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Author Topic: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?  (Read 3097 times)

Bowdon

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Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« on: July 21, 2016, 10:58:18 AM »

The recent heatwave we're suffering and a few stories I've seen around the news, most notibly the train tracks melting so no trains could run, which is a better resister to heat fibre lines or copper lines? Or do they both suffer about the same?
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JGO

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2016, 02:40:20 PM »

 a few stories I've seen around the news, most notibly the train tracks melting

Stories indeed !   Rails have been known to buckle due to inadequate allowance for expansion - Melting - never !  look up the melting point of steel !
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4candles

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2016, 04:00:58 PM »

I can't imagine why a heatwave (or a big freeze) would have more than an insignificant effect on copper pairs, and none at all on fibre.

Telephone exchange racks have good ventilation systems.

If the weather affected anything then maybe it would be the MSANs in cabinets - I don't know whether they have any kind of cooling facilities, or indeed whether they need them.

Perhaps Mr Sheep can enlighten us?
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Black Sheep

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2016, 07:48:45 PM »

The DSLAM street-furniture do have cooling fans inside them, but these are designed to cool the electronics rather than the cables.

Some of us here will remember the intense heat generated in the old Telephone Exchange days of Strowger/Crossbar ....... this waned considerably as the old equipment was replaced by SysX/SysY ..... but with the advent of LLU equipment being installed in Exchanges, the heat levels became as bad and in some cases worse, than the olden days !!

The original Air Handling Units were woefully inadequate to cope, and so upgrades commenced.

As regards the original question, I'm sure a quick 'Google' of temperature effects on metallic cable and fibre optic cable will glean far more info than I could ever hope to provide. I would humbly suggest that 4candles has hit the nail on the head, though.  ;) :)
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NewtronStar

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2016, 09:15:34 PM »

Metal will expand with heat and contract in cold so you can imagine the stress's that are put on drop wires and underground d-side cables were there are many joint's and overtime 10-20 years later the join will become degraded with less resistance HR fault (High Resistance) on the pairs.

Some members can even see there attenuation rise as it get's warmer I find my broadband stats look better in the winter but the longer nights have a downside with longer RFI periods so it's like Yin and Yang
« Last Edit: July 21, 2016, 09:23:30 PM by NewtronStar »
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Black Sheep

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2016, 09:17:44 PM »

Underground cables will not feel the effect of the heat. The change in the overhead will be insignificant ............ unless one lives their life to the power of minus 12  ;)
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NewtronStar

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2016, 09:33:36 PM »

Underground cables will not feel the effect of the heat. The change in the overhead will be insignificant ............ unless one lives their life to the power of minus 12  ;)

You can look at my MDWS stats for a year and see how heat & cold changes the broadband stats  ;)
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Black Sheep

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2016, 09:36:33 PM »

................. assuming you have a perfectly balanced 'pair of wires' ..............  tested and proven thus.  ;)

I would also have a stab at the changes being more electronic component based, rather than MPF based ??
« Last Edit: July 21, 2016, 09:43:48 PM by Black Sheep »
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NewtronStar

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2016, 09:48:42 PM »

Gezz I am not one of those OR junkies who get 6 visits per year pairs looked balanced less than 2 years ago and FTTC 40/10 is still working within normal parameters at my end  :fingers:
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Black Sheep

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2016, 10:11:12 PM »

Gezz I am not one of those OR junkies who get 6 visits per year pairs looked balanced less than 2 years ago and FTTC 40/10 is still working within normal parameters at my end  :fingers:

 :lol: ;D ;D
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WWWombat

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #10 on: July 22, 2016, 12:27:09 AM »

Metal will expand with heat and contract in cold

On the other hand, my most noteworthy outage came one winter day, when I awoke to my overhead drop line snapping, with a very noisy "twang".

It turns out that overnight had seen serious snowstorms in the midlands, bad enough to take out power over a widespread region. The snow was of a particular "sticky" type that stuck to phone lines, and weighed each down heavily. All of the longer lines from the pole bent low, dropping down to below head height - massive expansion in cold weather! It was very weird!

What I think happened to my line was this: All those other lines added enough weight to the other side of the pole that it bent that way - stretching my short line beyond its elastic limit. Snap-twang!

I didn't even need to report anything to get BT to fix the line; the neighbour's line went too, and BT just fixed mine at the same time as theirs. Good job, as I had to disappear off down south that weekend.
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burakkucat

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Re: Better heat resistance fibre or copper?
« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2016, 02:02:45 PM »

Somewhat off topic but related to WWWombat's winter tail . . .

Every winter, whenever show has fallen, I always make a visual check of the drop cables to The Cattery and to my immediate neighbour. If there is any build-up of snow on them I will open a window and, with the use of a broom handle, gently flick them both upwards so that as the solitary "wave" travels down each cable towards the pole the snow is dislodged.
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