OT - undoing phone drop hardware
 

OK...I know this is OT but it is tool/hardware related. Anyone know the trick to undoing the phone company's attachment hardware for overhead drops? It is a 3-piece sliding cinch but I've always been fuzzy and how to get them loose (easy to install). The gardeners next door decided to chain saw a tree branch onto the drop and it pulled the drip loop out of the drop (with the new associated sag). So I'm trying to pull the drop taught again and get my drip loop back...but the slider hardware won't budge. Any ex-phone installers? I used to do cable, but we never used those stupid cinch attachments...

They're one-time use ... nobody attempts to repair/reposition them. Once crimped, they are thowaways!

Since it is between the pole and your house where the problem ... call the phone company and they will install a new drop free. It only takes about five minutes ...

I don't think nostatic's is a crimp type by the way he is describing it. I remember a type the cinched up in line with the pull. This was back when I climbed poles for then GTE about '64. With age, those sucker can get real tight. We would cut them down and string up a new drop. But a couple times we ran out of supplies on the truck. We beat them open with a hammer and a screwdriver back toward the way they went together. Kind of a Chinese finger, right Todd? If you collaspe the thing while trying to undo it, it wasn't meant to be.

yeah, this looks reversible, but I'm not sure how I can accomplish it since I have to use one hand to pull on the drop, and only have one other hand to manipulate the hardware. It consists of a u-shaped outer section and smaller u-shaped inner section that has a wire loop that attaches to the riser. The third piece is a flat section that goes between the two and has some teeth to catch the drop itself. The sections are angled such that drop tension pulls the lower section out, forcing the inner section up towards the narrowing end. I tried to pop the inner section towards the pole while holding the drop slack, but it wouldn't budge. If I had a second person holding the drop with some slack I think a big screwdriver and some vice grips might do the job.

I would just call SBC and have them come out and put a new one in, but I hate to burn 4+ hours waiting for the person to show up. I had some real fun when the neighbors in back had guys trimming trees and they nicked my line. The guy came out and fixed the phone but in the process fried my dsl. Then it took 3 service calls to get it sorted out.

Yes, deregulation certainly has made for better service.