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The NEC Code requires that all abandoned copper and fiber cable be removed from buildings. The estimated 45 billion feet of obsolete cable in duct and plenum creates a substantial and hazardous fuel load for fires, resulting in toxic fumes and larger, more dangerous blazes. The code definition is "installed communications cable that is not terminated at both ends at a connector or other equipment and not identified ‘For Future Use’ with a tag." The majority of premise cables are in tray or hanging loosely in plenum. Removing this often tangled mess of cable can be a nightmare. Removal of cables installed in duct is even worse. However, the requirement creates a business opportunity for contractors--and a sales opportunity for CableFree Loosener. Abandoned premise cable is less prevalent in duct, but it's common enough to represent a significant problem, particularly in large buildings. And if contractors think getting cable into duct is difficult, they quickly discover that trying to pull it out years later is even harder. In addition to kinks and the settling effect of time, cables can be "cemented" into duct by dust, bugs, corrosion, degrading jacket materials, wax-based pulling lube residues, the occasional mouse carcass, and other mysterious goos. This is where CableFree shines. It's a unique, time-tested blend of solvents (for loosening binding agents) and lubricants (for easing the pull out) that really works. Contractors might conclude that cables in conduit are safer in the event of fire and therefore exempt from the code. Wrong on both counts. Research proves conclusively that burning cables (and combustible lubricant residues on them) can suck oxygen in one end of a duct and spit fire out the other end like a mini flame-thrower, propagating fire to an otherwise protected area of a building (read our IWCS Research Paper). Building owners and contractors should understand that the potential liability for failure to obey the code prior to a devastating fire is far worse than the cost of compliance. Discuss this problem and the CableFree solution with your customers. |
