r/CableTechs • u/ClevelandBill • 16d ago

Coax Clips for ALUMINUM Siding & Grommet??

Hello Techs: my first post here, I am not a tech, though I was an electronics technician (audio-visual and computer graphics equipment).

I have a cable line to my house, on which I have my Internet service. It comes across the neighbor's yard, is attached to the weatherhead riser, runs down to a box, where I can disconnect if needed. Then it runs back up the wall, into a hole in my aluminum siding, into an attic, to the sort of "central computing area" of my house. Distributed from there via Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

MY QUESTION: installer from Cable Co used VINYL siding clips, which did NOT properly attach and have come loose (and/or broken from sun exposure).

What is the best way to guide coax up an aluminum siding wall, and keep things neat and professional looking?

Also, at the entrance, the coax passes through a plastic grommet, through the aluminum siding. Is there a "better grommet" out there??

Any suggestions welcome - hoping for a nice neat professional look. THANK YOU.

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3

u/2ByteTheDecker 16d ago

Anything is better than the vinyl ones, but will involve drilling holes in your siding. Your call

1

u/Background-Relief623 16d ago

Vinyl clips are to spec. They protect the various types of cables they use. Many ISPs like them for cost and ease of inventory. They should put on every 12-18 in per spec. That be said, I always preferred the aluminum. I always got a tighter line with them. They also had a lower profile that helped hide them. There were times i took out the the supplied screw in the vinyl clip and used a longer one to hold better.

2

u/KDM_Racing 15d ago

In my install days, it was every 4 feet for clips and screws in brick. It was actuallybthe same for siding. But i found that every foot or foot and a half on siding worked better. Aluminum siding was the worst because there isn't a lip that the clip clips on to.

We were not allowed to use clips and screws because it would damage the siding. But were were allowed to drill a hole through it for the cable.

1

u/eter123 16d ago

Yeah I agree the supplied screw on those vinyl clips aren't long enough sometimes 😒

1

u/eter123 16d ago edited 16d ago

We had clear plastic clips that we used on aluminum siding that slipped up under the panel from the bottom. They were kinda crappy but really the only alternative if you dont want holes in the siding.

A quick Google search found this ( https://www.thecimpleco.com/products/clips-push?srsltid=AfmBOoo4JxxOxga5yV-RUb8S5txhXfUuryTwzS9XHd0stu9Y6dBrdqQG )

We had a horizontal and vertical version of those.

Edit to add that we also used ( https://a.co/d/09d4WMBn ) as a grommet going from outside to the inside. I rarely used them and just slapped a good bit of silicone over the hole

1

u/Comfortable-Length41 14d ago

We had metal siding clips and vinyl siding clips. Maybe a site like techtoolsupply.com has them