CAT-5 buried, exposed to sun

Short term its ok, but long term you should use outdoor rated cable. Sun and water will deteriorate the jacket.

Cheers

The grey plastic jacket will dry out and crack, and the part underground might rot. It could last up to maybe five years, depending on how harsh the weather and stuff is, but if you're going to be burying it anyway, how hard would it be to bury a piece of PVC pipe and thread the cable through it? For the part exposed to the sun, one, put it in the shade ( ;-) ), and see if you can get some white vinyl tape and cover it up. That way, the tape will take the weather and the cable "should" last. ;-)

Or, for that matter, extend the PVC to cover the otherwise exposed part.

Or, if that's too much of a PITA, then just buy the proper wire - BUT! If it's not for permanent, then just lay it there. ;-)

Have Fun! Rich

Yeah, I was thinking about wrapping electrical tape around the whole run. It's just 30ft or so. Can't lay it in PVC because this is very rocky and uneven terrain.

Interestingly, when taking off the old valve there was electrical tape around a cable splice. It looked like the cheap stuff and I know it's been there 25+ years. Had a real hard time getting it off. Not cracked at all and it stuck like glue.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

Probably be fine. You could run it inside hose for extra protection.

Maybe I'll just wrap the whole run with electrical tape. Beats a round-trip into town. And I want to get it over with, I hate those plumbing projects :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

The old garden hose conduit method sure works for rocky terrain. It is certainly waterproof :-)

On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 17:46:41 -0800, Joerg Gave us:

No, but it will probably be fine. Electrically at least. You will have to change it out in a few years (if your smart) as the jacket will degrade, and you could then get electrical issues.

POTS drop line lasts forever too. It has a creosote impregnated jacket. Nothing gets in or out.

Yes, the run could last over a decade, but I'd still change it out for plenum rated or the like in a few years. Hell, get larger gauge teflon twisted pair power wiring! We used to buy it by the spool at

16Ga, Black and White twisted pair teflon, with a shield and a teflon oversheath.

Mil spec stuff. Excellent noise rejection, and great stuff to wire up anything AC fed with. There are even little terminations that heat shrink over the sheath, attach a shield lead to the shield, and seal off the shield and wires inside from the world outside. A heat gun shrinks it up, and solders on the shield lead in one operation.

The finished cable assembly has two main AC lines and a small shield wire to tie to the chassis. Very quiet realm for your sensitive circuitry to operate in without disturbance. Twists stay tight, and there is another shield on top of that.

THAT would last 50 years easily. Oh yeah... The wire itself is premium grade SPC (Silver Plated Copper).

A little under a buck a foot. Short quantities would likely nearly double that.

Still not bad for what you get.

I think Reynolds made it.

I use cat5 for my sprinkler system (24vac). One section is buried, proabably 10meters. Its been there for around 5 years now, never had a problem with it. It is that cheap that if/when it rots, i will just yank it up and replace it.

There is also a meter or so exposed to sun light, and it is still going strong.

I have used no precautions to keep the ends out of water, in fact I would be surprised if the outer insulation is not full of water.

I use one pair per valve, and the total run would be 30meters or so.

There's a kind of tape called self amalgamating. It bonds together over time.

[snip]

The stuff that phone guys use for indoor wiring is almost always rated for outdoors. Most of the time, they run it on the outside of buildings so its not worth carrying indoor only cable and then having to splice it, etc.

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail returned to sender -- insufficient voltage.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@removethispacbell.net (known to some as Joerg) scribed...

Unless it is explicitly designed and rated for outdoor (direct burial) and sunlight exposure, you can expect a fairly short lifetime as the PVC jacket gets progressively turned into brittle dust where the sun gets to it, and where water seeps in over a few month's time underground.

If you must use standard CAT-5 cable outdoors, you should run it through conduit that is explicitly rated for direct burial.

Ideally, you need to use cable that is itself rated for direct burial and sunlight. PVC won't cut it -- Outdoor and direct-burial telephone cables use a high-density polyethylene outer jacket.

You should be able to find the appropriate stuff at telecommunications or electrical suppliers.

I'd say you were extremely lucky with that older cable.

Happy hunting.

--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR)
http://www.bluefeathertech.com -- kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t calm
"Salvadore Dali\'s computer has surreal ports..."

In article , snipped-for-privacy@removethispacbell.net (known to some as Joerg) scribed...

Won't help. Electrical tape itself will break down, both underground and when exposed to sunlight.

If you're serious about doing this right, and saving yourself a replacement job down the road, use the correct materials to start with.

--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR)
http://www.bluefeathertech.com -- kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t calm
"Salvadore Dali\'s computer has surreal ports..."

"There is nothing more permanent than something temporary."

But in this case, I agree. Trenching through rock is no fun.

-mpm

I'd put the CAT-5 inside some of that (1/2" I think) drip tube. It's flavor is undesirable to the desert rodents we have around here. I couldn't keep my pool controls alive until I did that.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Good! That's what I am planning to do.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

Won't fit around the rocks here, way too stiff. We only have foxes. The kits dig and play when they are young, and occasionally knock over the firewood stack. But they never chew anything up. They are actually quite behaved compared to most puppy dogs. They also don't relieve themselves in the middle of a flower bed but always go into a corner.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

I have several inches of decorative crushed granite on the yard, so I just scrape back a few inches away from the edge of the house, lay down the tubing, then sweep the granite over it.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

For a "temporary" outdoor suspended run of CAT-5 which has lasted 5 years, I painted the jacket with white primer paint. This is located in Central Calif. Stuff I inspected after 2 years was still in good condition. Maybe primer paint, then a coating of latex.

--
Mark

Yep. Latex will even protect exposed PVC pipe from the Arizona sun.

Hey, Mark! Doing anything interesting yet?

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.