Inconsistant RJ45 crimping issues 6

[JimHilton]

I have LAN'd up a few houses over the last weeks and am getting call backs for no connectivity on the hardwired lan.

Using a lan tester I am discovering that many of the crimps I have made are botched. There is no pattern, just random wires not getting crimped.

I had no problem before so I am starting to wonder if my crimp tool has become defective or if the crimps are of poor quality.

In most cases I can save the connector by squashing the snot out of it, but this does not seem like a good answer.

The wiring order is to the A standard and that has not been the problem.

Any thoughts?

 

[mforrence]

Don't crimp! Terminate every cable on a jack and use factory patch cords. This avoids the troubles of getting the correct plugs to go with your cable (solid plugs for solid cable, stranded plugs for stranded cable) and for marginal crimps. This should be your standard.

 

[R10Comm]

I see this alot. I can go in on someone elses work, recrimp with my crimping tool and the feed will come up. The $75.00 Home Depot crimp tool is junk. So are the cheap catalog tools. I paid over $125 fifteen years ago for an AMP brand kit. If I place the wires in the correct sequence it works every time. My hand can feel the additional crimping force when I go second after a brand X tool.

 

[ttech]

You need an AMP or GMP presser. They are far superior to any of the store bought crimpers.

As R10Comm pointed out most of the time an end crimped on with a consumer grade tool is actually just not crimped enough. A professional tool is more like a press and will positively press the contact to the same depth every time. Even with a half way decent crimper like an Ideal brand that ratchets, it is still hard to get the contacts in all of the way, as the tools wear out.

 

[JimHilton]

Bingo! I suspected the crimper and yes it is a k-tel type brand. Ok I will look for an AMP or GMP.

Thanks muchly for the tips!!

 

[jeffmoss26]

Stop putting plugs on the ends of the cable and do the install the RIGHT way.

jeff moss

 

[JimHilton]

It would be difficult to use a cable as the OTHER end terminates to a keystone

 

[sbcsu]

My advice for what its worth...

Always use new cables that are pre-terminated.
Always use Krone or similar connectors to punch-down cables on to
If you have to connect a cable with a plug on one end and an open cable on the other end then use a pre-terminated cable and cut it then punch down the wired end.

There are two types of crimps for RJ45 - ones for the hard wire and one for the stranded type.

More info here
Link

 

[LkEErie]

If the OTHER end terminates to a keystone, why not terminate THIS end to a keystone also?

I have both an AMP and an EZConnect RJ-45 tool and the corresponding hardware. Up until I had to do some BS work for a drugstore, I could count the number of crimped cables I made on one hand. They spec'd crimps and I charged them severely for the EZ Crimps. I think Paladin makes the system. You bring the wires through the plug and the tool cuts off the ends.

LkEErie

 

[wires]

A couple of things,

1. Most likely your tool and possibly plugs are substandard.

2. Many AMP tools only work with AMP connectors. Unless you have to use them don't.

3. Plenty of plugs work with both solid and stranded wire. I prefer Panduit and their plugs, while more expensive, do both and are inherently snagless.

4. I have installed thousands of 8P8C (RJ45 style) plugs on cables. I can count on one hand the ones that later had problems. About the same failure rate as jacks. Sometimes there is simply no real alternative to crimping on a plug.

5. The problem I have found with most plugs that were proved defective after installation has to do with the cable prep not the plug or tool (the MAJOR exception to this rule is where AMP plugs or AMP tooling were used). Quite simply the wires were not fanned properly and the conductor length was inconsistent.

 

[Dexman]

As others have said, the best practice is to terminate cables to jacks & used pre-made patch cords.

As a central office technician.....my cable runs vary from a few feet to 100+. Because of this, we do make our own patch cords. We use Platinum Tools EZ plugs & crimpers. Not a single failure in the hundreds of connections we make over the course of the year.

I "FEATURE 00

 

[janaya]

I go with Wires suggestions. Make sure your connectors match the cable. The metal pins inside the plug are different for wired or solid cable. I have made thousands of connections and they all work fine, but I'm old and have been making cables since 1992 (ugh). Pre-terminated is cool if you can find the correct length. They actually sell the plastic boots at Lowes now to put on the plug so they look pre-terminated.

But this is MY preference. I always like the look of "cut to fit".