Stop running coax loose across drop ceilings without ties

I was at a remodel job in a strip mall in Tacoma last Tuesday and had to trace 40 feet of service drop that some guy just let hang across ceiling tiles. The weight alone pulled three tiles down and crushed a light fixture. Now the customer is blaming us for the mess even though we didn't do the original work. How do you guys handle other installers' sloppy work when you're on site fixing it?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan18424d agoMost Upvoted

I had a service call once where someone used speaker wire for a thermostat, what a disaster.

caseywest24d ago

Wait, was it that thin clear speaker wire or the thicker stuff with the copper and silver strands? lol I've seen people do the same thing with doorbell wire thinking it's all the same because it's low voltage. The problem is speaker wire isn't rated for the constant 24 volts a thermostat pulls, so the insulation breaks down and you get shorts or the wire just cooks itself. Plus the resistance is different so your thermostat might not even get the right signal and just glitch out randomly. I swear some homeowners just grab whatever wire is closest and hope for the best.