Finally Got Rid of Them

This spring we started to install a new fire alarm system to replace the old Simplex system. The contractor started working on it at our other campus in late spring. Early on, we had the network go down out there, and we found that these idiots had broken the fiber optic cable when they went up in the ceiling to do some work.

FOur months later they were still doing work on this installation, and I went into the telephone MPOE to do some work. They had taken up a lot of the telephone backboard for not just the alarm panel, but conduit and j-boxes. But imagine my surprise when I noticced that they had pulled the half dozen or so 14 gauge alarm wires thru (inside!) the same innerduct that the Pacific Bell fiber optic feed was going thru. The innerduct was clearly marked Pacific Bell fiber feed, and it goes down into a four inch underground conduit, which has plenty of room to put their own cables thru and not use the innerduct. I complained about that to the campus admin, and he said that he'd talk to the contractor about it.

Well it was 4-1/2 months, and those idiots had taken just way too long to do the job, and were just fouling up things way too much. They had cut holes in the walls to put in j-boxes for the screeching blinking lights, and they left messes all over the offices. It just got so bad we finally kicked out this contractor and got a new one. Now the fire alarm pull switches are hanging out of the j-boxes, dangling by their wires, and the wires are still inside the Pac Bell fiber innerduct. I don't know what's going to happen. There's supposed to be a new contractor taking over, but chances are that they will do as little as possible to rectify all the deficiencies left by the original contractor.

To make matters worse, that Pac Bell (now SBC) fiber feed is going to be changed from DS3 to Gigaman, so if it goes down, it's a major outage. Well, I should say that it's already a major outage at 45 Mbs, but it'll be worse.

Man, I have no kind words for these idiots. It's stupid stuff like this that makes everyone's working hours miserable.

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email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 hotmail.com Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
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You'll be glad you did! Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't changed it:
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Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th
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Gotcha both beat!

About 20 yrs ago I was working as an electrician for John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, IL. This is an enormous factory (55 acres under roof) that builds the big crop harvesters (Combines). For what it's worth, it's a UAW shop. Several of the trade crafts were working OT one weekend making some design revisions to a large bake oven (120' long). The pipefitters were working somewhere around the middle installing some new gas lines (black pipe) and we electricians were working at one end installing some new fans.

The pipefitters took their lunch break about 15 minutes before we did, so when we walked past their work area on our way to lunch we noticed several runs of new black pipe. Thinking on our feet, we decided to have some fun and so fished in about 10 short pieces of #14 control wire, just enough so there were some pieces hanging out the ends.

Man, you could have heard those guys scream all over that factory. "THOSE @*&$! ELECTRICIANS STOLE OUR PIPE!!!!"

Reply to
wdg

Many years ago, at one company I worked for, some contractors installing new lan cabling, ran some of the cables through air ducts, blocking open the fire dampers in the process. That sort of idiocy could cost someone's life, in the event of a fire.

Reply to
James Knott

We had our own run ins with unions. On new sites, our (union) installers couldn't work, while the electricians (different union) were on site. If they did, we'd find our cables cut or conduits plugged.

Reply to
James Knott

Read about a new cable and standard that they are working on for air duct cable. It's meant to be run through the air ducts. Sounds interesting, but I doubt the cable is suppose to exit through the fire dampers.

Reply to
Justin T. Clausen

Use common sense.

Reply to
TerryS

Ah yea. Common sense. That's the stuff that is not commonly available.

Bob Alston

Reply to
Bob Alston

That, all too often. seems to be in short supply. :-(

Reply to
James Knott

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