Forum Discussion

NoSoRiko's avatar
NoSoRiko
New Contributor III
4 years ago

Recurring issue - Burnt Coax Cable

My internet has gone out again and for what will be the 4th time I'll have scheduled a tech come out to look at the lines.  The trend I've noticed is that the drop cable from the street to the house keeps frying/getting burned up for some reason. 

https://imgur.com/a/OY0GM00

Note in the image the black wire is the drop from the street to the house.  The white wire is the line going to the crawl space of the house.

Would there be anything I may say to the tech tomorrow to try and resolve this for good?

  • blackeneth's avatar
    blackeneth
    New Contributor III

    Reading the DSLReports thread referenced below, it appears to be the same problem -- an open neutral on your electrical service. Since your electrical service neutral is open, the coax is serving as the neutral return path and is carrying a lot of current. 

    The only way coax gets that hot is if a lot of current is running through it -- which is not normal (under normal operation, the current is miniscule). 

    This is a life safety issue and requires immediate attention.

    • Call your power company immediately and report you have an open neutral, which is causing your cable coax line to carry current and catch fire. They should respond immediately.
    • Do not touch it. You don't want to become part of the return path for your power service. 
    • Don't let a cable technician touch it -- same reason, it's an electrocution hazard.

    Let us know what happens.

    • NoSoRiko's avatar
      NoSoRiko
      New Contributor III

      I called with the Electrician whose down the street from me.  He stated that this is a bad ground, he said he had the same issue with them. 

      He stated that Cox should have the means to properly ground their equipment.  He offered to take a look if they don't resolve this. 

      • Bruce's avatar
        Bruce
        Honored Contributor III
        He stated that this is a bad ground, he said he had the same issue with them.

        My takeaway:  it's either unintentional or intentional.  I find it hard to believe your 4 techs and your neighbor's tech(s) missed a faulty grounding wire.  Cox must be hiring techs at our Southern border.

        On the other hand, Cox may be engineering faulty grounds into their install to maintain a healthy revenue from tech visits.  How long have you had service with Cox?

  • HRHG's avatar
    HRHG
    New Contributor
    • Among any other issues you may be experiencing, although I'm no expert, that is the most horrifying box I've seen in my life. Your ground wire is going up---to what?!? The ground wire does not have a drip loop. If a wire must run upward it should run downward then upward so water drips off of the resulting loop instead of running toward a circuit.

    A (real) professional installer wouldn't cut holes in the box. Any wire entering or exiting the box should be running through the rubber (ugh the word escapes me)-thingy that has been cut from both sides of the bottom of the box. You really need a complete, professional reinstall.

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III

    How do you know the cable from the street is burning?  Does it smell burnt?

    • NoSoRiko's avatar
      NoSoRiko
      New Contributor III

      In the image of my OP you can see the outer casing of the Coax wire is deformed/bubbled up.  Additionally there was a burning smell that emanated from the box.  Also the plastic casing, housing the connection had burn marks within it as well.

      • Bruce's avatar
        Bruce
        Honored Contributor III

        My browser doesn't like Imgur.

        I'm concerned about these "technicians."  What were they doing all along?  Just snipping off the end of the cable and replacing it?  No concern why the cable was overheating?  This is a fire hazard for you and your family.  These technicians should lose their certification and license.

        If all 4 techs were following policy to ignore any potential electrical hazard, you may have a case with your State BBB.

  • rampart's avatar
    rampart
    New Contributor

    bad ground seems likely.. 

    there is a ground wire on your service pole that is frequently stolen by copper scavengers. problem will be finding whether cox guy is responsible for fixing or the telephone or electric company locally.

    do not be surprised of problem reoccurs.. fow are your other electrical systems working. this has cost me an a/c compressor and numerous internet aggravations. the guy across the street had a fire in his wall so check that ground occasionally. 

  • NoSoRiko's avatar
    NoSoRiko
    New Contributor III

    Hi all - I wanted to come back and advise what the issue was.  I worked with a local electrician who troubleshoot the issue down to the retail purchased modem itself.  

    He said he found it strange that my parents never had an issue but I did.  The only difference is I purchased my modem and they rented theirs from Cox.  

    I picked up a rental modem from Cox and measured the voltage on the line, nothing.  I had spare unsupported modem lying around which I also used to test, 0.04 volts going back out, which was determined to be acceptable.

    I'm not sure why my retail modem was kicking out so many volts but it has been sent in for a warranty replacement.  I should have looked at that sooner but, hopefully this post will help someone else look at their equipment when trying to find out what may be going wrong for them if they have the same problem.

    • Bruce's avatar
      Bruce
      Honored Contributor III

      0.04 volts wouldn't fry RG-6.  Did you measure amps as well?

      • NoSoRiko's avatar
        NoSoRiko
        New Contributor III

        To clarify, the faulty modem was an Arris SB6190.  When connected to the coax and powered on, it sent Appx 12V upstream through the coax cable.  The spare modem is another arris brand, but older.  The older modem was the device that sent .04V upstream.

        Currently I have a Cox panoramic wifi modem plugged in that is doing fine, with no readings going upstream from the device through the cable.