TV Cable and Internet Service
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Southeast USA
Posts: 1,034
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
TV Cable and Internet Service
My local cable company has been at my home today upgrading TV cable service and adding wireless internet service. finally dumping dial up.
as anyone knows, these guys are always drilling holes for the wire. while drilling, the drill hit the insulated wire that runs to a 2 plug 120v receptacle in a spare bedroom/office. this incident tripped the breaker for this circuit. I reset the breaker and the receptacle is working fine. cable guy readily pointed this out. I went in the crawlspace and saw that the insulation covering the wire has been exposed. can't determine if the actual wire has been damaged. I plan to get some electrical tape as I asked cable guy to come back this afternoon and cover this area with the tape.
is this a good strategy and should I let this go as is or does more need to be done by a qualified electrician? I don't want to make a big deal out of this unless it's a big deal.
I appreciate you reading this thread and any advice you might offer.
as anyone knows, these guys are always drilling holes for the wire. while drilling, the drill hit the insulated wire that runs to a 2 plug 120v receptacle in a spare bedroom/office. this incident tripped the breaker for this circuit. I reset the breaker and the receptacle is working fine. cable guy readily pointed this out. I went in the crawlspace and saw that the insulation covering the wire has been exposed. can't determine if the actual wire has been damaged. I plan to get some electrical tape as I asked cable guy to come back this afternoon and cover this area with the tape.
is this a good strategy and should I let this go as is or does more need to be done by a qualified electrician? I don't want to make a big deal out of this unless it's a big deal.
I appreciate you reading this thread and any advice you might offer.
#2
Call the cable company and ask them to hire an electrician to repair it. Ask the person they send out for his electrician's license number if he isn't in a clearly marked truck. They did it they are responsible for fixing it.
#3
If the breaker tripped, then the wire is damaged to the point that it must be replaced. Tape is not a sufficient repair for this type of damage. The breaker should remain OFF until the repair is complete.
The cable company should hire an electrician to repair the damage.
is this a good strategy and should I let this go as is or does more need to be done by a qualified electrician?
#5
The nick can't be repaired. The cable must be cut and spliced or replaced. If there is at least 12" of slack in the cable, very unlikely, you could cut it at the damage and splice in a single junction box so long as the junction box will remain accessible. More likely you would have to use two junction boxes and a short length of new cable. However every junction is a potential failure point. Best is to replace the cable from where it originates to where it ends. Probably only a few feet really if it runs between two receptacles.