telephone cable dug up

[vivikin]

whilst doing some gardening I have dug up the telephone cable, and I noticed about 3 splits in the outer casing should I just re- bury it as it is or maybe put some electrical tape around the splits?, I did try to ring BT but spent over an hour being passed from department to another so gave up. so can anyone out there advise me what to do.

regards Vivikin

 

[Bodgeitandleggit]

By the sound of it ..I am guessing its armoured cable and the splits you refer to will be the sheathing over the steel wires so in effect only covers the steel wires so there will not be a problem..wether you put tape on it or not wont make any difference.......just bury it back in and forget it

 

[EightyTwo]

I'd be surprised if it's armoured... Is it a fairly stiff, black cable that's about 5mm in diameter (less than 1/4")? If so, have a good look at the splits and see if there is any damage to the internal wires. If it's all okay, you could tape and re-bury it. However, as it's in the garden, it belongs to BT (assuming it isn't NTL/Virgin) and they should repair/replace it - especially if it wasn't marked or protected.

It would be best to fix it - if it gets water in it, the copper could start to degrade and that'll do wonders for your broadband... NOT!

 

[Bodgeitandleggit]

I'd be surprised if it's armoured... Is it a fairly stiff, black cable that's about 5mm in diameter (less than 1/4")? If so, have a good look at the splits and see if there is any damage to the internal wires. If it's all okay, you could tape and re-bury it. However, as it's in the garden, it belongs to BT (assuming it isn't NTL/Virgin) and they should repair/replace it - especially if it wasn't marked or protected.

It would be best to fix it - if it gets water in it, the copper could start to degrade and that'll do wonders for your broadband... NOT!

Bt cables are either in duct ( last 20years or so) but before that they used a lot of armoured cable...normally a grey outer sheathing covering the steels...but his description is not very clear wether you can see the wires inside, a bit for info would help

 

[EightyTwo]

I stand corrected...

 

[Sally2000]

Bear in mind that if you call in BT to repair your damage they will charge you a hefty fee.