Moisture and Indoor Fiber
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Posted by Bob Simon on August 28, 2007, 10:07 am
Please log in for more thread options I have experience installing Cat5 and have used flexible orange duplex fiber to connect the GBICs of two switches so I volunteered to help run fiber between two adjacent buildings for my church. The fiber will run along the inside of an awning so it will be protected from rain. The Graybar salesman told me that indoor/outdoor fiber should be used because it has a gel that makes it waterproof, but it's about twice the price of the indoor fiber. Is there really any reasonable chance that water could get inside the PVC jacket of indoor fiber? Even if it did, I have to wonder if it would degrade the Ethernet signal on the link because the fiber is buffered. Basically, I want to know if indoor/outdoor fiber is recommended for this application because there is some theoretical benefit or because indoor fiber will actually fail in this situation after a few years. | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by DLR on August 28, 2007, 10:56 am
Please log in for more thread options Bob Simon wrote: PVC is not water tight. Just water resistant. Over time water will migrate into it. Plus it is not meant to handle the temperature extremes. It will gradually crack (many so tiny you'll never see them) and moisture will migrate in via air and condense. | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Doug McIntyre on August 28, 2007, 11:50 am
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>Bob Simon wrote:
>> I have experience installing Cat5 and have used flexible orange duplex
>> fiber to connect the GBICs of two switches so I volunteered to help >> run fiber between two adjacent buildings for my church. The fiber >> will run along the inside of an awning so it will be protected from >> rain. The Graybar salesman told me that indoor/outdoor fiber should >> be used because it has a gel that makes it waterproof, but it's about >> twice the price of the indoor fiber. >> >> Is there really any reasonable chance that water could get inside the >> PVC jacket of indoor fiber? Even if it did, I have to wonder if it >> would degrade the Ethernet signal on the link because the fiber is >> buffered. Basically, I want to know if indoor/outdoor fiber is >> recommended for this application because there is some theoretical >> benefit or because indoor fiber will actually fail in this situation >> after a few years. >PVC is not water tight. Just water resistant. Over time water will migrate into
it. Plus it is not meant to handle the temperature extremes. It will gradually
crack (many so tiny you'll never see them) and moisture will migrate in via air and condense. And, it also depends on your climate. Up here in Minnesota, water getting into any sort of cabling is going to be disasterous due to winter. Water gets in, freezes, expands, cracks things. Freezing water can do incredible damage to cabling. I could see the grass cracking under a freeze if water got in there. | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Bob Simon on August 28, 2007, 12:42 pm
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>>Bob Simon wrote:
>>> I have experience installing Cat5 and have used flexible orange duplex
>>> fiber to connect the GBICs of two switches so I volunteered to help >>> run fiber between two adjacent buildings for my church. The fiber >>> will run along the inside of an awning so it will be protected from >>> rain. The Graybar salesman told me that indoor/outdoor fiber should >>> be used because it has a gel that makes it waterproof, but it's about >>> twice the price of the indoor fiber. >>> >>> Is there really any reasonable chance that water could get inside the >>> PVC jacket of indoor fiber? Even if it did, I have to wonder if it >>> would degrade the Ethernet signal on the link because the fiber is >>> buffered. Basically, I want to know if indoor/outdoor fiber is >>> recommended for this application because there is some theoretical >>> benefit or because indoor fiber will actually fail in this situation >>> after a few years. >
>>PVC is not water tight. Just water resistant. Over time water will migrate
into it. Plus it is not meant to handle the temperature extremes. It will
gradually crack (many so tiny you'll never see them) and moisture will migrate in via air and condense. >
> >And, it also depends on your climate. Up here in Minnesota, water >getting into any sort of cabling is going to be disasterous due to winter. >Water gets in, freezes, expands, cracks things. Freezing water can >do incredible damage to cabling. I could see the grass cracking under >a freeze if water got in there. Doug, You bring up a good point. It rarely gets below 28 in Baton Rouge Louisiana. I don't think we had even one hard freeze last year. (But 10 or 15 years ago, some un-insulated pipes did burst beneath my house.) In any case, DLR convinced me it makes no sense to pull indoor cable and risk having to re-do the job in five years. | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by DLR on August 28, 2007, 1:44 pm
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Bob Simon wrote: >
>>> Bob Simon wrote:
into it. Plus it is not meant to handle the temperature extremes. It will
>>>> I have experience installing Cat5 and have used flexible orange duplex >>>> fiber to connect the GBICs of two switches so I volunteered to help >>>> run fiber between two adjacent buildings for my church. The fiber >>>> will run along the inside of an awning so it will be protected from >>>> rain. The Graybar salesman told me that indoor/outdoor fiber should >>>> be used because it has a gel that makes it waterproof, but it's about >>>> twice the price of the indoor fiber. >>>> >>>> Is there really any reasonable chance that water could get inside the >>>> PVC jacket of indoor fiber? Even if it did, I have to wonder if it >>>> would degrade the Ethernet signal on the link because the fiber is >>>> buffered. Basically, I want to know if indoor/outdoor fiber is >>>> recommended for this application because there is some theoretical >>>> benefit or because indoor fiber will actually fail in this situation >>>> after a few years. >>> PVC is not water tight. Just water resistant. Over time water will migrate gradually crack (many so tiny you'll never see them) and moisture will migrate in via air and condense. >>
>> And, it also depends on your climate. Up here in Minnesota, water >> getting into any sort of cabling is going to be disasterous due to winter. >> Water gets in, freezes, expands, cracks things. Freezing water can >> do incredible damage to cabling. I could see the grass cracking under >> a freeze if water got in there. >
> Doug, > You bring up a good point. It rarely gets below 28 in Baton Rouge > Louisiana. I don't think we had even one hard freeze last year. (But > 10 or 15 years ago, some un-insulated pipes did burst beneath my > house.) > > In any case, DLR convinced me it makes no sense to pull indoor cable > and risk having to re-do the job in five years. As someone who grew up near where the Ohio, Mississippi, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers all merge, I think you have about 95% humidity often enough in Baton Rouge to qualify for underwater (or at least underground) conditions. :) David | ||||||||||||||||
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> fiber to connect the GBICs of two switches so I volunteered to help
> run fiber between two adjacent buildings for my church. The fiber
> will run along the inside of an awning so it will be protected from
> rain. The Graybar salesman told me that indoor/outdoor fiber should
> be used because it has a gel that makes it waterproof, but it's about
> twice the price of the indoor fiber.
>
> Is there really any reasonable chance that water could get inside the
> PVC jacket of indoor fiber? Even if it did, I have to wonder if it
> would degrade the Ethernet signal on the link because the fiber is
> buffered. Basically, I want to know if indoor/outdoor fiber is
> recommended for this application because there is some theoretical
> benefit or because indoor fiber will actually fail in this situation
> after a few years.