Had my first "oops" this weekend.

[dieselfuelonly]

No, I didn't roll my tractor or get stuck to the point that 4WD could get me out...

BUT:

I was digging out a trench with the dirt scoop to fill with good dirt to make a little garden in. Dirt scoop worked EXCELLENT for that by the way, as soon as I get the "problem" fixed I will post pictures:

On my first scoop, I look behind me only to find a nice piece of cable sticking out from the ground. I shut off the tractor and run inside and pick up the phone. Nothing. Try the TV. Nothing. Try the internet. NOTHING. Out out 6 acres, on my very first scoop, I managed to take out the one cable that was buried about 1" in the ground that runs our cable TV, internet, and phone.

And to top it all off, Road Runner is saying that they can't come out here until Wednesday to fix it.

If I knew how to fix it myself I would, anyone know of a good site on how to patch coax cable?

Oops.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Dennis,
Gosh that is bad news ! Around here those cables are supposed to be buried at least 12" ! Im surprised they let them get away with only burying them that shallow ! Good luck to get everything spliced back together soon !

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Yeah, I'm pretty angry, we've had a lot of problems with them before. At our old house, I cut through the phone line no less than 4 times while terracing the yard, until one of the guys FINALLY took the time to route a temporary cable around the house!

With the amount of money that you pay for a connection that drops at least 5 times per day on the internet, has sporadic slow-downs, it would at least be nice if they would take the time to bury it more than 1" deep in the ground!!!!

 

[shaley]

Get some RG6 coax from Lowes and a barrel connector and replace the cut section. It's just one conductor and a shield ground on the outside. They might have used RG11 which is about 1/2 inch in dia. but a short patch section of RG6 will work.

 

[rgood]

Dennis - Radio Shack will have everything you need to do the job - It's not a big problem to fix

 

[jsborn]

Call BEFORE you dig.

That could have been electric or gas just as easy and it doesn't matter who is to blame when you and or your tractor is on fire and burning in your yard.

I don't know but in defence of the utilities they usually bury the lines deeper but sometimes after they dig them in the grade changes with out them knowing then the homeowner comes in and finds them 1" underground.

NEVER ASSUME it is clear Call BEFORE you Dig its free..

 

[shaley]

Once you get it fixed you can look at the system performance by typing the following address into your browser which is "192.168.100.1" it will bring up the cable modem status page. Take alook at the signal page and you can see what's going on with the power level on the upstream and down stream when the network goes down vs when it is up.
Here is a screen shot of mine

 

[JC-jetro]

No, I didn't roll my tractor or get stuck to the point that 4WD could get me out...

BUT:

I was digging out a trench with the dirt scoop to fill with good dirt to make a little garden in. Dirt scoop worked EXCELLENT for that by the way, as soon as I get the "problem" fixed I will post pictures:

On my first scoop, I look behind me only to find a nice piece of cable sticking out from the ground. I shut off the tractor and run inside and pick up the phone. Nothing. Try the TV. Nothing. Try the internet. NOTHING. Out out 6 acres, on my very first scoop, I managed to take out the one cable that was buried about 1" in the ground that runs our cable TV, internet, and phone.

And to top it all off, Road Runner is saying that they can't come out here until Wednesday to fix it.

If I knew how to fix it myself I would, anyone know of a good site on how to patch coax cable?

Oops.

For real temporary solution get couple of short wires with alligator clips. can pick them up from Radio Shack about $3. Expose the the coax conductor with a pocket knife connect center copper wires on both end with one alligator clip. do the same with the outer wire that is woven. In between the outer wire and inner you have insulating layer and another insulating jacket on the outside. you'll have losses with this connection but you'll get enough juice transmitted to be back in business till the real fix. I get some plastic bag and cover the temp fix and tape it up to have some temporary shield from the element and rain. You can also get the right crimper and a splice fix, follow the instruction in the package which includes filling the splice tube with %100 Silicon for moisture protection. I do that if cable company wants to charge me and arm and a leg for a $10 fix.


JC,

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Get some RG6 coax from Lowes and a barrel connector and replace the cut section. It's just one conductor and a shield ground on the outside. They might have used RG11 which is about 1/2 inch in dia. but a short patch section of RG6 will work.

I was looking at the cable, and now I understand, it looks pretty easy to fix. Do you need any special tools?

 

[JC-jetro]

I was looking at the cable, and now I understand, it looks pretty easy to fix. Do you need any special tools?

at the least a coax crimper and a splice kit from Radio shack. It'll have everything but the crimper.

JC

 

[john_bud]

You're lucky that wasn't a fiber optic bundle you cut. You would be liable for the repair and loss of service. Can be more than the house cost.....Do as Jsborn said --> call before you dig. Get all utilities marked then take pictures from the ground and the roof. Then stay away from those areas!

jb

 

[Farwell]

Shaley,
I tried the 192.168.100.1 address and got basic information on my modem but there was not any way to get any information about the signal. Any further suggestions?

 

[SkunkWerX]

You can even use twist-on connectors for the RG-cable.
Cut a short piece of what you dug up, and take it with you, so you can match to the correct connectors.

Buy a small box of RG cable and some connectors. Usually the box that the connectors come in will show how to strip it, leaving the proper amount of insulator, conducter and shield.

Cable companies are notorious at burying to unrealistic depths 1" to 2" is a norm with them. one of their best tricks in a new neighborhood is finding out they are using sod and coming out just before the sod is layed, running their lines on the dirt, with only a layer of sod covering. They will tell you they are making it "easy to fix". Sure, and much more easy to damage it.

TelCo typically buries jointly with power and is usually a min of 24" and in some case 36" (Varies by area, terrain, frost depth). As was mentioned, builders have been known to change grades after-the-fact, which can lead to shallow utilities. I have also seen the opposite, where the phone & power lines ended up 12 feet under when a builder decided to backfill what were going to be walk-out basements due to some building code issue.

As was mentioned, call before you dig. Do this once, they will mark your utilities, then using a copy of your property survey, make yourself a small map to better help avoiding them at a later date.

Finally, force the cable company to come and bury their line properly.

 

[N80]

I'm not sure you're liable for something no more than an inch underground, if it was truly just an inch. Still better to call ahead of course.

A few years ago I wacked our cable line with the tip of my shovel. It was literally just under the dirt. When the cable guy arrived he was really ticked off. Not at me, but at the previous installer. They had not even used a trencher to bury it. He knew that guy that did it and he was cussing him up and down. He fixed my hack job but also called in a trencher crew to do it right. They put it in about 12 inches or so.

I was still a dope for cutting it, but I didn't feel as bad since it had not been buried properly. It was also waaaaay out of place making a big cruve towards the pole. The cable guy was mad about that too.

Fortunately, at my cabin,where my tractor is, I know exactly where the water and power are burined. That doesn't mean that one of these days I won't cut that too . I guess cutting buried electric could be potentially lethal. Wonder how deep it is?

 

[wolfneck]

Often, the cable/phone company uses a subcontractor for this type of work.
Typically, they get paid by the running foot. It's a recipe for substandard work.
I learned this the hard way, since I would lose phone service every time my neighbor box bladed our driveway! Last week, I insisted they rebury the entire 350 foot length a foot deep, while I watched.

 

[shaley]

Shaley,
I tried the 192.168.100.1 address and got basic information on my modem but there was not any way to get any information about the signal. Any further suggestions?

There should be a menu on the sidebar for the signal page. If you don't have a Motorolla the page wil be different but it should still have it.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

I just can't see myself being liable for cutting a cable that was literally buried 1" under the ground!

The place where it was cut was also far from the telephone pole, it was about 50' from my house where I cut it. I would hope that there wouldn't be some random fiber line running straight across my yard! But you never know...

Anyway, I'll stop by Lowes or Radio Shack and try to get what I need to fix it temporarily. When talking with Time Warner, I told them that they HAD to come out here with a ditch witch and dig a new trench for it, because I kept on digging with my tractor and I pulled a lot more of the cable up, and the whole time it never got any deeper! Bad quality work like that really ticks me off...

 

[Farwell]

There should be a menu on the sidebar for the signal page. If you don't have a Motorolla the page wil be different but it should still have it.

Shaley,
The modem is a Ambit DOCSIS according to the page. There is a side bar but it asks for a user-name and password. I tried a few times to access the site using my password but got a 401 invalid error message.
It is no big thing but thought I would give it a try.
I use 2wire dot com when I want to check my speed.
Thanks for getting back to me.

 

[Tractors4u]

The place where it was cut was also far from the telephone pole, it was about 50' from my house where I cut it. I would hope that there wouldn't be some random fiber line running straight across my yard! But you never know...

I was doing some trenching in my yard and even though I had a good idea of where the water and phone lines ran, and knew I would not be digging anywhere near there, I called Line Locator anyway. I ended up digging up my neighbors phone line that crossed my property at a 45 degree angle to the road in front of our houses. He said that when he called it in that the phone company said something about me paying. I still had the confirmation number from locator, but from where that line was, I think they would have been hard pressed to hold that one against me.

 

[SnowRidge]

I just can't see myself being liable for cutting a cable that was literally buried 1" under the ground!

The place where it was cut was also far from the telephone pole, it was about 50' from my house where I cut it. I would hope that there wouldn't be some random fiber line running straight across my yard! But you never know...

Diclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.

OK, now that is done, to the point. I don't believe you can be held liable for damaging any utility cable that is buried on your property that is not within an easement. An exception might be a cable servicing your house that is buried to the prescribed depth.

But if some yahoo runs a fiber line outside of the utility easement just to cut a corner, for example, and it gets cut, I don't think you would be on the hook. In fact, I think you could and should demand they move it.