened in the ceiling, and the melted insulation on the cable wire was revealed.

Turns out, my neighbors electrical system had no ground wire. The house was using the coax cable as a conduit into the comcast system at the tap. The current then followed the shortest path into his next door neighbors ground wire.

The theory is, when the tech disconnected the cable wire, the house had no ground for which the current to return. Not sure if this theory holds up but Comcast has decided to pay for all damages in the home. This is something I would not expect since Comcast could not be at fault for the house not having a ground. Though it would be expected that the tech which installed the cable would have advised the owner that there was no house ground cable for which to connect the cable wire.

Anybody ever heard of this or something like it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16988599 Wed, 27 Sep 2006 23:06:29 EDT