running external CAT5e parallel to buried SWA?

[tony sayer]

100 Km drum eh/> A very fine fibre or a fibber;?..

[jkn]

Hi All Thanks for all the comments and suggestions ... I think I'm going to go with a slightly less-than-recommended solution:

- direct burial of the existing SWA for power

- a little above that I will run a flexible 20mm dict in which I'll run some outdoor Cat5e and a drawstring

I appreciate that only 20mm probably means I'll never be able to get anything else in there in the future ... but I really don't anticipate that I'll want to (famous last words, I know). The 20mm duct will be easy to terminate to the existing junction boxes I have, and also be easy to lay in the narrow trench I'll be able to dig. It's also not too expensive, via either toolstation or eBay etc.

Thanks a lot Jon N

[John Williamson]

As the extra cost is very little, I'd be tempted to run a 100mm duct using something like plastic drain pipes just in case, but that's just me. Unless you're using some form of specialist trenching machine, the trench will be over 100mm wide, anyway so there'll be no extra digging which is going to be the hardest part of the job.

[Dave Liquorice]

+1

IIRC the OP said the trench was going to be 600 mm deep, at that depth if hand dug it'll be hard work to dig without being able to stand in it, 300 mm+ wide?

In my experience of narrow duct (20 m of flexable stuff and a single CAT5) there was no way that the CAT5 was going to pull round even very gentle bends. To get the cable through I had to lay the conduit out straight. So I suggest the OP makes *sure* the cable will pull round the minimum of two sequential bends, pulls the cable through before installing the conduit in the trench or has a straight run between two chambers.

[jkn]

Hi Dave

Yes, I was planning on pulling the Cat5 through before laying the conduit.

I have perhaps misled you by this talk of a ('ahem') 600mm 'trench' ... due to the space (and time) available, I actually plan on simply gouging out a narrow trough as deep as I can sensibly go, with a mattock or similar. I expect it will only be a few inches wide. I'll put some bedding sand down though, and I have some warning tape on order.

Cheers J^n

[Dave Liquorice]

Good man, but remember you won't be able to pull it out at a later date either. B-)

I'd go at least a spades depth plus a couple of inches. Hopefully anyone digging would come across the tape first. Rather than trying to shove their spade through a "stone".

That'll break up and dig but you'll need something to remove the soil from the trench.

[tony sayer]

In article , jkn scribeth thus

I'd have thought unless its a very long run that you could have done a rainwater sized duct for not a lot of money?. If you are only going to

20 mm then put a couple of lumps of CAT 5 in anyway or three if you can get them in, you can use them for such as CCTV and phone and audio intercoms etc..

[jkn]

It's not so much the cost that puts me off, more perhaps the lack of knowledge about ... 'terminating' ... such ducts.

I have fitted a couple of IP65 'adaptable boxes' at the house and garage end of the run. These will accept a gland and fitting (20mm I think) through which the SWA and CAT5e cables can (separately) run. If I were to sink a larger pipe below ground, how would I then deal with the short run to the box(es)?

Apologies for such a naive question ... is there is a product guide or similar that would help me get up to speed with the art I'd be glad to learn of it.

Cheers Jon N