ArthurS
Watch Those Blinking Lights
Premium
join:2000-10-28
Hamilton, ON
| reply to DKS
Re: A wire is a wire is a wire
said by DKS  :Hmmmm. Bell would also not like you piggybacking on their ground. I believe it is supposed to be exclusive. Although this situation seems unique, any form of metallic "conduit" should be bonded to ground, this is a code requirement. All grounds must be all bonded together at the service entrance--this includes the main ground electrode for the building's power, along with the grounding conductor from the lighting arrestors for any telephone or cable TV/antenna that's penetrating to inside the building. |
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Bicephale
join:2005-09-24
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
2 edits | 
Bell's Main with Tape - Front View | | 
Bell's Main with Tape - Bottom View |
Yeah, that's tape all right! Tissue tape i'd say.
A technician working for Bell explained to me that
he could see a high-impedance short (my own words)
across the line this winter. The problem resolved
by itself and didn't show up until recently when i
noticed, once again, that pulse hammer-dialing "9"
temporarily fixed my DSL connection which remained
dead for hours otherwise... I suspected that some
chemical reaction was involved, it seemed like the
successive 40 volts pulses caused a faulty section
of the telephone line to depolarize but none of us
had the least clue where it was taking place. The
more i look at this tissue tape the more i wonder:
after years of exposition to the elements it could
be collecting moist, a disaster waiting to happen.
I wonder if it's standard procedure at Bell to use
tissue tape in this manner since i'd have expected
to find a completely different type of protection!
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DKS
Damn Kidney Stones
Premium,ExMod 2002
join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON
clubs: | Is it paper tape or cotton-based hockey tape? |
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Bicephale
join:2005-09-24
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Hi DKS,
I haven't got a chance to reach it so far, meaning
this may be nothing more than a form of protection
against abrasion - which makes me somewhat worried
nonetheless: was it preventive or curative when a
guy decided to put it there years ago?... I don't
like how it appears to change shape and direction,
if that's a splice i wouldn't bet on the odds that
whoever did this he had a soldering iron handy and
a helper down below, to disconnect the power right
before he got ready to touch one of the wires. My
photographs are inconclusive but my instinct tells
me someone will have to look under the tissue tape
because, from the looks of it, there's very little
silicone-based sealant covering that joint if any.
Well, the situation could be worst: one of Bell's
employees might actually have showed up while this
detail was still remaining unnoticed. Lucky me...
Anyway, i can't afford not to be curious about it!
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