Cable pulling techniques 2

[OKCMikeSoll]

I have been working on a commercial job that is larger that I have done in the past, and in pulling the CAT5 and CAT3 I have been commming up with to much extra cable when I cut it. Does anyone have techniques that they use to run cable? (i.e. put the cable boxes at te jack or destination? I have been using Alrlington Industies cable loops mainly for supports. Any acurate ways to measure cable runs? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[groundstart]

a few extra feet is alot better then coming up short....

 

[skip555]

like groundstart said 10' of scrap beats 2" short any day

I usaully measure the best I can then add 10 to 20 feet to it just to be sure.

as to mesuring techniques if there is a drop ceiling you can count the grids then multiply add in enough go get up to your cable supports and then back down to the workstation.

if its tile floor you can count the tiles or find any other building refrence point with fixed distance between .

 

[3rc]

You are doing fine,figure the cost,I'd venture to say on a large job, even if you wasted 1000ft of cable the cost of re-running and the cost of a couple runs, would be more than you wasted, and if it is new construction ,when it comes time to terminate ,you will be glad you have it if you were to have to re-route it at the MDF.

 

[luv2ski]

what we used to do was pull in a smaller group of cables so not to waste a couple hundred feet per pull instead of 20 or 30 "pulled out on floor" we would pull 10 or so . and yes we used to pull lots of cable...

Pat Guido
NEXTIRAONE
Pat.guido@nextiraone.com

Formerly Nextira, formerly Williams Communications, formerly Wiltel, formerly Nortel networks, formerly Northern Telecom, formerly, Nynex meridian systems formerly Northern Telecom.

 

[AvayaNovice]

What I do... is make a point of reference. So let's say, I run a group of 20 cables from one area back to the MDF/IDF. I find a common point that I can bring all of my runs to, then pull all of that cable to a certain destination (ie. like around the room three times stopping at the door or something) that way I know that if I run my cable that distance, no matter where it came from originally, I will make it back perfectly to the MDF.

I use cable joes like crazy, makes it a lot easier.

 

[mdeeves]

Pull from station to MDF/IDF. Pull end to MDF/IDF right into termination point. (no waste at this end)

Pull enough "slack" for comfortable termination at the station end. Sometimes it is best to bring each cable or set of cables directly to station end seperately then mark cut and fish it right away. This is the way i have done jobs from 10 stations with 2 wires each up to 2500 stations with 6 wires each.

And as the other have said i'd rather be long than short.

An older guy once told me when i first started in telecom with ATT. "Better a mile to long than an inch to short"

Good luck.

 

[buitenhek]

Pull station location to IDF/MDF. Pull furthest locations first with fresh boxes. Use low end technician to determine remaining cable (either by cable based distance or TDR).

Determining the necessary cable amount is an art. Here is my method, it works well for me but it is not the only solution:
1. With blueprints – use ScaleMaster (~$50) to determine best route and distance
2. Add 10% to each cable run and total all runs
Example: Run 1 – 255’ + 10% = 281’
Run 2 – 250’ +10% = 275’
Run 3 - 210’ +10% = 231’
Run 4 – 150’ + 10% = 165’
Total 4 runs = 952’
3. Average run 952/4 =238’ each
4. Divide 1000’box/reel by average run 1000/238 = 4.2
Round down the 4.2 to integer value = 4
The 4 represents 4 pulls per box
4 pulls at 238’ each = 952 used with 48’ left over for other pulls or waste.
Determine number of 1000’ boxes needed = #pulls divided by #pulls per box
This mini project would need 1 – 1000’ box/reel (4 total #pulls divided by 4 pulls per box = 1)
5. Larger projects (1000+) drops also work with this approach.
Good luck.


Regards
Peter Buitenhek
Profit Developer.com