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The Problem Of Unused Cabling
Makarand writes "Technological advances constantly render functional cable obsolete by
demanding data transfers at higher rates which older cabling cannot
support. New cables that support higher data rates are laid right over older wires.
The old wires are simply left in place and abandoned. This interesting article talks about the
problems
caused by abandoned cabling. According to an estimate several billion feet of
abandoned cable lies unused in the plenum spaces of buildings that allow air to circulate
creating a fire hazard. Also, very few firms currently worry about removing cabling when they
move out of a building."
I've used old cabling to fish through the new cabling. I'm lazy like that.
I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
The standard practice is to recover assets when leaving a building. Just like a company takes it's servers, desktop computers, chairs, and desks, it also takes the relatively expensive network hook up equipment. This generally means the patch panels and the network racks. One rack, 6 or 7ft high, entirely populated with patch panels could easily have cost $4,000.
Now, in some cases, people are jerks and do not take the time to cut the wires as close to the patch panels as possible. I have seen some cut where the wires enter the room (ussually through the ceiling). This makes re-using the wires impossible since there isn't enough left to do the hookups.
Any place with a decent set of fire codes, and people who are actually following them, shouldn't be worrying. FT-5/Plenum cable is simply not a danger.
Now, if residential "wood burns faster so who cares" FT-1 vinyl cable is used, you get what you pay for. That being said, if the fire inspector ever sees that stuff, you'll probably be looking at a really juicy fine.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
The real fire hazard is due to the insulation on the cables burning or melting and emitting all sorts of poisonous fumes. Older cables are very bad for this. I shudder at the thought of a serious fire in some of the buildings described by posters- if the whole floor void (and presumably the risers) are chock full of all that plastic.
*Some* modern cables are rated LSZH or LS0H- meaning "Low Smoke Zero Halogen" which shows that cable firms are considering this issue.
Actually, "plenum spaces" are supposed to have plenum cable, according to fire code. Plenum cable doesn't burn, it just smolders.
If that's what you meant by "inflammable," sorry. The word is "nonflammable."
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Labour costs aside. I'd guess that (data) cabling is a pretty unattractive source of metals. Tons plastic would have to be burned to get to a useful amount of metal. Burning plastic produces all sorts of nasty compounds, which would have to be scrubbed from the emissions significantly boosting the costs.
The right cabling makes perfect feedline for HF radio applications. I removed well over 300 feet of Twinax from the building I work in, and I could take all I wanted for free. [I now feed a 40-meter dipole with it]. The loss characteristics are about the same is RG-8.
All you amateur radio operators/SWL'ers, offer to remove the stuff for free.
One caveat, it is really dirty work, depending upon the building.
We also take all of the locks with us, and the security system.
This is simply an example of how businesses and individuals work quite differently in an area where people assume things are much the same. Businesses rent the space, not usually the facilities (ie phone, security, etc), so most of the phone equipment, including those lines they're cutting, were put in by the business, and are taken from place to place. For many people it's just not worth the effort to take the lines completely out, so cutting them is far more common, especially since re-using the line would be almost out of the question in the new building (though the new tenant of the old building could re-use the line if you don't cut it too close).
We don't rent space expecting cat-5 cable to be in place, we rent it knowing that it will be easy for our people to put cat-5 in. We don't expect the phone line to be routed to the room we have designated for the phone equipment, or that the security will be up to our requirements.
If it was a home bought and sold by an individual, you have to leave most of those things in place because the buyer expects them to be there. However, if you spell it out in the contract, you can still cut away the phone and cable for whatever reason, though, as an individual, you also expect those things to be in the place you're moving to (which, again, companies don't expect to find when they move into a new business space).
-PainKilleR-[CE]
If you're after the metals, it's far more effective to granulate the cable, and then screen the output. No burning involved, and in many cases, the plastic coating can also be recycled. This is reasonably common practice, and it works pretty well.