Posted 13 September 2019
Substitute copper coated aluminium for the conductor.
Most people won’t be able to tell the difference until the conductors break or oxidise. As for the random faults due to high resistance – ‘well, that always happens Guv.’
Use CCA either on its own, or mixed in with pure copper in braids on data and coax cables.
Your customers may never pick this one up. You’ll have to explain away the grainy pictures due to the client wanting cheap monitors or cameras, or just a poor signal.
Use suppliers that just mark all reels 100.
Let’s face it a yard is near enough a metre, unless you’re paying the bill! Actually it is about 8% less.
Use recycled material.
New PVC and PE are expensive, those old milk cartons have to go somewhere! You never know biodegradable cable may catch on!
Don’t bother with standards or testing.
Many were set up years ago to ensure product quality was maintained. If that is not important it’s an easy way to save a few quid.
Ignore advice from professionals.
LSF and LSHF sound the same so therefore they must be. Anyway the specifier down the pub didn’t know the difference, so why shouldn’t you use LSF on the hospital job? (Let’s just hope you or your family never get admitted).
Always go for the cheapest price.
Although you wouldn’t apply it to other things in life, somehow cable is different – cheapest is best!
Don’t worry if the cable doesn’t turn up.
Reliable suppliers are normally too expensive and anyway those guys on site can always find something to do - that’s why they buy a newspaper on the way to the job.
Always order 100m reels.
You can throw away what’s left over, or use a jointing kit for longer runs. It saves the effort of working out the cut lengths.
Don’t worry if the reels collapse or arrive broken.
You can always use an apprentice to untangle it, good packaging costs money and you only throw it away at the end of the job.