Repairing my CAT

J

Jsalpha2

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Messages
209
Most of the time I just get a new one, but I have some running through walls and under floors that I need to cut and put new ends on. The tool that attaches new ends to the wire is fairly expensive and I'm not sure how hard it is to use. Dropping $40 or more on a tool that I would rarely use is bad, but if I can not get it to work, I would be 2 X mad. Link to an easy to use tool would be appreciated. NewEgg has one for $38, but no reviews.
 
Hmm. If you look on the site for "crimping tool" you get other reviews for similar tools with different prices.

If you are unsure how to use one then you are in luck - youtube has a plethora of tutorials.

Example:



 
DIY vetrenary medicine is kinda sketchy might want to take it to a vet clinic :)

search on yt, therre are several how to vids about crimping without a tool, pretty simple.
 
Jsalpha2 said:
Yes, I've never used them and getting all of the little wires in the correct spot looks hard.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACY55NV4447&ignorebbr=1
Click to expand...

Standard jacket or plenum rated cable that you run indoors - no issues, the tool and a box of 50 connectors is about $15-$25 online or at Home Depot. It takes a bit of massaging the wires to get them to untwist and lay straight, but if you just take your time, strip the outer insulation back about 2x what you really need (about 1.5" or so), keep working the wires to untwist them a bit, get them in the right order, and keep stroking them straight (insert masturbation joke here) before you clip them straight across and even to length, they slide right in all at once and it's no problem at all.

After the first couple, you get it figured out and it takes 30 sec or so per crimp. If you try to do it one wire at a time, or strip the wire, you will pull out all your hair and have a bad time.

Just make sure you pull enough cable that, when you do mess one up, you got enough room to cut that inch or so off the cable and retry. Since the connector costs all of about $0.10, no big loss, just cut it off and try again. Biggest issue is usually not having the wires straight and lined up, so one or two don't catch on the crimp to make connection. Quick go/nogo test on a working switch/hub/PC will tell you off the bat if the crimps are good or not, and once you look up in the connector, you can usually see either you didn't match the color order correctly (doesn't ~really~ matter so long as your consistent, but yeah, going with standards is a good thing), or you got one or two wires too short/crooked and they didn't catch. The testers are really nice too, if you can afford another $10 for a cheapo one with basic LED lights.

Given that you can buy a 1000' box of CAT5e or CAT6, along with the crimper and around 100 RJ45s.. for the same price as you can buy the cheapest 50' pre-cut cable from Best Buy... yeah, no reason anyone reading these forums shouldn't have a crimper in their tool box.

In that light, dropping $40 on the tool so you can make your own $10-$100 cables for about $2 any damn time you please makes a bit more sense, not to mention you can repair that cable installed, without having to buy and pull a new one - even more bonus. An electrician or low voltage guy won't even come look at it for $40, let alone fix it (unless you have the good beer).

That F'n outdoor rated cable - that stuff sucks to crimp without the very expensive connections and special tool. Unless your hanging POE antenna or cameras outdoors, just stay away from it. The insulation is extra thick and makes it a pain to work with unless you absolutely need to - feels like your trying to stick a RJ45 on 12GA Romex.
 
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Some other things to keep in mind:
- Magnetic presence along the cable can cause dropped packets
- When running cable, unless it's shielded, don't run it alongside of power cables; crossing is fine. That whole magnetism thing
- Conduits are your friend - mostly applicable to new buildings, unless you *really* like drywall work
- If you end up having to re-run cable, you'll probably want something like fish tape (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0025Z81BS/) especially if there are no conduits present
 
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Thanks so much, have gotten a much needed confidence boost. In return, here is one of my inventions. If you get it patented, remember me. Hinged baseboards. Flip them up to rum cable, or put down carpet: filp them back down when done.
 
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