[StangGT909]

First off.... I have the protection plan and have never called for a dish alignment or anything.

I have a dish in my backyard with a buried cable running to my house.

I'm having a deck put in today and told the buys to un-bury it and move it and in the process of pull it out, it appears it got trapped under a tree root and when they pulled too hard the cable snapped.

1) Would directv fix this for free under the protection plan?

2) Would you tell them you have a damaged cable, or just say you are having "signal issues"

3) Or, should I just fix it myself? My first thought was no, I don't want to degrade my signal but actually it goes from the 1) LNB, 2) block outside house 3) green label splitter 4) multswitch, 5) cable that leads into the wall downstairs, 6) upstairs jack, 7) receiver. *Would 1 more connection cause any issue?

4) Would you have any concern in putting two new coax cable ends on the cut cable, and putting a barrel couple in the middle, maybe wrapping it with electrical tape to protect from water, and burying it?

5) I don't have a cable crimper, would you recommend something like this?
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...&keyword=coax+tool&storeId=10051#BVRRWidgetID

Quick help would be really appreciated!!! If I'm calling I want to do it asap, but if anyone would say the quick splice would do just fine, I'll save the hassle and plan on having TV this weekend

 

[eakes]

DO NOT put connectors on the cable at the break, add barrel connector, tape the joint and bury - you are asking for trouble. Do it right, get a new length of cable (suitable for burial) and replace the entire cable between LNB and house entry. Better yet, bury PVC type electrical conduit and place your new coax in that. Make the entrance and exit of coax to conduit above ground using elbows and boxes to keep water out of the conduit.

As a temporary fix to restore service while you trench in the conduit and run new cable, the splice you suggest is OK, but it is not a permanent fix.

This is not a repair I would expect Directv to make free of change with or without the (useless) protection plan.

 

[StangGT909]

Are you worried that the signal would be degraded? Or that over the winter it could become damaged? I don't want to do this is it will fail, but I don't want to over complicate it.

 

[carl6]

A temporary fix would not degrade signal enough to be concerned about. However, any connection is a point of vulnerability over time. Moisture getting in will cause problems. That is why you don't want to put connectors at the break. No matter how well you try to seal it, chances are good you will eventually have problems. So just replace the entire piece of coax and save yourself future problems.

 

[bigglebowski]

DO NOT put connectors on the cable at the break, add barrel connector, tape the joint and bury - you are asking for trouble. Do it right, get a new length of cable (suitable for burial) and replace the entire cable between LNB and house entry. Better yet, bury PVC type electrical conduit and place your new coax in that. Make the entrance and exit of coax to conduit above ground using elbows and boxes to keep water out of the conduit.

As a temporary fix to restore service while you trench in the conduit and run new cable, the splice you suggest is OK, but it is not a permanent fix.

This is not a repair I would expect Directv to make free of change with or without the (useless) protection plan.

This is what I was going to suggest, contact someone in your area about getting them to cut you a piece of "burial" or "flooded" coax so you can just drop in the replacement. Since the old line was pulled on and stretched the cut is not the only problem.

Also the tool you posted is wrong and people on this site would be very upset to see you using hex crimped connections. Black tape burial is asking for trouble too, at the least a nice wrapping of rubber tape would be better. When we bury hardline cable heat shrink tubing that has a glue in it is what is used and gives a watertight seal. This may not be available in the correct size in town.

 

[StangGT909]

I had just though of using the shrink wrap tubing... that's a good idea.

I'm not familiar with crimping tools... what should I use that would be available at home depot or lowes?

 

[bigglebowski]

I had just though of using the shrink wrap tubing... that's a good idea.

I'm not familiar with crimping tools... what should I use that would be available at home depot or lowes?

Compression crimp tool, they run $60-80 at local stores.

 

[Newshawk]

I second the advice about getting a compression fitting tool set. There are ones you can find at the home improvement stores for under $60, but if you are going to do this type of maintenance yourself, the higher quality tools would be worth the investment.

I also second the suggestion to run a PVC conduit for the buried cable. This might help you avoid a custom charge in the future if the cable needs to be replaced again. As for bringing the ends up above ground, make sure the openings point down to prevent rainwater from filling the conduit. Even with using a conduit, I'd use only cable rated for burial and compression fittings on both ends.

 

[StangGT909]

I appreciate the quick advice.

I was afraid a service call would not be until mid next week and I needed a backup plan to avoid missing watching baseball all weekend.

I gave them a call and they said it's not covered under the protection plan, as expected but that they would run an all new cable from the dish to the hook up at my house for $49 with the cable included (but won't bury it).

When you start talking about $60+ tools, I think it just makes sense to have them come out for $50 and run an all new cable. If I start messing with the LNB to hook up a new wire, who knows if I would move it out of alignment.

I'm kind of surprised that they'll be here already tomorrow at 12 PM, but hey that's great.

I'm sure as a professional the $60 cable tool is great, but I'm still confused at why the $10-20 one couldn't "get the job done" to just do a 1-time crimp.

I'm sure the outside lines that DTV crimped were done with a high end tool, but I'm positive that in my 10 years of having directv that I've used "odds and ends" cable wires between the jack and the receive in one room or another that were crimped using something less qualified and I've never had an issue.

Oh well we'll be back up tomorrow. I guess I'll find a good book tonight. Lol, I should have said I was so pissed that I missed an episode of Jersey Shore on MTV that I got mad and ripped out the cable and I want them to fix it due to the Viacom dispute...lol...right.

 

[veryoldschool]

I appreciate the quick advice.

Having done my own buried coax a few times, have them replace the coax, but figure yourself to bury it and use the PVC conduit.

As to compression verse crimped connectors. You can get away with crimped, but really only for indoor use.
Compression seal much better so need to be used outside.

 

[David MacLeod]

if you have the trench dug and pvc there already maybe they would use it??

 

[melcche]

I found these posts really helpful (especially as I was trying to figure out what to do after severing my cable this morning with a rototiller. whoops)
I wanted to add one thing:
I called DirectTV to schedule someone to pop out and replace the cable. I had discontinued my service plan in April, but when I called (and, admittedly, heckled the poor DirectTV dude) to schedule the repair he INSISTED that I could re-register right then and there for the plan and it would cover the replacement of my cable. The heckling happened because I wanted to make ABSOLUTELY sure there wasn't some hidden fee or condition. Since I'm planning on discontinuing me service in a couple months anyway, it works out to be considerably cheaper than the one-time non-covered visit.

Fingers crossed the dude wasn't lying to me!

 

[west99999]

I would call back and complain about the fee. When they changed the price of protection plan from $5.99 to $7.99 they included upgrades every 2 years and customer caused problems as covered under the protection plan. I would also say that technically you didn't cause this problem the root did.

 

[trh]

Since the old line was pulled on and stretched the cut is not the only problem.

A very good possibility that there are other problems with the coax since it was stretched.

The TS needs to have the entire line replaced.

 

[west99999]

Here is a clip from "whats covered under the protection plan" from Directv website.

All active DIRECTV® Receivers, remote controls, dish antenna, wiring, connectors, switches, and dish antenna realignment.
NOTE: This plan offers protection against manufacturer defects, including those due to normal wear and tear, and against unintentional and accidental damage from handling.

Wow just realized this original post is old.... really old! lol