[ale] Fiber optic ethernet

[Robert Reese]

Hello William,

Thursday, February 28, 2013, 1:17:41 PM, you wrote:

> +1 on extreme caution on a pull. 

Ditto.  Patience on this will pay you back in spades.

Also, if you pull, lube the fiber with some graphite embedded grease that is safe for the sheathing.  I helped Alcatel pull fiber back in '95-'96, and they used liberal amounts of the stuff.  I imagine that in the intervening 15+ years, the lube has gotten better and the fiber thinner.  Of course, many of the pulls had several bundles of strands in them - something you might consider getting, since you'll only need to pull once.  Someone else mentioned larger conduit.  I wholly agree.  I'd also recommend that you separate the sections if possible.  You can do your "main" straight length at the same time, and the pull your fiber from the center section to the ends with the bends.  It's additional work, but in this case you'll probably find it worthwhile.


About digging:

CALL FIRST!!!  811 is your friend!  It is FREE!!  You'll never know what is under your dirt, even if you've been there 25 years.  Usually you'll get someone out within a few days (sometimes a few somebodies).  And if you call, and after they locate, if you hit a utility that isn't marked (3' variance) then you don't have to pay to have it fixed.  Otherwise, it can get life-altering expensive (literally) to fix some things that are found accidentally, and home-owner's doesn't cover it.


Dig as deep as possible.  You might even consider hiring a guy with a big trencher and spending the couple hundred.  Trust me, worth every penny.  After you cover the conduit, about a foot or two under the surface get some warning tape and lay it in the ditch as well as a 16-gauge insulated copper wire.  The wire is for locating, and the tape is a warning to future diggers, even yourself.


By the way, for running the pull, a shop vac works very well in getting the line through the conduit to pull.  Tie the fishing line to a foam plug - which should be round and roughly the size of the opening - the suck it through.  Once there, tie polyester or nylon string to the fishing line and pull it back through.  Tie your pull line to the string and pull it through.  Attach fiber, and gently pull it through; having someone to fish out the fiber to keep slack in the input side will help keep from putting too much stress on the line.


One last question: with the above info, are you sure it's worth the expense and the work?

Good luck,
Robert~