What is a drip loop and why you need it?
I had a conversation about what is a drip loop with an installer from my satellite television provider. I was present when he tried to pull the wire from outside my home into the attic for further distribution. In the past, I have had problems from the lack of a drip loop into my father’s home. It seems that the installer did not put one in the cable running into the home. Without the loop, it resulted in severe water damage and rot from water getting into the building.
The satellite provider installer was just going to pull the wire directly into my home. The cable was definitely higher than the place where it entered the house. All downhill and a situation just asking for future water penetration problems. I asked him about it and he had no idea what it was and what it does for the home.
It is something you need to have on anything that is entering the home where water(rain/sprinkler) will have the opportunity to enter the building. This includes electrical wires and cable/phone/antenna wires that run from a point outside the home. The purpose is to keep water from entering the building by running down the wire and working its way into the building.
A definition of drip loop
drip loop — a downward hanging loop in a line that runs to a building; “when it rained water would fall from the drip loop before it reached the building”
Source:WordNet 3.0 http://www.wordplays.com/definition/drip%20loop
Types of drip loops
Drip loops can come in different shapes. On older homes where the power is coming into the home from overhead the electrical wires coming from the pole use a “U” type loop before entering the weatherhead.
On smaller wires or cable, the drip loop will have a real loop.
Service Loop or Drip Loop?
A service loop or drip loop can look exactly alike but serve different purposes. The following video explains the differences and how to make sure that each type of loop will work properly. It is part of a training program but gives you great information on drip and service loops.
There you have it all the information you need to know to go out and check that all your cable and electrical wires will not be damaging your home. After a quick inspection of all the cables and electrical wires entering your home, you will have peace of mind that they have all been installed correctly.
Related Article: Building an OTA Antenna system
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(By Chetvorno (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons)
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good morning,what is a drip loop in air conditioner
Hello David,
First off, thank you for the comment. This is a good question. A drip loop by its nature is meant to prevent water from following lines and entering places where it does not belong. So areas in an air conditioner inside the home where condensation occurs would be places where drip loops for anything electrical may be needed. Remember drip loops don’t necessarily need to be a loop they can be “U” shaped as long as part of the line or wire is below the elevation of the possible point of entry.
I hope this answered your question.
RayC.
Hi,
Thanks so much for this article i have forwarded this to the president of our community, here in Valencia Spain as it as great information.
I own a ground floor apartment and directly above me 3 apartments who have knocked or drilled holes into a cavity wall for satellite cables.
Non of these have a drip loop and over the last year i have had series damp and insect problems it’s seems to be something that the installers here have never heard of,either this is because it never rains in Spain,lol or more likely they want to save few cents on a meter of coax by not turning in to a loop.
The third reason is just that the installers are just daft.
Thanks for the great advice.
Cheers
Richard
Hello Richard,
Thanks for the glowing comment. I’m glad that you found the information useful. I am not surprised that the installers didn’t know about the drip loop. My own satellite installer didn’t know about it either. I”ll chalk it up to a lack of training.
Again thanks for the comment and good luck on solving your damp and insect problems.
RayC