Water Logged Cables

[danp]

We are finding that our cat5 or cat6 outdoor cables get attacked by rodents or whatever and water gets into them. When this happens the water runs into the power brick destroying it causing an outage until we go and replace the brick. We want to install netonix switches on all of our towers but I do not want to have the water issue killing our switches.
We use the cable that has the shielding in it but thought maybe it would better to use the gel filled ones for this. We can't find gel filled cables with shielding in them so I was wondering if anyone has a better solution to keep our netonix switches safe

Thanks in adavnce

[sirhc]

Some people strip back the jacket several inches and make a drop loop before going into the brock or switch.

Or you could hire this guy.

[danp]

Yes I thought that stripping it back may be our best choice. I also like the idea of hiring the help you mentioned, some of these farms would keep him very busy

Thanks for the quick reply.

Love the netonix gear by the way

[bchur83]

You can also terminate the outside cable to a shielded patch Panel or RJ45 coupler then a short wire to the power supply/switch. This will put a barrier between the outdoor side and the power source. It can still cause the power to short out but it will save the power supply from direct water exposure. Not sure if the PoE switches particularly like being shorted out but I would think there is some kind of protection to prevent permanent damage. We have also done the drip loop style and that works as well, just make sure you strip it far enough that it wont "wick" up the wire.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Shielded-Keystone-Couplers/dp/B00IO3HN82/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1524087878&sr=8-5&keywords=shielded+network+coupler