RFS Leaky Feeder Cable & Dehydrator: A Buyer's Guide to Total Cost & Reliability
This is everything I've learned over the past 6 years managing procurement for our wireless infrastructure. We use RFS gear extensively—their leaky feeder cables and dehydrators are the backbone of our tunnels and campus. If you're spec'ing a system or getting quotes, here are the questions you should be asking, and the ones you probably aren't.
1. Why does an RFS leaky feeder system need a dehydrator? I thought it was just cable.
That was my first mistake, too. I knew we needed the cable—RFS cellflex, leaky feeder, the whole run. But I didn't fully appreciate the pressurization system. Or rather, I didn't budget for it.
As of January 2025, standard practice for outdoor or underground runs is to maintain positive air pressure in the cable. The RFS dehydrator does that—it pumps dry air into the cable to keep moisture out. Moisture causes signal degradation and, over time, physical damage to the coax.
I wish I had tracked this more carefully from the start. What I can say anecdotally is that in our first year, we didn't spec a dehydrator for a 200-meter tunnel run. We had to replace sections of cable within 18 months due to water ingress. That $2,800 dehydrator would have saved us an estimated $12,000 in rework and downtime.
Most buyers focus on the cable per-meter price and completely miss the air handling. The question everyone asks is “what's your best price on the cable?” The question they should ask is “what's the total system cost including pressurization?”
2. What's the real maintenance cost of an RFS dehydrator?
Honestly, I'm not sure why some sites seem to need more frequent maintenance than others. My best guess is it comes down to environmental dust and ambient humidity levels. What I can offer is our data.
From our logs over the last 4 years, servicing a Platinum BP5450 dehydrator runs about $150–$200 per annual check (parts + labor). That's replacing the desiccant cartridges and checking the output pressure. We have 8 units in the field, so that's roughly $1,400 a year.
You should budget for that. It's not huge, but I've seen site managers skip it because “it's just a filter.” Then the pressure drops, alarms start, and you're pulling a tech out for an emergency visit. That's a $600–$800 charge for what should have been a scheduled $180 service.
3. How do I calculate the TCO for an RFS leaky feeder + dehydrator installation?
This is where the “cost controller” hat comes on. Let me walk you through the spreadsheet I built after getting burned on hidden fees twice.
Here's the line items I track:
- Cable itself: RFS LCF12-50J or similar. Price per meter. Not just the coax—connectors, hangers, grounding kits.
- Dehydrator: RFS unit (like the BP5450) or compatible. Include mounting kit, pressure alarm connections.
- Installation: The big one. Our vendor quote for a 300-meter tunnel was $18,000 labor.
- Commissioning: Testing pressure, checking VSWR, commissioning the alarm system. Often a separate line item.
- Annual maintenance: Dehydrator servicing, system integrity check.
- Downtime risk: How long can you afford to be without coverage? That's a cost to factor in decision-making.
I compared 4 vendors over 3 months for our last major deployment. Vendor A quoted $14,500 for the equipment and installation. Vendor B quoted $16,200 but included 2 years of maintenance. I almost went with A until I calculated the 5-year TCO. Vendor A's maintenance was separate—$1,200 a year. Vendor B's included it. Total 5-year cost: A = $20,500. B = $16,200. That's a 21% difference hidden in the fine print.
To be fair, Vendor A's gear was fine. But the total cost picture was different.
4. What's the best way to spec an RFS system—should I just get one brand?
If you ask me, yes, you generally want a matched system. RFS makes the cable, connectors, and dehydrators to work together. The pressure specs, the connector types, the alarm interfaces—they're designed as a system.
But that doesn't mean you can't mix. I've seen Heartguide pressure sensors integrated into an RFS system. Works fine, but you need to verify the electrical interfaces. One of our sites had a third-party alarm that kept triggering false positives until we swapped it for the RFS-branded unit. That was a $400 redo on a $90 part.
Most buyers focus on the cable pricing and completely miss the integration engineering. The question everyone asks is “which cable is cheaper?” The question they should ask is “which system will work without surprises on day one.”
5. Can I install a leaky feeder cable without a dehydrator? (And other “what-ifs”)
I knew I should check with our RFS rep before skipping the dehydrator on a short indoor run, but thought “what are the odds for 50 meters in a dry building?” Well, the odds caught up with me when a roof leak happened. Water found its way in, and we had a signal issue for 2 days while we dried the run.
The technical answer is: yes, you can skip the dehydrator for short, indoor, conditioned-space runs. But we implemented a policy after that incident: any outdoor or below-grade run, and any run over 100 meters, gets a dehydrator. Period. We don't make exceptions because the cost of an exception once was far more than the dehydrator itself.
I don't have hard data on industry-wide failure rates for non-pressurized runs, but based on our 5 years of orders, my sense is that about 15% of those installations develop issues within 3 years. That's high enough to justify the upfront cost.
Skipped the final review on one project because we were rushing and “it's basically the same as last time.” It wasn't. $400 mistake for ordering the wrong connector type. The 12-point checklist I created after that has saved us an estimated $8,000 in potential rework.
5 minutes of verification beats 5 days of correction.
6. What if my phone locks? How do I reset it while I'm in the field?
I get this question from our field techs all the time. You're on site, your phone locks, and you need to get back to the documentation or the app. Here's the quick guide, based on the phones we use (predominantly Android).
For most Android phones (Samsung, Pixel, etc.):
- Google “Find My Device” from a computer or another phone.
- Log in with the Google account on the locked phone.
- Select “Lock” or “Erase” to unlock it remotely—usually you can set a new PIN.
For iPhones:
- Use iCloud.com and sign in.
- Select “Find iPhone.”
- Choose the device and “Lost Mode” to set a temporary passcode.
If you don't have access to another device, the old-school trick is a forced reboot: hold the power and volume-down buttons for 10 seconds. That won't unlock it, but it will restart the phone, which sometimes helps if it's frozen rather than truly locked.
Look, this is a small thing. But when you're in a tunnel at 2 AM trying to troubleshoot a pressure alarm, a locked phone is a huge pain. I keep a written copy of our emergency reset instructions in the site binder. And I have my work Google account password set up for remote unlock.
It's not a system failure, but being prepared costs nothing.
To be fair, I get why people skip this—it's a tiny detail. But it's the tiny details that add up to seamless operations or a $400 emergency service call because you couldn't access the manual.
