fix severed outdoor Time Warner cable coax line?

[RAL]

Since you did call, I think you are probably off the hook for the damage.  You did your best, but accidents do happen.  My guess is T-W will make a splice and be done with it.  If it causes trouble in the future, then they might run a new cable.
 
All the utilities (phone, cable and electric) fund the "before you dig" folks.  Seems strange that T-W doesn't have a standard Q&A item for their call center folks to refer to.
 
If you are going to run conduit, I would use PVC electrical conduit, and bring both ends up above grade level to an outdoor (NEMA 4) junction box.  No matter how well you glue the joints, you should assume water will get in anyway over time.  Hence the need to use direct burial cable even in conduit. 
 
It's hard to say whether the cable company would use it for future cables.  If you leave a pull string in place, they might.  But pulling additional cables through a conduit that already has cables in it is often not as easy as you might think, though it might not be too bad with only a couple of cables.  But they might just decide it's easier to bury a new cable.

 

[pete_c]

So, did you connect the cable into their little utility box on the edge of the street?

No
 
The little utility box is at the edge of the property line and it always has been left open anyways.  It only serves 2 homes.
 
The Comcast guy connected/terminated both ends of the new cable and left the old cable in place.
 
I disconnected the house side and pulled it back.  It looks like they will need to re terminate the ends as there is much slack now.
 
Everything here is open between houses as we are not allowed fences/sheds/garbage cans outside and all of the utility boxes are in plain view.
 
Wrapped up the end with tape so it would not get dirty and pulled it back and then under my deck.
 
I left the old cable in place and duct taped two window washing extension poles to pull the new cable under the desk.
 
It was a bit of a PITA.
 
Here I ran extra PVC when the irrigation system was put in.  I put LV and HV in separate chases going to the edge berms.
 
Initially used them for Christmas lighting on the evergreen trees.  Then the trees got too big to light up.

 

[NeverDie]

One of my neighbors has German citizenship, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud when he saw the way the TW cable was buried.  He says that in Germany everything runs through a conduit.  However, after thinking about it, I'm pessimistic TW would use a conduit even if I gave them one, because big companies have standardized procedures, and the people who bury the wire probably have to follow those rules.  So, because of that, I guess I'll punt on the conduit.  "When in Rome..." and all that. Too bad.  
 
BTW, I suppose TW buries its cable only 3 inches deep so as not to cut into any irrigation lines.  Of course, that logic is reactive and ignores the reason why irrigation lines are installed deeper than 3 inches in the first place.   :blink:  Or maybe TW just installs it shallow because they're cheapskates.  Who knows?

 

[pete_c]

Yes; here when I had the irrigation lines put in they cut the broadband cable on one side of the house.  I terminated the two cut ends and taped and buried it.  That was over 10 years ago and never had a problem. 
 
In Florida they took all of the wires off the telephone poles and buried it in conduit.under everyone's driveway.  The Verizon FIOS fiber is a direct burial cable to the house.

 

[Neurorad]

Tell T-W it was gophers digging. Giant gophers.

 

[Deane Johnson]

Give the supervisor a copy of the movie Tremors with Kevin Bacon.

 

[tmbrown97]

I'd call and play dumb and say it was a digging accident but you need it fixed.  As you've noticed, it's direct burial gel-filled cable.  Your splices obviously aren't waterproof and you want some that are.  They may not even allow buried splices and need to rerun the whole cable.
 
I'm surprised they went that small too on the cable - I tend to do RG11 on for the underground stuff.
 
The conduit thing literally depends on the technician.  These big companies have a lot of rules - many are well intentioned but just dumb... so the individual technician has way too much say.  Some will not touch your conduit - others will do anything to make their lives easier so they can leave.  I've even gone as far with one client to tell the cable company to install the cable modem in a box attached to a pole at the property entrance (all provided by me) because they refused to take it the 500' up to the building... then after they left I ran the RG11 up into the building, added an amplifier, and have perfect service.  Lucky for me the conduit and pull boxes were already in place thanks to AT&T and the Gate service.

 

[NeverDie]

After sleeping on it, I've changed my mind: I think the odds are good TW would use the conduit if it was there, assuming I'm home when the tech comes to do the fix.  The reason is: cable is cheap, and it would probably take less time to pull  a new cable through a conduit (assuming it had the pull string like RAL said) than it would be to do anything else.  I'm not sure how I would interface a Nema enclosure to a PVC pipe.  However, since we're assuming water might get into the conduit anyway, I could just put an unglued PVC cap on both ends.  That would keep larger rocks and dirt and other debris out.  If I do this, what diameter PVC should I pick?  1"?  2"?  3"?  4"?

 

[Del91574]

1 1/2 -2 is plenty.
 
Even if there is no string installed, a plastic bag and vacuum can get one in in a few seconds.

 

[mikefamig]

1 1/2 -2 is plenty.
 
Even if there is no string installed, a plastic bag and vacuum can get one in in a few seconds.

I used the plastic bag and vacuum in an empty conduit and was amazed at how well it worked but does it work when there are cables in the conduit?
 
Mike.

 

[mikefamig]

 I've even gone as far with one client to tell the cable company to install the cable modem in a box attached to a pole at the property entrance (all provided by me) because they refused to take it the 500' up to the building... then after they left I ran the RG11 up into the building, added an amplifier, and have perfect service.  Lucky for me the conduit and pull boxes were already in place thanks to AT&T and the Gate service.

That was good of you to do that. Not many guys that I hire are that helpful. You used your knowledge and experience to help your client instead of usi9ng it against them. I'm trying to contract a new pool liner and probably a new staircase right now and it aint easy.to know who will help you and who will help themselves.
 
Mike.

 

[Del91574]

I used the plastic bag and vacuum in an empty conduit and was amazed at how well it worked but does it work when there are cables in the conduit?
 
Mike.

At that point you're better off using a snake, fiberglass or otherwise, or a rodder. Not saying it's not possible but it depends on how good of a seal you can get.

 

[tmbrown97]

That was good of you to do that. Not many guys that I hire are that helpful. You used your knowledge and experience to help your client instead of usi9ng it against them. I'm trying to contract a new pool liner and probably a new staircase right now and it aint easy.to know who will help you and who will help themselves.
 
Mike.

This client is a non-profit with a good cause... I never even charged them for any of the materials listed or my labor on that one.  As it started out, Comcast wanted $47K to bring service in - it took me months, but in the end it was installed for free and I finished the run for them.  
 
You're right though - I've hired a lot of contractors - and I think I've only ever gotten it right once... all the rest I felt like I got kinda screwed.

 

[NeverDie]

I'll assume the minimum bend radius of RG6U is 3 inches. So probably 45's instead of 90's. Probably necessary for pulling anyway. Or, for pulling purposes, should I use 22.5's?

I'll assume blue solvent welds instead of primed. Goes much faster!

 

[LarrylLix]

One of my neighbors has German citizenship, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud when he saw the way the TW cable was buried. He says that in Germany everything runs through a conduit.

Yup. In Europe they run all their high voltage transmission lines underground also.
We run a lot of our 600 volt lines underground too.