Fishtape

[Goldenboy]

I've had to use a fishtape quite a few times to either rod empty conduit or to locate sheathless fibers. It seems like the fishtape tones sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. I know the ideal situation would be to rod the fishtape all the way through and then ground the other end but this is a rarity. Normally I fish the conduit till I can't push any farther and then direct connect to the fishtape. It seems like the shorter runs don't want to tone. I'm guessing this is because it is ungrounded. Anybody have any tips or tricks for these situations?

[LadyLeatherneck]

Is there a way you could get the phone company to send a tone through the line? If so, you could locate it by the tone using your receiver.

[UULC]

I have found when you push the tape all the way and it stops the you could be into the ground thus you have your ground. You could also be into water thus creating a ground. On shorter runs when you cannot get a good tone, try using a higher freq.

Just my guess.

[Metroman]

I use fishtape weekly on unshielded fiber.No matter how you do it unless the other end is grounded you can only locate about 3/4 of your fishtape till your signal fades away.A higher frequency is required.I use 82khz with good results.

[yahoo]

fishtape goldenboy?????? please explain...

[yahoo]

if it's embarrassing and something i should know...........just pm me instead......

[Goldenboy]

A fishtape is a metal or fiberglass rod on a roll(we obviously have to use the metal one to locate) used by electricians to pull wires through walls. A 200ft fishtape only costs about 40 bucks and can save tons of time. Instead of calling a contractor you can just rod the untoneable duct and locate it out.

Thanks everyone for your tips and suggestions.

[USIC1]

Im just curious to know how your co. would treat or whether you could be charged with a legit damage for not rodding or attempting and mismarking an EMPTY conduit???

This maybe a good samaritan gesture, sometimes I will get there or reschedule tommorrow when they no longer would need me...I dont guarantee my arrivals for things that are above and beyond the call of duty...Unless of course lunch money is involved or at least an offer...It kills me when most discount your services without offering anything...
Oh and thats why I dont play the game like in the old take me for granted days of this business...
Guess this arouses a whole nother ball of wax...

Not to many contract locating Co.s to the best of my knowledge issue fishtape to locators as SOP so that tells me its beyond the scope of my duties...

Just my 1/2 a cent...

[Goldenboy]

Im just curious to know how your co. would treat or whether you could be charged with a legit damage for not rodding or attempting and mismarking an EMPTY conduit???


Not to many contract locating Co.s to the best of my knowledge issue fishtape to locators as SOP so that tells me its beyond the scope of my duties...

Just my 1/2 a cent...
No the fishtape isn't company issued. If there is a sheathless fiber or new conduit with nothing in it we are supposed to call the utility company,wait for them to come out,meet them on site,wait for them to rod it, and then locate it. I choose to do it myself because I hate waiting around for the right way to do it.

Sorry if going above the call of duty makes you sick but some of us do go above and beyond from time to time.

[USIC1]

No the fishtape isn't company issued. If there is a sheathless fiber or new conduit with nothing in it we are supposed to call the utility company,wait for them to come out,meet them on site,wait for them to rod it, and then locate it. I choose to do it myself because I hate waiting around for the right way to do it.

Sorry if going above the call of duty makes you sick but some of us do go above and beyond from time to time.


Sick but not a sucker...

I wont let any of a majority of these people that think we are there bitch boy locators get the best of me wthout a fight or some apreciation...

Hey if there is a facility and thats what the customer wants so be it...If our company says stay out there and dig an unsheathed fiber- I got the time if they got the cash...And extensive hand digging can get costly...

What about the damage of an empty conduit???

See we have a facility owner that thinks we need to be responsible for all the new empty conduit in new subdivisions...But thats crap and not in the contract...So I dont mess with it...What are they going to charge us for???

HA! frikin joke...

[UULC]

GB I'm with you. I hate waiting for them to show up and I can get it done quicker. I have a wide assortment of personal item that the company would never provide. I have 3 different locating equipment that belongs to me.

[LadyLeatherneck]

Supervisor told us not allowed to carry personal items in trucks, but we have to buy our own stuff. Can't have it both ways. Clean the truck of personal items when going to be inspected. Put it back in to shorten locate time right after. Taking a chance I guess. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. But, you need to in order to make production.

[sprayandpray]

Most of the companies are masters at double-speak so most of us have set personal limits in certain job situations. Some of use the "cheater clips" previously discussed here and the co. doesn't say anything as long as it isn't flaunted in their face. Other locators won't do anything not "legit". I say, each to their own or "whatever blows your skirt up":drinks:

[beyond help]

I have had a vp see an extention pole in the back of my truck. He had asked what I used it for. I told him it was for the dips coming down the pole, so I didn't waste time undoing the uchannel guards. He looked at me, chuckled, and walked away.

[beyond help]

BTW GB, All you can do is crank it up and tone it that way. Using the rd in 65K and all lights lit.

[wet_boots101]

BOY would this have come in handy three days ago~!!

Comcast had an "unshielded" (dielectric) FOC going about 150 feet from a manhole to a node ped. I had their fiber specialist tech come out two days ago and confirm it was unlocatable, he would put a tracer wire into the interduct "sometime soon" but it wasn't urgent right then.

So then today a subcontractor for AT&T started digging the base out for a V-rad they are installing and guess what - they exposed the interduct!

THANK YOU GOD I got lucky and those guys were careful diggers! I did not report the unlocatable fiber after my visit with the Comcast guy, so I would very well have been at fault - DON'T ASSUME that since there is new copper trunk in the ground that it was joint buried with the new fiber interduct! That was my mistake, and if there was an actual hit, I'd have been at fault.

The interduct was completely unharmed, there was also orange safety tape buried in the trench so these subcontractors hand dug the rest till I got there.

The point of all this: I located the fiber with the subcontractors' fish tape because I didn't have one of my own when I first did the locate 4 days ago. I know for certain my sup has one, maybe I should have one, too?

But here's what bugs me: What does that make me, lead tech? Because I have all this extra stuff nobody thinks of carrying in my truck? (I should start a new post on that topic), but my point is this - what thanks would I get for going above and beyond? None. Still, I agree with Goldenboy, some of us do give a damn, we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't.

[Wingfoot]

Comcast has an "unshielded" (dielectric) FOC. I did not report the non-locatable fiber after my visit with the Comcast guy, so I would very well have been at fault - If there [had been an] actual hit, I'd have been at fault.

The point: I located the fiber with the subcontractors' fish tape because I didn't have one of my own. What thanks do I get for going above and beyond? None. Still, I agree with Goldenboy, some of us do give a damn, we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't.
I have used the fish tape with success many times with my RD in f8/f33/f65 w/o continuity.

In my small, postage stamp size territory, I have encountered 7 dielectric fibers not buried joint with a traceable line; 5 AT&T fibers (432 strand trunk, (2) 144 strand exchange fibers, (2) 24 strand V-rad feeders), an Everest CATV exchange fiber and a 60 strand Time Warner CATV feeder. I did not rely on my sups to 'get er done.' If I did, these dielectric fibers would still be non-traceable! A telephone call by me to the proper utility rep got the problem solved.

The first response by the utility reps to my explaining the problem was the same in every instance, "I will not replace the dielectric line with a sheathed fiber." I never asked for that. I had to be the one to offer the solution: just pull a drop through the pipe so I have something to tone. These utility companies did not have a contractor pull through a drop overnight, but it usually happened within 30 days.

I, for one, am a locator who does give a damn about my line of work. I always let my sup know what was happening every step of the way. By me coordinating the problem & solution immediately when these dielectrics were first noticed, I doubt I would have been charged with an at-fault had these fibers gotten whacked B4 they could be traced. I must be blessed because I never had to put this scenario to the test.

[Goldenboy]

If it's a short run that I'll be going back to multiple times I will try to push a b-wire through and just leave it in the empty conduit. This makes any re-visits to the same site quick and painless.

[sprayandpray]

One of my buddies who works for another company was telling me that he just pushed about 300 ft of Mule tape with the small metallic strand through a conduit with some type of fiberglass "rod" that comes in a roll. (I had never heard of the fiberglass thing.) He said it took 2 people to push it thru the last 50 ft or so, but now he has a permanent way to locate that particular F/o line. That's one thing about this business, even though I have been in it over 8 years, I learn something new occasionally. Now - if I can just remember it!