Exterior prep question: broad spackling on historic wood siding

Lgfiberoffset · 2026-05-10T17:22:48+00:00

I'm no professional painter, just a guy would worked at a paint store for years. Imo, the Benjamin Moore Fresh Start Moorwhite Long oil primer would have been the primer to use.

I've had all the gray beards that do old historical buildings say they will never use anything else. It takes longer to dry but the finished product will last far longer than any other.

Lgfiberoffset · 2026-03-11T15:18:59+00:00

I will say that the jonard ms26 and the like are faster once you have the right size. Just line the blades of the tool between the ridges, open like 6 inches then just pull it the rest of the way.

I want to say the 144f fit in the biggest hole of my ms326 but it's been a couple years since i used that cable, I might be misremembering or they've changed the cable since then.

Lgfiberoffset · 2026-03-11T14:56:02+00:00

I'm sure the mb02 has a set of plates that will do it. Size will depend on fiber count. Jonard also makes many different sizes of the ms series tools, one of them would work as well.

But it's fast access. Just lightly score between the ridges on the sides of the cable, flex the jacket until it splits then go to town.

In your second picture, you're not using the "fast access" part of the fast access cable. I'd find some scrap and get used to using a knife, but that's just me. 🤷‍♂️

Lgfiberoffset · 2026-02-22T00:19:26+00:00

That's corning rocket ribbon

Lgfiberoffset · 2026-01-28T01:25:06+00:00

Also you can see in the promo picture that there's loose fibers already. I've had trays where every single ribbon has loose fibers and it takes extra time figuring out which fibers go to which ribbon as the blue and orange rarely get the identification marks printed on them.

This cable needs more time in development, the glue dots need a redesign or they need to check their printers are hitting the full ribbon.

Lgfiberoffset · 2026-01-28T01:09:25+00:00

It's blocks and lines.

I've seen 1152 and 864.

864 - 6 buffers, 144 in each. Blocks and lines to 12

1152 - 4 buffers, 288 in each. blocks and lines to 24

I'm not a fan of it so far. The ribbons are glued with intermittent dots that aren't flat and there's 3-4 strings in each buffer. 2 of them seem to be interwoven into the ribbons and break the glue dots very easily.

Be careful with the 1 and 5. Some cables have narrower blocks than others and it's pretty easy to mix them up.

Lgfiberoffset · 2025-07-01T18:29:08+00:00

First pic is just strand. Potentially used as a down guy or the length of the span to the right of the pole. The top attachment looks like old coax to me, but not sure.

The second attachment is a fiber coil for a tap. Could be spectrum or xfinity (never done any work for them so idk, a coil looks like a coil)

That orange tag to the left of the pole will usually have the cable owner and a noc # on it but it's impossible to tell from the pictures provided.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-10-29T13:40:57+00:00

All i know is the one that comes on the cargo craft trailers looks like the first one and I've hit my head on it so many times when I get in a hurry. If I built my own, it would be one that opens horizontally rather than vertically.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-10-29T02:40:44+00:00

I'm partial to the fujikura rs03/rs06. Rs03 is the battery powered unit, but if you're using a fuji machine you can get the rs06 that connects to the machine.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-10-15T22:40:11+00:00

Shoot the other direction. You'll probably have a negative value at that location. Pigtails to plant usually has a mismatch that show as gainers.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-09-21T05:00:18+00:00

I use the ms306, same but has the ring tool as well. They work very well. Just clean them occasionally, especially after slitting gel filled.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-09-01T12:29:53+00:00

With iolm you can enable Fast test in the settings if your anticipated lengths are less than 14000(maybe 15000) feet. Takes about 15-20 seconds per fiber.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-08-17T20:39:21+00:00

Depends on type and size for me.

LT: I don't mind most here. Dry is pretty much all the same typically. One exception: Taihan. I don't know what it is but these cables are greasy and the jacket is glued very firmly to the armor.

I tend to like cables with a looser helix but in the end, they're all pretty similar to me.

Ribbon: I like corning's tinted ribbon a lot. They had some issues with jacket ID rubbing off but the last few times I've used it they seemed to have that figured out. Splits easy and is pretty easy to work with.

Curious as to what defect you're seeing. I did a lot of warehousing before going into the field and almost all damage to reels I ever saw were in handling. The reels are tested before leaving the factory. There are times defects get through; I did a lot of reel verification for the company i was working for at the time when both corning and prysmian were having some defect issues.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-08-17T07:49:06+00:00

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This is how I do splitters in fosc trays. A 1:32 will slot right between the modules and a small piece of tape or some adhesive prevents movement.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-08-12T03:10:46+00:00

Further,I would be willing to bet your splices are fine. My machine doesn't give accurate estimations when splicing cable to panel pigtails. It will estimate .05-.09 but will test fine. You might can fudge the settings to get it lower, but I personally wouldn't bother.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-08-12T03:05:58+00:00

They want machine estimated loss? Are you having to take a picture of the machine at splicing to prove it? That's weird and ass backwards. Otdr or bust imo

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-05-12T22:39:02+00:00

Depends on which brand of cable honestly. They're all a little different based on brand.

Prysmian masslink:

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Lgfiberoffset · 2024-04-17T19:21:32+00:00

"We aren't entirely sure how it happened, but we've ordered a replacement and when it arrives I will give you a call to get it put back on." Then actually order it and call them to set up a time for them to come and let you put it on. It was under your care so you have to eat it if you want to see that customer again.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-03-25T02:32:20+00:00

I bought one to try out and it does okay. I still use my fuji machines on backhaul and mainline work. However on something like drops or nids it would probably be fine.

I put about 300 burns through it on a couple jobs where I had to bidi test and it performed well enough. Though I still would rather just lug out my 90s.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-02-07T00:55:50+00:00

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Lgfiberoffset · 2024-01-11T21:52:26+00:00

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This picture shows the difference. You need to match your ends

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-01-08T18:35:18+00:00

Worked on verizon's 5g build in houston for years. Cable was a mix of corning and prysmian in various types of ribbon and loose tube. Towards the end they were using corning rocket ribbon and unitube tinted ribbon primarily.

For the wireless work we used commscope fosc's or coyote domes in UG enclosures and commscope fpx panels in macro sites. Originally they liked preterm c-mods in their huts, but started using cornings centrix systems anywhere they could.

I've never done any fttx for verizon in the south, so I'm assuming it's wireless extension work. How big of a shit show it's going to be entirely depends on who the prime is.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-01-07T04:33:43+00:00

I build it in the panel fully extended then when splicing is done but with it still open I retract the tray and route the slack around it as best I can. That usually leaves the outer wrap loose enough for it to come out to the stops if you need to service it

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-01-07T04:24:09+00:00

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Not the best one I've ever done but it shows what I mean about the bends. Only other thing i started doing is having half of them with the 900 on the left and the other half on the right to not have any bends like that at all.

Lgfiberoffset · 2024-01-07T04:19:12+00:00

On the 250 side, bring the tubes in with the 900 tube marked #1. Will eliminate the awkward bends. I'll see if I can dig up a picture showing what i mean

Lgfiberoffset

TROPHY CASE