A few questions on wiring

[demj1308 0]

I have a few cameras i need to rewire, and have a couple questions. The cameras that are out were run with rg-59 Siamese cable in conduit. both runs are in the 150' range and cameras are analog.

 

1. siamese coax, cat 5 or cat6 (will be underground rated this time)

2. Direct burial or is a gel filled cable recommended.

3. if cat 5 or6, any balun recommendations.

 

Thanks

[ssnapier 0]

Is this conduit underground? Are you not re-using the conduit?

[demj1308 0]

the conduit is underground, and i am re-using it. The original installation with non underground rated cable failed after a few months, after speaking to some local installers and some others on forums, i was advised i should have used direct burial in the conduit as we receive a lot of rain in south florida and eventually it will make its way into the conduit.

[Billy_ICU 0]

I'm wondering if the cable had a splice in it somewhere in the conduit?

 

Sometimes installer will do things like that and not tell anyone.

 

Anyway I prefer Quad Shielded RG-6 Coax with compression connectors myself.

[demj1308 0]

no splices anywhere and it does have the compression fittings, i actually installed.

[Billy_ICU 0]

FYI - I like to confirm my diagnosis by taking the camera to the DVR and connecting it there - be sure it works (bypassing the suspect cable).

 

Or run another cable along the ground for testing (also bypassing the suspect cable).

[shoto2758 0]

When you say it's in conduit? Do you mean PVC?

I'f it was ran in EMT(conduit) underground,in Florida,thats a problem.

If it's in Pvc,with the correct connectors,and couplings,i'm not sure how water is getting in ,unless,its where the PVC is 90 going up.

If it is EMT in the ground,(which it is not rated to do,you can run it outside exposed,with the proper fittings,but not bury)you might as well use direct burial cable now.

Good luck.

[Dirk_D 0]

the conduit is underground, and i am re-using it. The original installation with non underground rated cable failed after a few months, after speaking to some local installers and some others on forums, i was advised i should have used direct burial in the conduit as we receive a lot of rain in south florida and eventually it will make its way into the conduit.

 

have you megged the cable? That's a quick and easy way to check for that kind of failure.

 

How did you determine the failure? I have a couple of Uni-T 513 meggers, but a decent multi-meter should be able to point out obvious faults.. this stuff really is an art.

[demj1308 0]

it is in electrical pvc conduit, as far as checking the "meg".. not sure how to do that. One of the problem cams does have a underground box that does on occasions leak. As far as checking the camera, i have replaced the cameras with ones that i know work and still get a very bad picture.

[Dirk_D 0]

to meg the cable, disconnect both ends and make sure they're not touching the ground. Take one lead from your VOM & connect it to a good ground, & then touch the other lead to each conductor in the cable.

 

A megger will kick out 500-5000 volts while reading the same thing (resistance to ground). Ideally you'll get OL, or >500megs to 1+ gig-ohms to ground....... it's an art, so is knowing how to interpret the #s.

 

I sat a bunch of fluke meters (107, 117, 87V) side by side to do comparisons, and they were all surprisingly close, I was reading a ~800K-ohm short to ground at the time.