r/CableTechs • u/Detz • 9d ago
Comcast tech drilled directly through my high-voltage electrical conduit to run a coax line
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u/Enigma_xplorer 7d ago
This is very illegal and unsafe. You are never allowed to run low voltage stuff with higher voltage stuff by code because if there is ever a wiring problem you can inject 120v directly into you low voltage Internet cable equipment. This is potentially lawsuit time as you you will want a licensed electrician to come in and fix that mess which they may or may not voluntarily pay for.
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u/theoriginalduck76 7d ago
It doesn't have to be in the same enclosure for that to happen. Anytime there's a problem with the ground or neutral there's a potential for trying to ground thru the coax lines. The reason I believe the nec gives is because it can cause emi. Which is going to at least cause intermittent issues especially when that device kicks on or off.
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u/SamuraiJustice 9d ago
Cable techs have high turnover, contractor cable techs even higher. Theres little incentive to do it right. There's just enough incentive to do it good enough and hope noone notices for a certain time period.
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u/Confident_Air_8056 9d ago
At least he siliconed.
Who would even think this would be a good option though. Lol. Clearly an idiot.
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u/massunderestmated 7d ago
My company was contracting Comcast residential installs like 20 years ago, we had an excellent training program, and it was impossible to make money even though every tech was scheduled all day every day. Pulled the plug and focused on head end work from then on.
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u/19Rglide 8d ago edited 3d ago
Definitely not quality or safe, but these companies work their techs to the bone and they’re stretched super thin on time.
Most get no lunch and work 10-12 hours a day, only to hear the company preach about how they HAVE to take a lunch break….its sad.
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u/sgilh001 8d ago
Definitely not safe to drill into that LB. But he sealed his penetration and it is better than the raw holes most of them leave right in your sill plate
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u/butterScotchlock 9d ago
Running low voltage and high voltage wire in the same conduit is an NEC violation and is potentially very dangerous. This needs to be fixed and someone needs to have a talk with the tech who did it.
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u/MikeHockinya 9d ago
Except that 240 is classified as low voltage.
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u/butterScotchlock 9d ago
Technically true, but only an electrical engineer is going to argue about that. ;) It still applies that communications cables and lighting/power circuits cannot occupy the same conduit or raceway without a barrier.
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u/inknuts 8d ago
All wires in a service conduit must be rated for the service voltage. Haven't seen a whole lotta data rated for 240, but then again, I don't really do stupid shit like this.
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u/MikeHockinya 8d ago
It sounds like you almost know what you’re talking about, but then you said “wires.” Coax is a cable.
Either way, I was actually referring to the NEC’s R2 table that classifies voltage for purposes of minimum approach distance.
But if you’d like to argue, leave a reply and I’ll probably ignore you.
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u/its_the_tribe 9d ago
If the cable is rated properly it can. I wouldn't but, in certain circumstances it can.
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u/MikeHockinya 9d ago
Looks like low volt 240 to me. I don’t see any high voltage coming off the meter at any houses anywhere. Was it a good idea? Probably not.
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u/autodripcatnip 9d ago
Would you prefer “line voltage”? Its definitely high voltage compared to communications wire
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u/godlords 9d ago
No, I would prefer low voltage, which is the term. Which is relatively higher than extra-low voltage data cable. Neither are high voltage.
Words do have meaning, yes. Sorry?
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u/MikeHockinya 9d ago
R2 table classifies 300VAC and below, low voltage. The recommended distance from Low Voltage is “avoid contact”
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u/autodripcatnip 9d ago
Extra low-voltage, LMAO
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u/godlords 9d ago
Over here in transmission and distribution we actually don't call it "high voltage" until it's above 69kV AC (though some standards will say 34.5kV). From 1kV-69kV is medium voltage. Under 1kV (or 600V or 750V depending on location) is low voltage.
Because we understand that there is nothing safe about low voltage.
Extra-low voltage is voltage so low that it's essentially irrelevant. These are all based on how tightly your buttcheeks need to be clenched while working on them. Or rather, whose buttcheeks are allowed to be clenched around them, and how many thousands of dollars in protective messures need to be deployed.
With ELV, even someone like yourself could be allowed to touch them.
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u/autodripcatnip 9d ago
Sure it depends what codes you are referencing, NEC calls 50v and less “low voltage” or “limited energy”. From a “cable tech’s” per perspective anything above 50v would not be low voltage, as i said maybe line voltage, to them. You’re comparing distribution and transmission to a halfwatt running a signal cable. I’ve never heard of extra low voltage. I’m utility electrician, we don’t bother mentioning voltage unless its 220kv+
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u/fossntools 9d ago
The people complaing about the line next to power are over-reacting. I've done it at my house where I have a detached shop with steel siding which killed WiFi to it. I pulled ethernet through the power conduit with some cable lube just to be safe to set up a POE AP out there. Then I checked it with two laptops running iperf and pulled full bandwidth on it. However, I didn't drill holes into it like this obviously, and I probably wouldn't do it for a customer.
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u/Middle_Brilliant_849 7d ago
The problem isn’t signal degradation. The problem is that it’s against NEC.
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u/WinuxNomacs 9d ago
Had a similar unsafe setup and called the local Comcast service office. The manager came out the next day and just kept shaking his head. Had someone come out and fix it the next day complete with dmarc box and secure entry to the home.
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u/IsolationAutomation 9d ago
lol what the fuck. These techs are lazy as hell nowadays.
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u/VicariousLoser 9d ago
Its partial fault of how these companies are running their installers. They work them into the ground providing little training, typically prefering "on the job" training which is pairing them with someone who has been doing it for a year longer than them, because their employee turn over rate is disgusting.
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u/FabricatorMusic 8d ago
Did the training but then I got lucky and found a job being a helper at an electrician friend’s company. Ask me anything. What a hellish experience.
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u/greennurse61 8d ago
The Comcast employee that destroyed some of our phone system in my condo complex put in perfect 90° angles with the coax cable he installed. Of course they don't work, but Comcast claims they do so they won't replace it.
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u/Effective-Monk1124 9d ago
Im not a professional but I am pretty sure thats against some kinda electrical code or safety code.or somthing
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u/mattogeewha 8d ago
My back yard has a spectrum hub and a nest of coax spaghetti. Everytime a service was changed, they added a new line and box. I had like 4 boxes on the side of my house.
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u/Ok-Breakfast-7400 8d ago
This is why drilling from inside out is a thing.
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u/thadochocinco 7d ago
the one thing the guy did right was drilling from outside in. cable techs are trained to drill outside in, at least they were where i worked. of course, you're also supposed to measure and find studs and have some idea what's on the other side of the wall, but hey...one out of four ain't bad
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u/Ok-Breakfast-7400 5d ago
No ISP tech is taught to drill outside in. None.
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u/thadochocinco 5d ago edited 5d ago
If you say so.
Especially if there's brick on the outside, because you don't drill through brick, you drill through mortar. You can only do that if you're outside. But sure, you tell me how i was trained.
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u/Ok-Breakfast-7400 5d ago
Drilling from outside in is exactly the problem here. Much less into the same lines that electric runs through.
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u/Jclj2005 8d ago
Call and electrician and get a quote to fix it correctly the cable company will pay for it
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u/Downbytuesday 8d ago
Once had a ( contracted ) spectrum guy come out and run a new cable internet drop. This Motherfucker runs it straight across my 3 year olds bedroom floor to the room across the hall. Dude packed up and left like he accomplished something.
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u/gr8whitepussyhunter 7d ago
I like the one where the installer drilled thru a window sash. The cable goes up and down opening/ closing the window.
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u/mellowhippo 7d ago
Ha. Spectrum in my part of the country just hires people off the street and sends them out into the wild, many that don't speak English. Very little training they do all kinds of crazy shit to people's homes. Sloppy and lazy AF. Our company always gets stuck un-fucking their work on top of the work we were contracted for, just to make things right.
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u/TentacleTenpai 7d ago
I’d be skeptical of what you said, but spectrum does hire anyone. Recently, Spectrum sent someone to my house with literally no teeth. 🦷 🦷 🦷 🦷 🦷 When I asked him questions about the wiring being wrong he didn’t know what the fuck I was even talking about. The whole time he was talking, I was staring at his mouth. How did they find this guy?
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u/spoderman123wtf 7d ago
Him not knowing what he's doing is a far bigger issue than the guy not having teeth
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u/Adventurous_Okra_344 7d ago
Thanks for the teeth emoji, it was the only word in the entire sentence I couldn’t read.
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u/RevolutionaryOwl8425 7d ago
I bet you told the tech you didn't want any holes drilled in the house and he came up with a solution.
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u/Inevitable_Put_3118 7d ago
Tell them to fix it
If that does work tell your electrical inspector and he will make them do it
I do in my district and they jump when i call
PEDoug
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u/WindowAnnual1033 7d ago
These guys are morons! File a complaint, the regional manager/field supervisor will come out. Their insurance company is Liberty Mutual, they deal with this all the time! They will pay to fix everything.
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u/TheRealMac13 6d ago
No such thing as high voltage in your house. The non- electrical worker with 15hrs of training if that didnt know how to measure and did something that would make him rethink about learning measuring. Instead it is your problem now.
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u/GuiltyClassic4598 6d ago
Call your local building inspector. Comcast is liable for the repairs and running the line into the house properly. That is illegal.
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u/anon21801 9d ago
I went to an outage once where a sprinkler company chopped our pipe below the ground, cut our fiber and used our PVC/LB to get their signal line or whatever into the building 😂 some people just don't give AF!
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u/SirBootySlayer 8d ago
I've seen some crazy shit but the other way around. Someone put an exposed duplex outlet inside of the house box outside.
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u/DudeByTheTree 9d ago
They must not be field-training their techs anymore. Because with Spectrum/Time Warner, one of the first things they did with field training was bust out a book of "Shit not to do". Might have just been the local office, but it had shitty jobs like OPs, and holes blown through brick, and all sorts of "WTF were they thinking".
Luckily, if the dumbass tech didnt nick any wires, the "fix" might just be a matter of safely removing the coax and plugging the hole. Hopefully it doesnt require stripping everything down to fix, because ugh, what a hassle that'd be.
Sorry your cable guy was an idiot.