Pulling cable to or from the closet 1

[phreak23]

Which way do you guys pull the cable? Do you start at the closet and pull to each drop. or do you start at the drop and pull to the closet?

I generally pull to the closet from each drop, but one of my guys asked me today if it wouldn't be easier to do it the other way. I thought about it, but old habits are hard to break; it would throw off my whole routine.

 

[Deweyhumbolt]

We always pull from the locs. Usually not enough room to have all the boxes, plus building racks in the server room. All the good wire guys I've seen pull from the locs.

Adversity is Opportunity

 

[resorttech12]

For me it always depended on the pull. If there was an obstacle or something at one side, I would make as long a run as I could no matter which direction.
But, as a general rule, I pulled to the loc. All your cables in the closet end up the same (hopefully) manageable length, and the loc side you can pull right in. IMHO, better than guestimating back pulls.
Besides, pulling from the closet gives you a chance to knock out some serious footage by having multiple rooms on the same run.

matt

 

[kwing112000]

I have always pulled from the closet to the location on jobs with multiple cables. once in a while pull from location to clsoet if it was just on cable going in. like MAC work maybe.

Kevin Wing
ACA- Implement IP Office
Carousel Industries

 

[skip555]

depends on the situation

sometimes I pull from the middle to both ends

 

[wires]

I usually pull from the closet or the other side of the closet wall were the wires will terminate. It saves moving a bunch of stuff and makes documenting the pulls as you go easier since the materials, tools and documentation stay in one place.

If you really want to move along a 5 person crew with one person on the reels and 2 two person pull teams can un-spool and mark a bunch of cable quickly.

 

[buitenhek]

Interesting collage of answers.
We pull from location to IDF/MDF. You can set boxes where you need them. Furthest locations first.

Regards
Peter Buitenhek
ProfitDeveloper.com

 

[LkEErie]

I almost always pull to the closet, starting with the longest runs. It cuts down on the clutter and twisting, and if the box runs out, I can still salvage the run by putting it into a closer location.

LkEErie

 

[hawks]

Ok skip I've got to ask, how do you start in the middle?

 

[skip555]

well I just did one ,a outside pull between blogs , with 25pr DB and fiber

measure the distance , cut what you need , take the coil to the center (pull box in this case) and pull both ways

I've done it similarly using a conference room (or unused office )as a staging area
get a accurate measurement conference to MDF then pull from the conference room to workstations , pull off the cable needed to go to the MDF and pull from conference to MDF

with heavy bundles it cuts down on weight

I think the point is there is no one "right" answer I approach each job differently and do what I think it most effciant

(and sometimes I change mid stream is it looks like another way would be better

 

[phreak23]

I'm really glad I asked this, I got a bunch of great answers. Sometimes when on the job I cant help thinking there must be a better way, and there usually is. It's nice that everyone will share the "secrets of the trade" here. All of our customers benefit from it.

This particular job we are on we are pulling from the closet to the location. It's much easier and faster on this job.

 

[hawks]

got it skip thanks, I do agree each job is different.

 

[Deweyhumbolt]

Which way do you pull, hawks?

Adversity is Opportunity

 

[hawks]

Mainly start at closet or closest open area to closet and pull to locations. But I have at times like everone else pulled from location back to closest.

 

[sdbriggs]

This question is, to me, totally dependant on situation. The ability to be flexible and realize that rigidity will, in the long term, cost you and your company money, is the hallmark of good cable installations.

There are times where pulling from the floor was faster and more efficient, and times where pulling from the closet was faste more efficient.

Be smart, accurately assess your environment and resources and make a best practices decision.

 

[bighands2468]

Some cables are designed to be pulled a certain way. Commscope Systimax cables are designed to be pulled from the closet to the workstation. If pulled in the right direction, they can be terminated onto the patch panels and jacks without crossing over any pairs.

 

[LkEErie]

Now THAT'S the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

LkEErie

Those electrons are pretty smart...how did they know which way the cable was laid?

 

[bighands2468]

How is that ridiculous?

Cut a cable and strip both ends. You will notice the pairs are in reverse order. Some manufactures make panels and jacks to account for that.

 

[lopes1211]

Isn't it obvious LkEErie? When the workstation is to right of the closet you pull from the closet by design (Belkin actually voids the warrenty if not done this way). If the workstation is to the left, you need to pull from the workstation side in order to do it the RIGHT way. While it is implied since most of this forums members are in the Northern hemispere, it is probably still worth mentioning that you need to reverse these insructions when pulling cable in locations south of the equator due to the reversal of the magnetic effect of the poles on the left hand rule.

-CL

 

[bighands2468]

lets try not to be a smart ass and think about how the cable is designed. If you strip back a cat 5 or 6 cable on both ends, the colors are reversed

BR/W----------------------BR/W
BL/W----------------------BL/W
OR/W----------------------OR/W
GR/W----------------------GR/W

So it would make sense that when terminating the cable onto a patch panel or a jack, you world have to do different things to either end of the cable to match up the pairs. By the way, I dont think Belkin cares which way you pull in their cra**y patch cords. (Thanks for bringing that up though because it lets me know the quality of the products you are accustomed to using)