Network cable protector

[Shockwave199]

I have a crappy situation and because it simply cannot be overcome, I have to deal with it. In short, I'll have to cables running on about a 4' stretch of roof. I simply have no other way to get those two lines to the front of the house camera locations. The lines will come out of an attic window and cross over a section of roof that is level and flat- like a gully section between to slanted roof lines. I've had two of my analog lines installed this way for three years without issue, and if you can believe, it's the cheap premade crap and it's held up to sun, obvious heat, rain, and snow cover. Wind doesn't whip them around because of the configuration of the roof in that spot or something- it's just never been a problem through a hurricane and a super storm. But going to network cable now, I was wondering if there is some kind of product I could use on that exposed section of cable to help shield it from the elements, such as aluminum flashing tape or something. Just a bit of protection from the direct elements.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[fenderman]

You can always use some flexible condiit or if you want lower profile some heat shrink tubing. Honestly i have regular indoor monoprice cable running down the side of my folks place since about 2005....(it runs next to the gutter so its hardly visible but its exposed) and its been a non issue.

http://www.amazon.com/Southwire-55094221-Ultratite-Type-Non-Metallic-Flexible/dp/B000BQ7R0O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408334793&sr=8-1&keywords=flexible+conduit

 

[Shockwave199]

Oh that's cool too. I'll look for it in home depot. I honestly considered just leaving the lines exposed, thinking the less surface there is from a tubing or whatnot, the less chance there is for bad things to happen- caught up in the wind or whatnot. But I'd rather have some kind of protector- most especially because it gets insanely hot on a roof and over time, that's a killer I would think. Thanks for that suggestion- I'll check it out.

 

[nayr]

Ubiquiti Toughcable is designed for environments like that; there are vendors on ebay who sell shorter lengths than a whole spool.

I would avoid nonmetalic pvc conduit on anyplace exposed to high UV, it will degrade, go limp and and look ugly.. it deforms with any heat and I am cleaning up some my previous owner installed; blah.

I would get 1/4in or 1/2in Metal Conduit (probably 1/2in if you have more than one cable) and put it on standoffs on your roof so water can flow under it and not through it.. your local hardware store should even sell it in 4' sections which is easy to get home. you can put a small bit of shrink tape on both ends to help seal it off and keep crap out.. Put a little epoxy or tar on the screws you put in the roof for the standoffs so you dont cause any leaks.

You can paint it to match your roof if you have black shingles; rustoleum textured black looks great on conduit.. or run it along side some other galvanized joints on the roof and it'll disappear from a distance... even if its a short run a little bit of EMT will look way better than several exposed wires strung about.

edit links:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_118909-1792-807256_0__?productId=3127645&Ntt=metal+conduit&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=metal+conduit&facetInfo=
http://www.lowes.com/pd_75278-15527-49100_1z10fgc+4294653948__?productId=1100115&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&page=1&facetInfo=Clamp

this is exactly what I do on my roof to run my big bulky HAM antenna cables across the roof, I have grey shingles and there much less obvious than the black 3/4in coax cables.

 

[bp2008]

I swear by Ubiquiti Toughcable. It is great stuff. But in your particular case I think conduit is the answer and then any old cable should work.

 

[bp2008]

Oh, also, I used some of these around cables I already had run, that were somewhat exposed to sunlight: http://amzn.com/dp/B00DP35VOO

 

[fmflex]

Anything that's used that's not UV stabilized can just be painted with an acrylic paint.