Incoming telephone cable been cut by builder

[Tidy Max]

:90:

So i have been doing a rewire on a 1600s property. Lovely customers but the job is dragging on abit as they are also having building work done.

Text of the builder asking if he can cut a redundant telephone cable in a bedroom to which i said yes.

Text of the customer that night saying the builder has cut their temporary internet cable so they have no BB could i solve it.

Spent a day second fixing today and remembered about the internet just as i was packin up cables. Connected reconnected the chopped cable... no BB.
Went to the master socket to find cables have been chopped out... reconnect cables, no BB.

Go out to the front of the property and see this.......


Which leads us to the next problem that the front of the property is being K rendered tomorrow.

Any ideas? The customer isn't overly pleased and i have had the problem basically dumped on me. I am assuming a phonecall to BT (the correct course of action) is going to result in a hefty charge (minimum £120 callout iirc?).

 

[7029 dave]

Renew cable from master to inline joint.

 

[amlu]

if you lucky the line will be still live (measure with volt meter, should be some 30-40 volts on it) , install some weatherproof junction box, run bit of cat5/phone cable to wherever needed and patch up the cable
if you are not lucky then the line get shorted and got disconnected in the local exchange box, then is a phonecall to bt and ££ to pay.

 

[Guest77]

Cat 5 won't do outside though Bud, it will need to be external quality cable or it will deteriate very quickly, probably 2 winters only and it will be knackered.

 

[Tidy Max]

Cheers chaps. That was my poa for tomorrow morning, just trying to gauge what you lot would do also. The cable seems to be surprisingly large 2 core which i wasn't expecting. It looks about 1/1.5mm (large for telephone cable) as i know mine at home is an 8 core straight from the telegraph pole.

Ta for the replies

 

[Tidy Max]

I wouldn't put cat5 outside MDJ, i will be going to CEF in the morning and having a route through the stores to see what i can find. Possibly a rubberised flex? I have done a fair bit of network cabling etc but this incoming phoneline has no twists and is literally just 2 core?

 

[Tidy Max]

And the thanks button has disappeared again, when it reappears i will dish some out x

 

[7029 dave]

Drop wire 10 is what you need, but that is bt cabling, or lead in.

 

[Tidy Max]

Come again Davey. What is drop 10?

 

[7029 dave]

Come again Davey. What is drop 10?

Its what that span is 2pair cable, bt's own, you will not get it, has strengthening wires with in it.

 

[Leesparkykent]

Would this do the job? 50M BLACK CW1308 2 PAIR 4 CORE EXTERNAL OUTDOOR BT TELEPHONE WIRE CABLE LEAD IDC | eBay

 

[amlu]

some of that should do the job:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CAEXCAT5E.html

(back in the days we had a DIY local network on the estate, around 100 meters lengths of cat5 hung on a steel wire between tower blocks, worked well for like 5 years, then I moved out so not sure, possibly still works)

 

[7029 dave]

Would this do the job? 50M BLACK CW1308 2 PAIR 4 CORE EXTERNAL OUTDOOR BT TELEPHONE WIRE CABLE LEAD IDC | eBay

That will do Lee, blue orange pair 1 Green Brown pair 2. Drop 10 will be Orange White pair 1 , Green Black pair 2.

 

[Tidy Max]

Bloody hell i have got a TLC delivery arriving tomorrow aswell! Thanks for the advice chaps much appreciated

 

[UKMeterman]

Put the customer back on with a bit of cat5, then replace with the dropwire 10 from ebay. Get some gell filled scotchlocks from a telecom supplier to make it look like a pucker job.

 

[Andy78]

Am I missing something here ? Why are not BT being called out and the bill being passed to the builder ?

 

[7029 dave]

Am I missing something here ? Why are not BT being called out and the bill being passed to the builder ?

Yeah that would be logical.

 

[Tidy Max]

Indeed Andy that response was what i was expecting off everyone and that may be what happens tomorrow morning. I spoke to the customer this evening after i had realised what had happened and we will be having a discussion regarding it in the morning at which point i will be explaining the options.
My recommended course of action will be to call BT and get the hefty bill. This will result in an annoyed builder (meh not my problem).
An annoyed customer (not my problem but i will be seen as being awkward).
K render lads being delayed, which will probably be the biggest problem.

At least i can go with to them with a couple of different options, i will be making it clear that if they do want me to go ahead and repair it then any future faults etc will not be on my head and that i recommended calling BT in the first place!

 

[shanky887614]

worst case use defstan its twisted pair, screened and black sheath so some uv protection till you can get some proper cable.

 

[davesparks]

Standard telephone cable or else exterior cat5 (black pe sheathed) will be fine.
Just make sure the phones not off the hook when you do the connections, the line rises to about 100V when it is.