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Posted by Robert Green on May 25, 2006, 9:01 am
My wife said she felt a small electric shock last night when she touched a
fluorescent clamp lamp and the new DVD recorder at the same time. Sure
enough, when I got my meter out, there was about 60VAC between the CATV
cable's center conductor and the metal frame of the lamp.
There was no voltage reading on the cable between center and shield, but
clearly there's something between both the cable's center and sheath
conductors (and therefore the DVDR) and the ground.
Where do I start looking for trouble? Is the incoming cable improperly
grounded? Is there normally a detectable voltage between the cable and
nearby equipment?
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
--
Bobby G.
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Posted by Stubby on May 25, 2006, 9:15 am
This is clearly a problem for the cable company. You shouldn't try to
repair it lest they say you caused the problem. Because there is a
shock potential, this is a danger and you should get priority service.
Robert Green wrote:
> My wife said she felt a small electric shock last night when she touched a
> fluorescent clamp lamp and the new DVD recorder at the same time. Sure
> enough, when I got my meter out, there was about 60VAC between the CATV
> cable's center conductor and the metal frame of the lamp.
>
> There was no voltage reading on the cable between center and shield, but
> clearly there's something between both the cable's center and sheath
> conductors (and therefore the DVDR) and the ground.
>
> Where do I start looking for trouble? Is the incoming cable improperly
> grounded? Is there normally a detectable voltage between the cable and
> nearby equipment?
>
> Thanks in advance for any pointers.
>
> --
> Bobby G.
>
>
>
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Posted by Robert Green on May 25, 2006, 4:11 pm
> This is clearly a problem for the cable company. You shouldn't try to
> repair it lest they say you caused the problem. Because there is a
> shock potential, this is a danger and you should get priority service.
Thanks for you input, William.
I'd like to understand the problem as fully as I can before I call the cable
company. My experience has been that their "first responders" are incapable
of serious troubleshooting. I doubt Comcast would provide priority service
for anything, anyway. They're a monopoly and they know it and recently, I
believe JD Powers recently rated them *below* used car salesmen in
trustworthiness. Updating Lily Tomlin for the 00's:
"We don't care, we don't have to. We're the cable company!"
--
Bobby G.
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Posted by CommTech on May 25, 2006, 4:41 pm
> I'd like to understand the problem as fully as I can before I call the
> cable
> company. My experience has been that their "first responders" are
> incapable
> of serious troubleshooting. I doubt Comcast would provide priority
> service
> for anything, anyway. They're a monopoly and they know it and recently, I
> believe JD Powers recently rated them *below* used car salesmen in
> trustworthiness. Updating Lily Tomlin for the 00's:
>
> "We don't care, we don't have to. We're the cable company!"
>
> --
> Bobby G.
Well I happen to be one of those "First Responders", and I'm afraid I have
to disagree with you. As every cable plant is different, Comcast does take
it's technicians education seriously. I will admit there are some techs out
there that are below average and dishonest, but the good one's far outweigh
the bad ones.
Voltage on the line is taken seriously. You will see this when you call.
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Posted by Robert Green on May 26, 2006, 12:57 pm
> > My experience has been that their "first responders" are
> > incapable of serious troubleshooting.
<stuff snipped>
> Well I happen to be one of those "First Responders", and I'm afraid I
have
> to disagree with you.
I clearly said "my experience" so as not to tar cable installers across the
nation and to limit my observations to what's actually happened to me and
the people I know personally. I'm not sure how you can logically disagree
with *my* experience but let's assume you mean your experience has been
different.
I have to twist Comcast's arm to send Comcast employees in Comcast trucks
instead of freelancers in beat up old station wagons with ladders tied to
the top with twine. Insisting on employees and not contractors has
eliminated the lower ladder rungs, at least for me, but that doesn't mean
the employees I get are their top troubleshooters. I know they exist
because I know several friends who have gotten to that level of service
(i.e. Here's my cell and home number, call me if the problem's not fixed).
But they had to use what I consider "the nuclear option" to get there.
> As every cable plant is different, Comcast does take
> it's technicians education seriously.
From what I have read about its employees, Comcast's number one concern is
to keep them from joining unions . . . I believe they're currently operating
under a consent agreement to keep from witchhunting union organizers.
> I will admit there are some techs out there that are below
> average
Well, that's the nature of averages, isn't it? Some will be above, some
will be below. I'm comparing them to Verizon phone techs, who at least seem
to have a coherent "ring" to them. I'm no fan of Verizon, but they usually
get it right the first time, are not inclined to take shortcuts and seem to
have a consistent level of training both in technical and customer relations
techniques. They also come when they say they will come. By comparison, my
own experience, in addition to the JD Powers study, has been that Comcast
sends people to work as fast as possible, who have little customer relations
training, who can barely speak English, who don't police their jobsites and
who are as likely NOT to show as they are for a given appointment time.
> I will admit there are some techs out there that are below
> average and dishonest, but the good one's far outweigh
> the bad ones.
Hmm. Maybe in your area. Remember, Comcast is growing like crazy so
they've got a staffing problem trying to keep up. In my area, they plug
that hole with contract servicepeople who clearly have wildly variable
technical, language and people skills. Worse, still, they get paid by the
call, not by the quality of the repair. As for dishonesty, when I ask
whether their contractors were screened for criminal records, they declined
to answer. They now send Comcast employees without being asked, but I leave
it to you to wonder whether "Midnight Cable Contractors to Go" screens its
employees the way Comcast or Verizon might.
I've watched the contractors work. I downgraded my cable package the last
time they raised the rates and the idiot who put the notch filters didn't
tighten the connections completely so they had to come again and do it right
the second time. They didn't even come back to the house to check the
picture after the downgrade. Zip, zip, we're outta here. They leave trash
lying around the job site. And if they can get away with simply laying a
cable on the ground, they're happy to do it. Oh, and there was the time
they shut off my house by mistake because they read the address wrong on the
work order. Your local techs may be saints, but that's not been my
experience.
Here's what the Washington Post had to say a little while back:
"About 1,300 complaints were filed against Comcast last year, according to
Montgomery County's cable office, about a quarter of them involving Internet
service. They allege missed appointments, rude employees, long waits before
operators answer the phone, and lengthy periods of Internet downtime. But
many customers say they have no other options for high-speed Internet
service."
As for leaving cables strung over the lawn, I understand that another crew
does the burial work, but it seems they should work together because the
current system just isn't working. It's easy to see that Comcast's profits
increase if they *never* have to bury the cable. Is that their motive? You
tell me. I guess the sense I have is that the people they send are happy to
do good work if you oversee them like the Pharaoh and can take three days
off to allow them to break the first two appointments without notice.
It shouldn't be that way - but it is. And it's the opinion of a number of
tech-smart neighbors who suffer with the same service because it's the ONLY
service. If cable companies had TRUE competition, they'd change their
business practices in a heartbeat. In one nearby county Comcast was forced
to agree to serious penalties for missing service appointments (their
specialty!) in order to retain the cable franchise. It's no wonder they're
fighting so hard to keep phone companies out of the TV business. They know
what competition will do to their bottom line. They'll actually have to hire
good techs, train them and pay them a living wage!
> Voltage on the line is taken seriously. You will see this when you call.
I'll be sure to keep you posted as to the resolution. First, I want to
understand as much as I can about the problem. It could as easily be as
much my fault as it is theirs. But I won't know that until I take some
meter readings and do some inspection of the cable wiring in my house. That
can only serve to help whomever it is they eventually send if I can't manage
to fix the problem.
Since you're cable tech, got any suggestions where to start troubleshooting?
--
Bobby G.
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