technical question about quality and longevity of coax cables

[scott784]

I was up in my attic recently and was reminded about the extreme heat up there during the summer months. That said, it made me think about something. Giving the fact that attics can sometimes reach 150 degrees during the summer, does this impact the lifetime of coax cables in the attic?

I had my home pre-wired a couple of years ago when it was built for antenna wiring from my rooms up to the attic for my antenna. I simply grabbed the available standard RG6 cables that I found, at the time, from Lowe's and some from Home Depot - never thinking about such things as quad shield cabling. I don't recall brands - but most of it was in long spools so that it could be cut accordingly for each room as needed.

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by scott784

I was up in my attic recently and was reminded about the extreme heat up there during the summer months. That said, it made me think about something. Giving the fact that attics can sometimes reach 150 degrees during the summer, does this impact the lifetime of coax cables in the attic?

Hello scott

Heat will affect the life of the coax, but black coax on a black shingle roof outside can also get very hot. Don't use white RG6, it doesn't hold up as well as black.

I had my home pre-wired a couple of years ago when it was built for antenna wiring from my rooms up to the attic for my antenna. I simply grabbed the available standard RG6 cables that I found, at the time, from Lowe's and some from Home Depot - never thinking about such things as quad shield cabling.

The RG6 that you buy should be plenum rated for safety. Quad shielding won't hurt, but it is a little harder to work with and you must get the right size connectors. Quad shielding usually isn't necessary for interference rejection, but the extra shielding can reduce the voltage drop to a preamp in a long run.

[scott784]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, it's all black RG6 coax; and I am assuming plenum rated. Of course, it's not exposed to sunlight or moisture since the cabling is in the attic. But the summer temps up there can be very bad.

I am just curious - can one say (generally speaking) the lifetime of coax inside an attic with summer temps that can approach 150 degrees? Or is it all just mere speculation even trying to make that guess?

My two year old home is vented in the attic - as per local building code. However, I do not currently have an attic fan in the roof. That may be something that I consider in the future.

[JoeAZ]

While heat and sun will both reduce the longevity of any cable,
as long as the cable is undisturbed in the attic and through the
rest of the run to the televisions, it should last a very, very long
time.

[scott784]

I like your answer....lol. And hopefully it will last a very long time! It was installed in each room, up to the attic, before the drywall was put up while the home was being built. And it would obviously be very difficult to re-run a new line from any of the rooms back up there now. It's an entirely separate network of coax lines (for the attic antenna) from the coax lines that were put in the home for the cable company.

[rickbb]

Originally Posted by rabbit73

Hello scott

Don't use white RG6, it doesn't hold up as well as black.

Now you tell me, it's all I've used for the past 3 years. But then I did get an entire spool of it for free.