US Cable Support > Comcast HSI > [Connectivity] Help:We accidentally cut our comcast HSI line

reply to nunya

Re: [Connectivity] Help: We accidentally cut our comcast HCI lin

I stand by my assertion that 4" is irresponsible and unacceptable.
I've worked for many OSP communications companies. I still do some OSP work. I know that "kick a little dirt on it" is the norm - that doesn't make it right.
IMO the NESC is a huge failure for not setting a depth standard for Telco and Cable TV.
I have NEVER worked for either a Telco or CATV company where they would "allow" anything less than 6" in depth.
IMO the NEC should have jurisdiction once the wire enters a private right of way. Some municipalities do, in fact" enforce the NEC upon PROW entry of utility OSP.

Realistically, they need to be 8-12" deep.

Your argument that it's easier to dig up at a 4" depth doesn't pan out. If the cables were buried at an appropriate depth, there would be far fewer dig-ups required. 4" depth is just job security for the repair crews and drop crews.
If the cable companies were smart, they would get out more often and spank these guys with charge-backs.

Perhaps the OP will post his location and we can call the local Comcast office and see what their official company policy is. I've personally never had the "pleasure" to work for Kabletown, so I don't know.
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...because I care.

It probably depends where (which state, not so much for whom) as to the standard.

Cable, being low voltage signal line (like "invisible fence" for pets is probably legal at any depth under NEC.
Is it best practice? No, is a full conduited burial better? Hell YES!
The question is who pays the cost (once you dig for a permanent conduit your talking accurate (to 811 standards) suveys, a tracer wire, locator costs (now everyone must call if they dig for free, but it costs the buried providers for the service and for each call out.) etc.
it is far cheaper for cable providers to accept the occasional 'Opps!', but they are still free to for the deliberate damage (as judged by the tech on scene).

reply to nunya
drop cables fail.....they arent bulletproof.....burying 8-12" wont fix everything.....would it have stopped the OP from hitting his drop? yea...but so would have 811.
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I'm better than you!

reply to nunya
4" is acceptable and responsible. You are wrong thinking every cable should be buried 8-12" deep.

Lets see, homeowner cuts said cable, homeowner can't watch tv for 24 hours, oh no!!! Let's bury every cable in the world at least 12" deep because 1% of homeowners cut them every year.

Lines go bad, 1" or 12" deep, even in conduit.

4" may be ok for a short, simple line drop (although it would make me nervous), but when I just put in my own 500' conduit for a line extension Comcast told me to use 2 inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe and at least 2 feet of depth. Due to the terrain, tree roots, etc I went closer to 4-5 feet on average, but I also had it done trenchless with directional drilling, so depth was less of an issue than length.
On the other hand, the 1/2 - 3/4 inch coax used is impressive, and having my own dedicated tap 3 feet from my house and 25 feet from where the cable modem will live is nice. Now if I can just get my account marked as active so they can activate my service life will be good.

reply to Jabbu
I'm not wrong. I've been in this business long enough to know what does, and what does not, work. I'd be willing to bet that I've personally buried several thousand more drops than the average Joe.
Cables rarely just "go bad" by themselves. They normally get "helped". The service provider has an obligation to their customer and the public to bury the lines at an acceptable depth. Especially now that they want to be telephone providers as well.

If they want to continue down the path of kicking a little dirt over the top and "callin' er dun", then they should have absolutely zero problem coming out and repairing / replacing the drop for free when it gets cut by someone doing routine yard work.

I decided to do a little "Googling" of the specifications Comcast has for their "drop bury" contractors. Most said they drops are supposed to be machine buried to a dept of 12". I did find one listing that said 8-12". That's Comcast's own self-imposed requirements. These ARE NOT hardline specs, they are for 6/11 premise drop coax.
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...because I care.

reply to bpratt
plant is a completely ball game....and since your is in conduit, its even better, cause if my locator told me its 4'+ in the ground, i would not be digging it up...
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I'm better than you!

reply to nunya
there is no comcast specs for drop depth regardless of what the google tells you.....
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I'm better than you!

Thats in your area Gar. Comcast has specs around here. fiber 24 inches, hard line 12 inches, drops 8 inches. the whole state of new jersey is 18 inches across the board. In pa the depths are depending on the system. The specs i provided was for bucks county. of course its dirt so it is what it is. At 4 inches you get a automatic pass from being charged. At that depth its easy to cut the drop with just a shovel. hell at 4 inches a lawn aeriater is taking that drop out.

comcast means the company......youre saying parts of NJ have those regulations...
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I'm better than you!

reply to gar187er
NO NO NO! 4" is NOT OK. Cable should be buried at least 18-24" below, in a trench with crushed stone and PVC conduit, and any appropriate barriers/drainage material put in. Direct burial is just doing a crappy job. Ours are probably 24-36" down in ~2" PVC conduit that is laid in crushed stone. It runs along with telco and power lines, each in separate conduits. Even our pool wiring is probably 18" underground, in trenched-in conduit.

reply to BiggA

reply to AVD
Yes, for a house connection. Done properly.

There is no reason that irrigation should be in before the conduit is laid. The conduit should go in early with conduits for power, cable, and phone service, and then the wires pulled through later. I'm sure there's a lot of shoddy work out there, but that's how it's done right.

reply to BiggA

reply to BiggA

That's really poor planning on the developer's part. The conduit should go in with the electrical and phone service, separated in the trench.

The conduit doesn't cost that much if you throw a few extra conduits down there when roughing in electric service.

I can't blame the cable company for doing a shitty job if the customer didn't prepare conduit for them. It's the home builder or owner's responsibility to have an empty conduit ready for cable installation if they want to do cable. If we ever got FTTH, for example, we either have an extra conduit, or if not, we would re-pull it with a new phone line and fiber by using the old phone line. Irony is the street has a conduit for fiber, but AT&T doesn't do FTTH, so it's just sitting there empty.

When the builder build the house, he trenched in conduit for power, phone and cable, and buried it with pull lines in it. CL&P, AT&T, and Comcast each pulled their cable through those conduits, and made the appropriate connections to the electrician's wiring inside the house.

It's not exactly rocket science to do conduit installation. You have to CBYD, you probably need a backhoe unless it's a short run, some crushed stone, and some conduit.

IIRC, in New England, the trenching actually has to be done below the frost depth, which is about 48" here. Too much less, and it will frost heave. They might be able to get away with a bit less, but it's not 6 or 12" down.

Thats how its done all over the United sates for the last ten years or so. But not all house were built in the last ten to twenty years. I guarantee i could come up to new england and find houses without conduit. The way its usually done is the builder gets in touch with the local phone and cable company and has the conduit supplied by them. The cable company wasnt always willing to supply conduit to someone that may or may not get service from them. The phone company often just supplied the phone line for direct burial.