Attaching coax to semi-gloss-painted fibrolite

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Attaching coax to semi-gloss-painted fibrolite

neb

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#280487 17-Dec-2020 18:48

As part of the Casa de Cowboy redo, the long-overdue repaint was done in semi-gloss because its a helluva lot easier to keep clean next to the ocean and bush. However it's led to one problem, I need to run about 3-2m of coax down one of the newly-painted walls, if possible without punching holes in it at regular intervals for clips. However the semi-gloss paint, alongside rejecting dirt and gunk, also easily rejects hot glue, it just peels right off (which is a great ad for the paint, the previous matt stuff held hot glue no problems, alongside any amount of dirt, mould, moss, and dust).

Does anyone have any ideas for securing coax to this surface without penetrating it? I'm not keen on sanding it back to give it some grip since that will destroy the integrity of the paint coating... I'm sort of guessing around some sort of adhesive solution and cable clips, I can't use epoxy because there's no easy way to clamp it while it cures, superglue gel I'm not sure about. Epoxy putty? Blu-Tack would be the last resort...

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#2623409 17-Dec-2020 18:55

3M? https://www.command.com/3M/en_US/command/products/~/Command-Outdoor-Light-Clips/?N=5924736+3294277839+3294529207&preselect=8719410+3293786499&rt=rud

The outdoor mounting tape seems pretty solid too. Not sure how it would work with cable though.

neb

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#2623411 17-Dec-2020 19:01

mdf:
3M? https://www.command.com/3M/en_US/command/products/~/Command-Outdoor-Light-Clips/?N=5924736+3294277839+3294529207&preselect=8719410+3293786499&rt=rud

Ah, good point, hadn't even considered that because I'd always considered the Command stuff rather temporary. This is to go into an area that'll be inaccessible once the scaffolding comes down, so I'm looking for something pretty permanent. Several of the reviews there don't inspire confidence.

I can always double or triple up and hope that at least one bond holds up. Another thing I've remembered is that I've got some Japanese can't-exist glue that quite happily glues PE and PP (in a single-component, general-purpose adhesive), that might hold it too.

mdf

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#2623415 17-Dec-2020 19:15

Hmm, then maybe the 3M style cable clips (with a big flat gluing area) and your choice of finger sticker? Particularly if it's hidden and the layers of epidermis and dirt that end up attached to the wall are safely out of sight.

Contact adhesive could work. I've used that for rubber and plastic before. Pulling the paint off the wall would be the likely point of failure.

richms

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#2623422 17-Dec-2020 19:33

Clean it with isopopal or ethonol first, seems gloss paint has something on the surface that really stops things from sticking to it for a while, once cleaned I have had the 3m vhb outdoor tape stick fine onto gloss stuff. Before cleaning it would come off and seem to have a layer of something on the adheisive after about an hour of being stuck.

Also what use is coax on the outside of the house these days?

Richard rich.ms

mattwnz

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#2623424 17-Dec-2020 19:40

Guessing it is not on a drained exterior cavity? If so you could feed it down in the cavity. I am sure that some adhesive will do it unless it is a special type of paint. Maybe painting something over the top just where the backets are.

Brunzy

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#2623427 17-Dec-2020 20:06

Smooth out some paintable Silicone down the edge of the coax, you may have to tap a few clips halfway in to hold it in position. After the Silicone has cured you can remove them , fill the small holes with silicone and paint if necessary.

White coax , and White Silaflex = no painting

coffeebaron

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#2623429 17-Dec-2020 20:13

Suction cups?

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cyril7

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#2623430 17-Dec-2020 20:16

Yep printable sealant (ie no more gaps) would be the go, it sticks to most things and then you can paint it over to secure.

Cyril

neb

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#2623431 17-Dec-2020 20:30

Brunzy:
Smooth out some paintable Silicone down the edge of the coax, you may have to tap a few clips halfway in to hold it in position. After the Silicone has cured you can remove them , fill the small holes with silicone and paint if necessary.

Yeah, that would probably do it... I prefer the acrylic sealant, but should have the same effect. Another thought was construction adhesive, which should probably do it too. I'll be painting over it (black coax in sun isn't a good match) so it doesn't have to colour-match.

toejam316

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#2623435 17-Dec-2020 20:45

No accessible downpipe you could run this down, and then along the guttering instead? Might be a less painful and better hidden path.

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neb

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#2623437 17-Dec-2020 20:52

toejam316:
No accessible downpipe you could run this down, and then along the guttering instead? Might be a less painful and better hidden path.

It pretty much has to run down the centre of the wall since it's coming down from near the roof peak. To get it across to where there would be a downpipe would involve running it across several more metres of semi-gloss. Also since it'd then need to get back to the centre of the wall at the bottom the same problem would occur.

elpenguino

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#2623520 17-Dec-2020 22:32

How about capping? A couple of screws should hold it in position.
Could be painted if necessary.

If you come down a drain pipe are you able to conceal the cable at the top of the foundation just below the cladding?

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raytaylor

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#2623555 18-Dec-2020 07:26

I suggest cable capping though you would need to screw it into place.

Alternatively, roof and gutter silicone. A few blobs of that will hold it in place on just about any surface, though i havent personally encountered your surface. We always try to screw or tack the cable in place, but use the silicon up corrugated iron roofs which are quite smooth.
You use electrical tape or duct tape to hold it in place while it cures.

It might be worth testing it first well before the scaffolding comes down.

Ray Taylor

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neb

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#2624411 19-Dec-2020 18:36

So the final solution was to paint over a stripe of the semi-gloss where the cable has to run in matt (which I had lying around), this offers a much better grip than the semi-gloss, and then use (paintable) acrylic sealant (also lying around), which I know hangs on so tightly to the matt paint that it ripped several layers of paint off when removing it elsewhere.

Thanks for the all the advice, I needed a fix in a hurry before the roofers come back Monday, and curing and drying time means the whole process is stretched out across the weekend. Undercoat late tomorrow and top coat Monday before they start.

neb

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#2624600 20-Dec-2020 14:26

So a followup question: one of the cables that I thought was SMA is actually a huge BNC, which means the cable glands I've used for the others won't work. Any idea how to pass a cable through a hole in polycarbonate thick enough to allow a BNC connector but also make it waterproof? Removing the connector is mostly a non starter, and gobbing it up with silicone is also a non preferred option.

Edited to add: Unless there's someone in the Glenfield area who happens to have BNC crimping gear... Only option I can see right now is the biggest cable gland you can get and fill it with silicone.

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