TIL conduit bends can hide bad splices you'll find years later

I was out on a job in a shopping center off Route 9 yesterday, running new drops for a burger joint that wanted wifi. They had old RG-6 from like 2008 still in the ceiling, and I found a splice buried inside a 45 degree bend that someone had just taped up with black electrical tape. The signal was garbage, but nobody could figure out why for probably 5 years because it was hidden inside the conduit. I had to cut the whole run and repull it just to fix one lazy connection. Makes me wonder how many other installers are out there hiding their mess in bends instead of taking the extra 10 minutes to run a clean line. Has anyone else run into a buried splice that drove you crazy to find?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_price838d ago

I had a buddy who did grid work for a regional AM station back in the 90s, and he found a splice shoved inside a 90-degree sweep that was just wrapped in old rubber tape and duct tape. The station kept losing their signal on rainy days for like 3 years before someone finally figured out it was that one spot in the ground. They had already replaced two transmitters and dug up half the field chasing ghosts. When they pulled that wire out, the rubber tape was all gooey and the copper was green. Cost the station like 15 grand in unnecessary gear because some guy took a shortcut with a splice.

paul_lane808d ago

chasing ghosts" sounds like my wifi troubleshooting skills, lol.