Posted by alienchow 1/11/2026
It's cheap as chips and saves you a lot of future brick cutting or concrete breaking
In theory I can pull a new cable through. But practically it might be tough due to the number of bends (shelter -> wall -> vent -> ceiling -> wall -> floor -> room). In the worst case scenario I can give it a try, but it's probably going to destroy the new fibre cable when I pull it through. For now the connection still works, so I am hoping it doesn't get to the point where I have to give that a try.
That's absolutely great! Worked like a charm two days ago and everybody cheered and laughed who saw it :-D
AFAIK fibre cable should be pretty flexible, though not a massive fan of tension.
From memory bends shouldn't be less than 5cm radius or thereabouts so it depends on your conduit size!
Nice post btw, appreciate the detailed planning involved.
Say initially you need 2 wires from A to B. That probably means there's plenty of room left. So you just put 4 more other wires in there. When the time comes you need to pull a new one, you pull in the new by pulling out the old
FS provides account managers and they are very useful if you are working on a project as they can guide you and help you.
I have a Newegg business account (and maybe a few more for other pc stores, I'd have to check), but I literally never have them trying to get me to buy things. /shrug
Just decline politely. They are not a bad company in that regard.
I have my issues with FS product itself, as it can be spotty sometimes in terms of compatibility and repeatability (e.g. getting the same optics firmware every time over the course of a couple years) but they typically handle exceptions and problems quite well. Via your account manager contact.
Weird reason to hate a company, imo. Would be far different if they continued to spam you with phone calls/e-mails after you declined the request.
Sounds like both parties dodged a bullet.
We ran fibre cables in the ceiling when constructing our house. I requested the electrician to shield the cables with some tubing, but he probably thought I was being extreme. We have 9 cables, 2 of them don't work, likely from being bent by mistake or something.
The wiring is intermixed with electrical and ethernet (for cameras) cables, making the process a bit tricky. At least for us we might only have to cut the ceiling boards in a few places to help guide the replacement cables.
The soles (rubber because winter) are in perfect condition, and the leather isn't too bad either, though I've not really conditioned it enough and it's starting to show.
In one of the oddest losses of a pair of shoes, I had fire ants break into my closet and eat the foam rubber out of one pair of extra lite running shoes. Turned the damned things to swiss cheese. Nothing else was messed with. They didn't want leather or rubber, just whatever those shoes were made of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane#Hydrolysis_and_bi...
...so it is a bit amusing to see "TPU Jacket Features Water, Abrasion Resistance" in the product description. PVC or PE would be far better and more common.
Be aware, depending on where you live and where the cable goes, PVC and HDPE outer jackets may not be allowed due to fire safety issues. But yes, neither of those are prone to the same degradation over time, so in many cases they will be a good choice.
This I don't quite get .. as I understand it "PVC trunking" is a type of cable channeling / ducting.
I do a lot of cable and pipe layout around houses, farms, workshops, worksites, etc. and it's routine to use pipes / ducting / channels to allow other cables to be threaded through after or to replace bad cables.
As much as cable deterioration sucks it should be a relief to have ducting to pull good through after the bad.
But yeah, maybe it's not that bad after all. I hope it won't get to that point.
One of my love / hates is Australian parrots and cockatoos - fantastic birds, noisy as hell - and they can rip out and shred unprotected wiring from rural camera and sensor systems like winged can openers.
I saw someone commented elsewhere about a plastic bag and a vacuum. Another option to keep in mind is a lubricant intended specifically for the task of pulling cable through a conduit.
That's why the leads are wrapped in a polythene bag.
When people started using polystyrene sheet insulation in houses (thankfully they no longer do this!) the cables running inside the walls were affected in the same way, with the PVC insulation rotting off as the plasticiser leached out and attacked the polystyrene. Of course there you had the added joy of having a potential electrical fire with a source of just-about-inextinguishable fuel, the polystyrene foam made of fuel and air.
I wonder if something similar has happened here, something's gotten onto the fibre jackets and pulled the plasticiser out?