Telephone switch work

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hello,
I am currently bidding on phone switch installation and was wondering if anyone knew of special code books or regulations regarding this type of specilty work.
The scope of the installation is in a phone switch room with open 750MCM wiring tied down with wax string on ladder rack terminating on exposed 48VDC buss. Any information would be helpful.
Thanks,
Tom
 

rhombus65

Member
I use to do estimating for the type of work you described. I used a program that had all of the stock prices and labor units built right in so I cannot offer any help with the pricing.

The company I estimated for hired someone with knowledge of this type of work before they got into it.

You may have to take a shot in the dark on the first job and hope you do not take too big of a hit. After your first job you should have a better idea of your labor costs.

I do not recall any code or regulations for this type of work. We went by the specs of the customer and the knowledge of the guy they hired.

This work is very specialized.

If you can manage to figure out how to do the work there is big money it.

I did take a course in tying down the conductors with the wax string and it is very time consuming.
 

dereckbc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Plano, TX
Electribidder I have designed, built, commissioned, and tested 48 VDC power plants for telephone companies for about 27 years off and on.

Let me tell you if you have never done this before, you are in way over your head. For example the wax string you are referring too takes a lot of time and skill to do right. Have you ever heard of a power stitch, Chicago stitch, or Kansas City Stitch. These are special types of stitching used to secure the cables to the racks and break-overs. To do it right requires a 12-ply cord. For power it is done in a 4-tie (4 cords) and there can be no twist, the 4 cords neatly side by side. Takes a lot of experienced skill to do it right. On horizontal runs the cable are secured to every other cable rung in the cable rack using a Kansas City stitch with one continuous 4-cord, on vertical and corners every rung is secured.

Tools and terminals are another issue and very specialized. Most are made by Burndy and T&B using hydraulic tools with custom dies for each type of cable size and terminal type. It is very detailed oriented work like no more than 1/16-inch shinner visible at the end where the cable enters the terminal, and no more than 1/16 from the inspection window. Die codes must be visible for inspection and oriented properly on the terminal.
On the lines of the cable itself is quite specialized. It is usually a RHH-RHW-2-LS with a cloth covering. It is laid on the rack in matched pairs with it's opposite polarity counter part (+/-). IT is done very neatly, no just slopping the cables on the rack and run. When done correctly and laced it looks like a perfect block of stacked barrels in which you can put your finger on a cable and run it along the entire length without ever having to lift your finger off of it. Couple that with the lacing and stacking 750 MCM up to 7 layers, I think you get the picture of the labor, time and skill involved.

To answer your question yes there are lots of industry standards that are not available to the general public. They can be purchased from Telcordia or ANSI. The Telcordia documents are GR-295 and GR-513. However these documents cover the design aspect, not the installation aspect. Installation standards are company dependant and/or a learned skill.

I am not trying to scare you off, but if you won the bid, and did not meet expectations you could be in for 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars in re-work or hiring someone with the skill to correct the work.
 

27hillcrest

Senior Member
I totaly agree with Derek on this. I'm a converted Electrician to Teleco guy. Building 48vdc plants for the telecom industry is a very lucrative field!! But there is many hours of training and technique involved in this type of work. Do yourself a favor and find someone to partner with on your first project. If this work is for an ILEC you will need to have the proper security clearance to work in the facility. That will mean you will need to be on there contractor list which is very difficult to get on. It took me 3 years to get on Verizon preferred contractor list and I'm Union. Good luck!
 
thank you

thank you

I appreciate the responses. We are in the process of hiring a consultant that has done this type of work, hopefully he will be able to help us out.
I am also going to check with our local to see if they offer training in this area although I have never seen it listed on our extra curricular courses.
Tom
 

dereckbc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Plano, TX
Tom you are doing the right thing going for outside help. It is not the kind of work you can just wake up one morning and jump into.

Forgive me if I do not know what I am talking about here, I am an engineer, I don't think you are going to find union trade schools offering courses on DC power plant installation. All the schools I have ever witnessed have been with very large telephone companies like SBC, or school of hard knocks. That is the reason it is so hard to get into.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top