Contemporary Cable Installing, Proccesses And Strategies

Over the last thirty years, cable blowing (often called cable jetting) has increasingly become the preferred technique for cable installation in the sector. In the early 80’s, British Telecom developed a way in which cable installation might be faster, easier and less dangerous. Their particular original design has been evolved and improved many times since then, but at its core, it is still fundamentally the same procedure.

Before cable blowing, cabling was generally installed with a method called ‘pulling.’ Using equipment at an access point and another at a target point, the machines pulled the cable inside the pipe. There were massive problems with this procedure, particularly problems with friction, which would multiply many times over the degree of power the machines would be forced to employ each additional time the wire made contact with the pipe (scientifically named as the ‘Capstan Effect’). The second significant problem with the ‘pulling’ technique is the fact that the rope that coupled to the machine on the target point would have to be fed through prior to the cable, causing massive problems during these early stages. Cable blowing allows an engineering team to get around these problems.

Cable blowing turns the old techniques of installation on their head, pushing the wire along the pipe while blowing supplemental jets of pressurized air behind and around the wire. Feeding and blowing the wire through the pipe, the technique cushions the wire and minimizes friction substantially, producing significantly less force for further distance. The ranges attained using cable blowing is far greater than older ‘pulling’ techniques and further improvements towards the technique (especially the inclusion of lubricants that also reduce friction) make cable blowing a lot more efficient.

Since the invention and distribution of cable blowing, a number of other techniques have been created. ‘Water carrying’ or ‘cable floatation’ is a very similar method to cable blowing, using similar strategies to attain a comparable end. It is especially beneficial for cable pipes and ducts with multiple bends or a challenging shape (which creates in massive problems with friction). The cable is sent along the conduit and helped along by enveloping it with a flow of water. Although this is an immensely effective process for difficult pipes and ducts, when used in more simple pipe structures, it underperforms in regard to distance in comparison to the cable blowing strategy.

Aided by the introduction of these extremely efficient cabling technologies, conventional cable winching has become a thing of history. Simply because they work just as well in pre-existing tubes as they do in newly made ducts and pipes, they will cut the expense substantially when they are installed. Cables are not only getting fed along conduits faster and further, but safer and less costly and cable preparation tools are far more advanced right now. Cable blowing has made great strides in the past 30 years, and we would be interested to determine what lengths it varies within the next 30.

More Information:

The author of this article works for a company that specialises in cable blowing and cable preparation tools.