How deep for Cable TV wire?

[MikeB64]

I am in New Hampshire. How deep shouth the cable TV line be buried? (it's Comcast) Is it the 18" as in electrical? What would be the National Electric Code #?

I am going to be tilling and unless they come and dig it deeper, it will get gobbled up by the tiller. It's currently between 4 and 6 inchs deep, depending on where you measure it.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Identaltech]

around here the 4 to 6 inchs is about all they do.
I think if they could get away with laying it down under the sod they would.
your phone line is probably at the same depth.
I dont know what the National Electric code calls for.

 

[mmhouse]

Found this on the Electrical Construction and Maintenance website......

"Wiring under the exclusive control of the communications utility is exempt from the NEC (which has no minimum cover requirement), but many cable TV franchises, local ordinances, and state rules specify a minimum cover depth for trunk and distribution cables."

 

[Torque1st]

We have two cable outfits. Time Warner buries the bare cable about 3". SureWest buries it inside orange conduit 12" deep. Guess which one has fewer cable breaks...

 

[Tech Guy]

Up here, rogers cable takes a spade, splits the grass and drops the cable in-maybe 3" if they are lucky. And they run RG59U to boot. Then come every spring you see new cables run through the trees across the street until they get time to replace the **** they put in the ground in the first place.

 

[kbs2244]

You are going to be tilling where the cable is?
Is this a one time thig to rebuild the lawn,
or are you putting in a long term garden?

If it is long term, have them come in and reroute it around the garden.
If a one time deal, Have them come and put in a temp, above ground cable.
When you are done, call them back for burying it.

 

[mrb]

I think the cable companies are burying their drops so shallow due to all the expensive repairs to peoples sprinkler systems, gas lines, etc. Its much cheaper for them to have to replace the occasional drop than make these other repairs. Remember, most of the cable work is done by outside contractors who barely make minimum wage or get paid piecework.

 

[Kevin54]

We have two cable outfits. Time Warner buries the bare cable about 3". SureWest buries it inside orange conduit 12" deep. Guess which one has fewer cable breaks...

I think if Time Warner could get by laying it on top of the ground, they would. I though I was the only one that tore my cable out until I started telling others about hitting it with a tiller. I think I was the LAST one to tear their cable out. It was barely under the ground, and probably only 2" under the gravel driveway. When you hit something that shallow with a tiller, it wraps up quite a few feet into the tines It is now off the pole to the house overhead.

 

[Torque1st]

I have seen a few Time Warner installs on new construction where they just lifted the sod and slipped the cable under it. My Time Warner drop was overhead. My Surewest drop is 12" under in conduit and it is fiber optic cable.

 

[MikeB64]

After receiving a call back from Comcast a week later, it apparently was going to be a battle. I finally said, you drop off the wire and I'll take care of it. Comcast supervisor said OK. So I have 150 feet of RG6 and I will be doing the job. It's going to be done better and quicker. It will be 18" deep in conduit. Overkill, yea, maybe....but if it has to ever be replaced, it'll be a cakewalk!

I'm still in awe that Comcast agreed to this......

I have the compression tool and the permission to terminate the ends, yup, even in the ped....I can't beleive it still.....but I got the supervisors name and number, you can bet I won't be misplacing it...just in cast it comes back to try to bite me in the ****!!

Thanks to everybody for your input.

 

[Tscott]

As stated above they are exempt from most rules, however there is an effort to get them governed by the NESC not to be confused with the NEC. It may happen, but I don't think so. I too have seen lines basically laid under sod, I just dig what i need dug and if the phone goes out I call to have it fixed. They usually won't hassle you because they know it's in a crappy place. Most of the time they won't even locate their stuff unless its a large important line.

When I installed satellite at my place, I wanted the dish mounted on an out building. I told the guy what I wanted to do and he told me it was too far to run the cable. I asked him why and he said the signal would break down. Already knowing the answer I asked him how far I could run the cable, and he said 200' so I then explained to him that that out building was less than 140' away. His faced went from confident to Oh $#!t. I then told him if he would leave me enough cable to make 2 runs that I would do all the work and hook it up myself. He gladly left me almost an entire box of coax and terminated the ends on one side for me. Those types of companies are usually very happy to work with you because they know they won't be back again.

Tom