Flat cable wire caused fire

[heyjude1971]

I have had a Dish Network dish since July of 08. It was an all-new installation. Because I live in an apartment, they had to use a flat cable wire to run into my apartment from the balcony. The wire goes around the door and is flat so the door will still close.

Last night I noticed my satellite reception was out but didn't think much of it until it was still down this morning. I opened the sliding glass door to see if the dish was obstructed. I looked down at the flat wire and it was smoking. Opening the door must have provided the needed oxygen because it burst into a small flame as I was bending to investigate the smoke. I smacked it with my hand to put it out and it started right back up. I blew it out again and it restarted. I quickly unscrewed the flat wire from the black (regular) cable wires and the plastic insulation around the flat wire just melted and twisted away.

If I had gone to work without checking this, it may have burned down this whole apartment building after I left! There must be 30 families in my building. It seems that closing the door on the wire (as you're supposed to be able to do) caused the wire "insulation" to be damaged causing the wire to come into direct contact with my metal door frame.

I called Dish Network and they said they would send someone out tomorrow to replace the wiring. I knew this was not acceptable because the wiring is less than one year old. The woman on the phone had no more to say, so I chatted online with a Dish Network representative. I told her what happened and asked if others have had this. She said that many have. I asked her to clarify that many customers have had actual fires from their flat cables and she said yes. How can they continue to install equipment they know is dangerous?!

The fire marshall is coming this afternoon to check the situation. I will update this thread if he has any useful information.

BEWARE OF THE FLAT CABLE WIRES -- THEY ARE A FIRE HAZARD!!!

Has anyone else on here had this issue?

 

[digiblur]

I thought I heard many satellite shops won't install flat fire coax because of things like this?

 

[CubsWin]

I had a similar thing happen to me and I will never use flat coax cables again. Mine was just melting/smoldering a little and extremely hot to the touch, but that was enough for me to never want to run another coax cable through a sliding door.

 

[sca]

have you checked your outlets with a plug tester?
have the tech do it for sure, faulty wiring can cause the receiver to put out too much voltage.

 

[goaliebob99]

I can tell you from when I was a DNSC tech, That flat wire is not approved for an install because of this. Sounds like you had a subcontractor do your install. I would call up that company/person and threaten to sue because flat wire is a liability when it comes to satellite installs as well requesting payment for any thing damaged. Its designed for OTA and not to have any power inserted through it, like satellite is doing.

 

[goaliebob99]

have you checked your outlets with a plug tester?
have the tech do it for sure, faulty wiring can cause the receiver to put out too much voltage.

They are suppose to do a test of the outlet with a tester before the tech does the install. If the tech failed to do this, then its the liability of the installation company for doing that and using non approved dish network wire.

 

[lineman20109]

How much current does the LNB draw? Must be a good bit to heat the flat cable up that much!

 

[heyjude1971]

I wonder why they're installing it if it's not approved. It was an official Dish Network installer who installed it last July. Every resident in my complex who has a dish is using the same flat cable (according to the residence office).

Dish Network told me they will send someone out to install a new flat cable tomorrow. Are NO flat cables approved? Is there any other way to get the signal inside w/o a hole in the wall?

 

[heyjude1971]

I don't remember the Dish Network installer checking my outlets. I expect the fire marshall may when he gets here (he should be here in about 15 minutes).

 

[DJ Rob]

I been told that the Dish Pro receivers put out 19 volts at 2 amps - enough to cause a fire if a flat cable shorts out on something that can burn.

When I lived in an apartment, I had one of those flat cables fail and it burned part of the carpeting. After peeling one of those cables apart and seeing how unsafe they are, I would never use them.

 

[lineman20109]

I been told that the Dish Pro receivers put out 19 volts at 2 amps - enough to cause a fire if a flat cable shorts out on something that can burn.

When I lived in an apartment, I had one of those flat cables fail and it burned part of the carpeting. After peeling one of those cables apart and seeing how unsafe they are, I would never use them.

I wonder if the receivers have internal fuses to protect against faults??

 

[sca]

my dns office still uses flat cable. ive never used it myself, because its junk.
as far as voltage goes, if the outlet is wired backwards the receiver can push 20-120 volts through that cable. if it is wired wrong you are lucky to find out now, as its just a fire hazard in general. an open ground or other wiring defect is not likely to cause that, but a hot ground, can cause all kinds of voltage issues for any electronic equipment.

 

[bhelms]

How much current does the LNB draw? Must be a good bit to heat the flat cable up that much!

It's probably not a question of how much the LNB(s) draw, which is minimal. I think the real issue here is that the flat cable is eventually damaged by the weight/motion of the door above it and begins to short-out internally, and that short will eventually draw all the current the receiver can provide, which could amount to more than a couple of amps in the short term. The heating at the short is a result of all that current running through the "short" (not zero ohms, but enough of a resistive load to heat up as a result of the current) and that eventually starts the fire...

 

[Claude Greiner]

It depends on which type of flat cable that was used. There are ones that cost only $1 and those are the ones which can cause the fire. There are other ones that are Dishpro approved that cost $15 each and will work without an issue and not cause fires!

 

[lineman20109]

It's probably not a question of how much the LNB(s) draw, which is minimal. I think the real issue here is that the flat cable is eventually damaged by the weight/motion of the door above it and begins to short-out internally, and that short will eventually draw all the current the receiver can provide, which could amount to more than a couple of amps in the short term. The heating at the short is a result of all that current running through the "short" (not zero ohms, but enough of a resistive load to heat up as a result of the current) and that eventually starts the fire...

Makes sense. The back of the receiver says 750 mA. I didn't take the door opening and closing into consideration. I have mine running through a door that I do not use.

 

[heyjude1971]

The fire marshall just left. He said that if that wire is approved, it probably shouldn't be. He is speaking to the apartment manager now to discuss if all the other residents should be using this cable. He said it was definitely a result of opening and closing the door on the cable. (Dish Network had assured me this would not be a problem.)

Does anyone know of any other solutions other than using this cable? We cannot put holes in the wall here.

 

[RandallA]

I thought I heard many satellite shops won't install flat fire coax because of things like this?

That's what I've heard too, don't use the flat cables even if they "say" it's approved.

 

[lineman20109]

The fire marshall just left. He said that if that wire is approved, it probably shouldn't be. He is speaking to the apartment manager now to discuss if all the other residents should be using this cable. He said it was definitely a result of opening and closing the door on the cable. (Dish Network had assured me this would not be a problem.)

Does anyone know of any other solutions other than using this cable? We cannot put holes in the wall here.

Hopefully the apartment manager/owner will allow a few holes to be drilled to prevent further problems... That could have turned into an ugly situation!

 

[birdfinder]

Flat cable to use

It depends on which type of flat cable that was used. There are ones that cost only $1 and those are the ones which can cause the fire. There are other ones that are Dishpro approved that cost $15 each and will work without an issue and not cause fires!

What Claude says is true. The dish approved part is a flat cable that is approx 12 inches long, it is a TFC Amphenol P/N (part number) TFC-144823 and is UL listed. The short 8 inch flat cables you see for 99 cents are not for satellite, but can be used for an ota. The approved flat cable has high frequency connectors so it should not be a problem for HD. The cheap flat cables only use normal connectors and when you have buildup such as a short in the cable it can get hot and burn causing a possible fire.

I personally don't like flat cables, but if you need to use it at least get the 12 inch flat cable and try not to slam your sliding glass door. Over time they need to be replaced regardless of how the cable is treated.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Hopefully the apartment manager/owner will allow a few holes to be drilled to prevent further problems... That could have turned into an ugly situation!

I don't think the apartment has a choice at this point. Its either allow holes to be drilled or risk this happening again and the place burning down!