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Anybody here ever use the “down & dirty” temporary splice kit?

You know, the one where you Scotch lock the pairs together and bond the shield together with stripped cable and shove the splice up a tube of silicone’s butt?

Yep, about five times, just use scissors to cut the butt end off of a tube of silicone caulk. Only problem is that in order to do it, you need to have two splices (or should I say tubes of caulk) and five feet of cable to create enough slack. I hate to think of the temporary pieces of cable I had to use that became permanent. They ranged from jumper wire to IW cable. We didn't actually carry direct-burial cable on the trucks at the time, so it was never done right the first time.

Obviously, I did this just for a temporary restoration. We were waiting for approval of our proposal for the correct and permanent repair, but were never called back. I think there is a lot of temporary wire and tubes of caulk out there, exactly where I left them. They are buried and safely out of sight.

I only did this on 2-6 pair cables.

I am still ashamed to admit it today.

My company policy now is 100% permanent splices or nothing at all. Since most cuts are 6 pair or less, we just keep the proper stuff on the trucks and avoid the risk. Somehow, with a temporary repair, the customer forgets to call you back to make the repair permanent, yet they can remember to badmouth you five years later when the temporary splice you provided (and got buried) fails.

I thought your were suppose to slide a piece of PVC over one side and then make the spice. Then you put the silicone in the PVC.

Oh well, I rarely spice anything underground. When we bury anything (rarely) we always use conduit. If something is cut, we pull out the old cable, fix the conduit and repull a new cable. But of course, we're talking 50-300 feet. Not miles.

LoL Only if you wanted a pretty splice. I have done this type of stuff if I was in a bind and rain was in the weather forcast but only as a temporary measure. Like Ed said, some customers wanted to let it ride but I always managed to talk them out of it. I'm not sure if the little "pancake" splice kits are much better than the "down and dirty" method to tell the truth. I guess the advantage is that the shield gets a better bond.

wow. i'm watching those xaga install videos. what a pain! how long does that really take?

Jeff: See what I mean? Wrap this, stretch that, torch this, don't torch that. The product may work flawlessly when properly installed, but with all of that manual labor and judgement required, there is way too much room for error. It would be one thing if they were less expensive, but XAGA closures actually cost more than most other brands that are much simpler to install.

what about the splice cases I see on the poles, I take it those are much easier to work with?

Jeff:

Most likely, the aerial spices you see in the air these days are 3M (as in Post-it) SLiC series closures. They are barrel-shaped with "mason-jar" type clamps to keep the halves closed. The are a cylinder that is split down the center and at each end is a rubber (neoprene) grommet that is clipped with scissors to match the cable diameter. Some of these closures actually allow as many as three entries of cables per-end.

Inside, they have a fixed bar with braided bond tails that are attached to clamps attached to the cables' shields. The beauty (and popularity) of the 3M closures is that they come completely assembled, as in one-piece. In aerial splice work, this is a huge benefit because if you think about being on a ladder and dropping a part......

Well, you can imagine the benefit of a one-piece unit.

Pressurized cable uses different closures, commonly known as "waffle" closures, because despite the fact that they too are cylindrical in design, they have external webbing to provide reinforcement (against internal pressure). This webbing looks like the square pattern of a breakfast waffle. The difference in these closures is that the ends are sealed, as well as the edges to retain cable pressurization. They are basically airtight, and for the most part, watertight as well. 3M also pretty much holds the manufacture of these closures since they purchased PSI Telecom, the company that had been making them since the mid 1970's.

There are plenty of other manufacturers of splice closures out there, but practically all operating companies have standardized on these brands.

Some use Tyco Electronics' (formerly Raychem) TRAC series closures. Yes, these are the same people making the XAGA closures, the start of this topic. Bell South still uses them heavily, but I can't understand why with the intensive labor and risk for error. That's another day, I suppose.

What drives me nuts is seeing old cables hanging off the wire, pairs dangling in the air. Also I notice a lot of times the techs lean their ladders up on the cables to work on splices. Seems just a little dangerous...

Jeff, I know it looks dangerous, but the cable support strand is actually the safest place to be for someone using a ladder. Even mid-span, placing a ladder on a strand gives both legs of the ladder a solid place to rest.

Placing a ladder on a pole results in an unsafe condition because it can twist back and forth due to the top rung being the point of support. Ladder manufacturers came up with canvas pole straps that straddle the top end of the ladder rails that have a rubber pad to hug the pole. Great idea, and they kept the ladder from flexing as much, but still, not desired. Today, you will see that telco's ladders have hooks at the top end of the rails that actually hang over the support strand. That way, if something goes wrong, the top end of the ladder (and the technician) will be supported by the strand.

You might notice that Bell companies (or what used to be Bell companies) always place their splices and terminals far enough away from the pole so as to allow a ladder to fit between them. I think that about 24" is the minimum for terminals and about 48" for splices. This added distance for splices permits room to place two ladders, allowing two people to work a splice. I can't say for sure, but that makes sense to me. A typical ladder is about 16" wide between the rails.

Back to the strand supporting the ladder. Believe it or not, a 1/4" support strand is rated to support 5,500 pounds. That's the smallest strand size used on distribution cables. The next sized strand, being about 5/16" supports a whole lot more. They even go up to 3/8" for the really big cables.

Leaning a ladder against a cable support strand is probably the safest place to lean it. Despite how precarious it appears, it's the best thing to do. Don't forget that until the 1980's, splicers had benches, similar to picnic tables that were supported by the strand so that two could sit face-to-face working a splice. They just secured the corners of it to the base of the pole with ropes so it wouldn't tilt. I think that OHSA pretty much nixed that practice.

Now, if you see anyone leaning a ladder on a drop wire, that's another story. Call 911.