My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#1

Post by alienchow » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 4:19 AM UTC

My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated
alienchow.dev

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#2

Post by johnboiles » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:08 AM UTC

That seems incredibly fast for plastic to degrade like that. I wonder if you could have something generating ozone in there.

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#3

Post by joecool1029 » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:11 AM UTC

I’ve had this failure on soft-touch usb cables from the 2000’s, not related to movement, just in a box in room temperature storage they disintegrate like this. It was described to me as thermoplastic elastometer degradation but I’m not really satisfied with that vague of an answer. Main comment thread when I first jumped in to discuss it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28054090

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#4

Post by russdill » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:11 AM UTC

If you buy a consumer product labeled "military grade" you are buying snake oil. And not just snake oil, incredibly over priced snake oil.

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#5

Post by Bedlow » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:12 AM UTC

Is it a humidity problem? in our climate in the Med all kinds of plastic, pu and rubberised materials will just start cracking and flaking after a year or two.

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#6

Post by alienchow » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:12 AM UTC

johnboiles wrote: post #2

That seems incredibly fast for plastic to degrade like that. I wonder if you could have something generating ozone in there.

I'm not sure either. It's not an air tight bomb shelter and it's used like an average storeroom, storing stuff like winter jackets, suitcases and paint. I do use small amounts of Calcium Chloride based dessicants to keep the room dry.

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#7

Post by rhplus » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:14 AM UTC

Bedlow wrote: post #5

Is it a humidity problem? in our climate in the Med all kinds of plastic, pu and rubberised materials will just start cracking and flaking after a year or two.

About page on OPs blog says Singapore, so yeah.

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#8

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:14 AM UTC

alienchow wrote: post #6

johnboiles wrote: post #2

That seems incredibly fast for plastic to degrade like that. I wonder if you could have something generating ozone in there.

I'm not sure either. It's not an air tight bomb shelter and it's used like an average storeroom, storing stuff like winter jackets, suitcases and paint. I do use small amounts of Calcium Chloride based dessicants to keep the room dry.

[deleted]

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#9

Post by adzm » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:17 AM UTC

johnboiles wrote: post #2

That seems incredibly fast for plastic to degrade like that. I wonder if you could have something generating ozone in there.

My first thought exactly. I know someone who inadvertently melted a ton of stuff with overuse of an ozone generator, similar kind of effect

Re: My Home Fibre Network Disintegrated

#10

Post by rhplus » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 5:17 AM UTC

Buried under cement/concrete. A good reminder of the benefits of planning to install some conduit.