Whether householders employ someone, or they do this job themselves, there are a few simple guidelines:
· Where duct has to be taken under a boundary wall it is good practice to slide the duct through a short length of metal or stout plastic tube where the duct passes under the wall.
· Between the boundary and the house, the duct can follow any route providing curves are of a large radius. As a guide, curves should be of no tighter radius than that of a dinner plate. If the duct is accidentally kinked the installer should not try to straighten it. They must tell the volunteers who will replace it with new duct and a connector. We try to avoid joins in the duct as they can cause the fibre to stick when it is blown into the duct.
· The route that the householder chooses will be influenced by the place they wish the broadband Wi-Fi router to be fitted inside their house. Householders should consider Part 2 of these notes before they finally decide on the point at which the duct reaches the wall of their house.
· Where the duct crosses a garden it needs to be buried to a depth that will avoid the duct being damaged by digging or other groundwork. A trench depth of 10" (250 mm) will be sufficient but only if the 7 mm duct is protected by pushing it through a length of 16 mm duct which the project can supply. Additional protection may be necessary where the duct passes under a track used by vehicles. A length of metal tube is useful in these circumstances.
Installers should remove any rocks from the trench bottom to ensure the duct lays on a reasonably level surface and, when backfilling, they should make sure the duct is covered with a finer material before returning larger stones into the trench.
· It is particularly important to keep dirt and water from getting into the 7 mm duct. The volunteers will leave the duct with its end taped.
· When the 7 mm duct is installed up to the wall of the house the installer should allow it to emerge from the ground with as large a radius curve as possible and tape the end to keep out dirt and water.
The join between the orange and the black duct is made below ground level and should be beyond the curve. Do not make the join on the bend.
· If paving has to be lifted or broken out where the duct emerges from the ground, do not reinstate the paving until the fibre cable has been ‘blown in’ so that the join is accessible should the fibre get snagged at the join.
· Because of this snagging risk, try to avoid a join in the duct crossing your garden. If a join has to be made, observe the following techniques: Before making the join, make sure the duct ends to be joined are cut clean and square, ideally using plastic pipe shears. Make the join using the push-fit connector supplied. It’s a bit fiddly but it should shut. Mark the ground to show the location of the join. The marker can be removed once the fibre has been blown in.
· Generally keep the duct ends free of debris and water by covering with insulation tape. Dirt or water in the duct is a major obstacle to the process of installing fibre.·