50v on Xfinity RG6 cables

[jlelectric25]

Hello all,
I'm new to this thread but seeking some help. I have a customer who is experiencing her tv and internet going down for hours at a time multiple times throughout the day. We have completely redon her service, redid and updated the grounding (new ground rods, to water line, and even to gas line). The cable company has replaced their line from the telephone pole to the house. I did a walk through with there technician, and showed no voltage at the demark. All the RG6 cables are run on the outside of this brick house. We have a splitter on the outside, 1 in, and 4 out. I have a modem on one line, router on one line, and a tv box on the other two lines. When I disconnect the wires at the splitter, I read 50 to 70 volts on each one of the RG6 cables. These devices are plugged in on three different circuits in the house. I've turned all the breakers off in the house except for our new dedicated gfci by the panel, and ran an extension cord from that dedicated circuit to refeed a tv/ modem etc one at a time. even with all the circuits off in the house except that dedicated circuit i'm still reading the same voltage on that rg6 line. I've tried regrounding the demark, and the other splitter. I've tried ungrounding the xfinity system off of the house grounding as per power company suggestion. the cable company replaced two of the devices and still have a voltage problem. I just found out that there's 3 other areas locally having the same issue as well. I've checked all my connections and voltages from the parallel connectors down to the panel. I'm still waiting on our power company to send a tech to check the power line etc, but has anyone else run into this problem or know any solutions? Another local electrician even ran dedicated circuits and new rg6 at a different location near by but still hasn't been able to fix the issue as well. I've tried digging into this online with no resolution as well. It's an older house, and I don't want to give a bid to this lady to run new circuits or rewire her house for something that isn't going to fix the issue. I did try running a generator with the extension cord to see how that would effect it. It doesn't show any voltage on the wires, but at the same time there's no difference of potential on the generator so that can't be an effective test. I'm trying to get more details of the other areas, but currently i'm on a 150 amp service with an eaton panel. everything we did on the service side is brand new, and i'm reading 119v each phase and 236 across the two phases. Please help, this poor lady is at her wits end and is very frustrated/ confused. I just want to get her back to normal. Thanks in advance. - Justin

 

[ActionDave]

Hello all,
I'm new to this thread but seeking some help. I have a customer who is experiencing her tv and internet going down for hours at a time multiple times throughout the day. We have completely redon her service, redid and updated the grounding (new ground rods, to water line, and even to gas line). The cable company has replaced their line from the telephone pole to the house. I did a walk through with there technician, and showed no voltage at the demark. All the RG6 cables are run on the outside of this brick house. We have a splitter on the outside, 1 in, and 4 out. I have a modem on one line, router on one line, and a tv box on the other two lines. When I disconnect the wires at the splitter, I read 50 to 70 volts on each one of the RG6 cables. These devices are plugged in on three different circuits in the house. I've turned all the breakers off in the house except for our new dedicated gfci by the panel, and ran an extension cord from that dedicated circuit to refeed a tv/ modem etc one at a time. even with all the circuits off in the house except that dedicated circuit i'm still reading the same voltage on that rg6 line.

I've tried regrounding the demark, and the other splitter. I've tried ungrounding the xfinity system off of the house grounding as per power company suggestion. the cable company replaced two of the devices and still have a voltage problem. I just found out that there's 3 other areas locally having the same issue as well. I've checked all my connections and voltages from the parallel connectors down to the panel. I'm still waiting on our power company to send a tech to check the power line etc, but has anyone else run into this problem or know any solutions? Another local electrician even ran dedicated circuits and new rg6 at a different location near by but still hasn't been able to fix the issue as well.

I've tried digging into this online with no resolution as well. It's an older house, and I don't want to give a bid to this lady to run new circuits or rewire her house for something that isn't going to fix the issue. I did try running a generator with the extension cord to see how that would effect it. It doesn't show any voltage on the wires, but at the same time there's no difference of potential on the generator so that can't be an effective test. I'm trying to get more details of the other areas, but currently i'm on a 150 amp service with an eaton panel. everything we did on the service side is brand new, and i'm reading 119v each phase and 236 across the two phases. Please help, this poor lady is at her wits end and is very frustrated/ confused. I just want to get her back to normal. Thanks in advance. - Justin

Welcome to the forum. Large blobs of text are hard to read, so if you will add some paragraph breaks in the future it will make it easier on all of us.

It's unclear where you are reading the 50V, but everything else you describe points to a power company problem.

 

[hbiss]

I have a customer who is experiencing her tv and internet going down for hours at a time multiple times throughout the day... I just found out that there's 3 other areas locally having the same issue as well.

I rather doubt that the voltage you are seeing has anything to do with anything. What meter are you using? Sounds like an incompetent cable company to me. Tell them to fix it or don't pay the bill. Tell your customer to file a complaint with your state's PUC.

-Hal

 

[jlelectric25]

Welcome to the forum. Large blobs of text are hard to read, so if you will add some paragraph breaks in the future it will make it easier on all of us.

It's unclear where you are reading the 50V, but everything else you describe points to a power company problem.

I'm reading the voltage on the RG6 cables outside when I disconnect them from the splitter. There are 4 of them, I'm disconnecting them from the splitter, so each cable goes into the house and ties into a tv box, or modem. The RG6 main line from the telephone pole isn't reading voltage. Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[jlelectric25]

I rather doubt that the voltage you are seeing has anything to do with anything. What meter are you using? Sounds like an incompetent cable company to me. Tell them to fix it or don't pay the bill. Tell your customer to file a complaint with your state's PUC.

-Hal

I'm using a Telco Foreign voltage detector on the RG6 cables.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

You need to start at the beginning. Disconnect everything after the demark and then start adding in one thing at a time.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Another option is the circuit that is causing the problem. It may have a reverse polarity which would cause issues perhaps. Don't forget to disconnect one TV at a time and see if the issue goes away. I mean disconnect so no cable is touching a tv

 

[jlelectric25]

You need to start at the beginning. Disconnect everything after the demark and then start adding in one thing at a time.

When I disconnect at the Demark, it has no voltage on the line in side. That connects to one rg6 cable, that goes to a 4 way splitter about 15 ft away on the outside of the building. I disconnect those cables one by one from the splitter, and each one besides the line in shows the voltage.

 

[jlelectric25]

Another option is the circuit that is causing the problem. It may have a reverse polarity which would cause issues perhaps. Don't forget to disconnect one TV at a time and see if the issue goes away. I mean disconnect so no cable is touching a tv

I was hoping it was that way, but it turns out that the 4 cable boxes are on 3 different circuits. I tried testing with both the tv connected and disconnected thinking it could be a back feed from the tv's but I read the same voltage either way I test it.

 

[Little Bill]

I was hoping it was that way, but it turns out that the 4 cable boxes are on 3 different circuits. I tried testing with both the tv connected and disconnected thinking it could be a back feed from the tv's but I read the same voltage either way I test it.

Between what two points are you measuring?

 

[jlelectric25]

Between what two points are you measuring?

I'm measuring the RG6 cable end with a Foreign voltage detector outside at the splitter(disconnected from the splitter). The other end of the cable is attached to an xfinity cable box on the inside of the house. There are 4 lines at that splitter that do this, go straight inside to a cable box or modem/router.

 

[Little Bill]

I'm measuring the RG6 cable end with a Foreign voltage detector outside at the splitter(disconnected from the splitter). The other end of the cable is attached to an xfinity cable box on the inside of the house. There are 4 lines at that splitter that do this, go straight inside to a cable box or modem/router.

I'm not familiar with that tester/meter. Does it have probes or just a CT like an amp clamp that you pass the cable through?

 

[jlelectric25]

I'm not familiar with that tester/meter. Does it have probes or just a CT like an amp clamp that you pass the cable through?

This tester you just touch the end of the cable itself, getting a better reading when it essentially touches the shielding and the inner copper line at the same time. https://www.cwadistrict7.org/download/centurylink/safety_and_mosh/Foreign-Votage-Fact-Sheet.pdf

 

[Little Bill]

This tester you just touch the end of the cable itself, getting a better reading when it essentially touches the shielding and the inner copper line at the same time. https://www.cwadistrict7.org/download/centurylink/safety_and_mosh/Foreign-Votage-Fact-Sheet.pdf

That appears to just be a non-contact tester like many use to detect voltage or absence of it. It works by capacitive coupling. Unreliable at times so not to be trusted without verifying with a meter

 

[jlelectric25]

That appears to just be a non-contact tester like many use to detect voltage or absence of it. It works by capacitive coupling. Unreliable at times so not to be trusted without verifying with a meter

That's fair, I used my multimeter on everything else except that. I'll go back in the next couple days and try that out.

 

[Hamberg]

Is the splitter powered!? Typically you'll get 15-25VDC

 

[jlelectric25]

Is the splitter powered!? Typically you'll get 15-25VDC

As far as being a splitter with an amplifier, no it's not powered. I would have to go take a new reading from the splitter to ground etc I don't recall at this time.

 

[hbiss]

I'm using a Telco Foreign voltage detector on the RG6 cables.

That's just a non-contact voltage detector. Not to be relied upon for anything definitive except as a warning if the indication is really high. It's what we used to "stick" poles before we climbed them when I worked for the cable company to detect hot poles.

You really shouldn't be involved anyway. It's the cable companies' job and responsibility.

Please help, this poor lady is at her wits end and is very frustrated/ confused.

Sure. From what you said I can't imagine how much money she is out for something that shouldn't have cost her anything.

-Hal

 

[jlelectric25]

That's just a non-contact voltage detector. Not to be relied upon for anything definitive except as a warning if the indication is really high. It's what we used to "stick" poles before we climbed them when I worked for the cable company to detect hot poles.

You really shouldn't be involved anyway. It's the cable companies' job and responsibility.



Sure. From what you said I can't imagine how much money she is out for something that shouldn't have cost her anything.

-Hal

ok, thanks. Cable company is trying to say it's our fault, so I just want to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Our company can run RG6 but we don't typically deal with low voltage. The cable company doesn't seem to have a clue and I was curious myself and wanted to help. I appreciate all the feedback thus far. Has anyone had any luck with a power conditioner for a situation like this?

 

[hbiss]

Has anyone had any luck with a power conditioner for a situation like this?

NO!! Give it up!

The cable company doesn't seem to have a clue

I can assure you that they do have someone there that does. When a problem affects more than one subscriber and they refuse to take care of it it's time to involve the Public Service Commission who will find out why. Especially when it's costing this lady money, it's probably time to threaten a law suit.

Don't think you want to be involved in that...

-Hal