IANACT, but over the years this is the system I have developed and it has worked well for me:
- if nothing else, buy a cheap crimping kit on amazon that includes a cable tester and basic crimper.
- invest in good patch cable. the cheap stuff is much harder to work with and you'll realize the dollar you saved wasn't worth it. I've noticed the boxes (e.g., 1000ft) seem of much better quality than short length patch cables that you re-purpose. $80 for a 1000ft that will last for many years has been a good investment for me.
- cut off an inch or more of outer cable jacket
- cut off that annoying fiber string
- before you untwist the pairs, spread them wide apart in the order they'll line up: when looking at the clip side of the plug, it will normally be Brown, Green, Blue, Orange. I've memorized this order because it's the order of colors going from ground to sky (brown ground, green grass, blue sky, orange sun).
- now untwist the pairs, solid color goes on the left, striped color on the right.
- green striped wire is the exception that gets separated from its pair; move it between the blue and orange wires.
- hold the well-ordered wires tightly between your thumb and index finger and use a rocking side-to-side and back-and-forth motion to bend and comport with its final positioning. This lessens the chance it will mis-align when inserted into the plug.
- Use scissors or some other tool to clip the wire ends so they are of equal length and can extend inside the plug completely. after years of practice this has ended up being the length of my thumbnail, which is convenient since that's where I'm holding the wire as I cut.
- Put wiring into plug and view that wires enter their correct slot. Be sure to enter via clip side facing you (as that's how wires were oriented above. I prefer the clip side because it's easier to see that wires are entering properly.)
- Push cable jacket snugly into plug and rock back and forth to ensure wiring enters full length. Cable jacket should be well inside the plug past the crimp wedge.
- Crimp!
- Check that contacts have all been seated properly. As the crimper gets older it will have a tendency not to seat the contacts properly. This is a sign that it's time to invest in a new $10 crimper.
- Check that opening side of plug has wedged on top of cable jacket and not the wiring. Cable jacket should not be separable from the plug. If you don't do this, over time the jacket will separate from the plug and the wiring will eventually fail.
- When both ends are crimped check with the cable tester.
Add in there to make sure the crimp bar falls on the outer cable jacket. If it falls on the individual wires, the strain relief will be terrible and the crimp will likely be loose.
Comments
IANACT, but over the years this is the system I have developed and it has worked well for me:
- if nothing else, buy a cheap crimping kit on amazon that includes a cable tester and basic crimper.
- invest in good patch cable. the cheap stuff is much harder to work with and you'll realize the dollar you saved wasn't worth it. I've noticed the boxes (e.g., 1000ft) seem of much better quality than short length patch cables that you re-purpose. $80 for a 1000ft that will last for many years has been a good investment for me.
- cut off an inch or more of outer cable jacket
- cut off that annoying fiber string
- before you untwist the pairs, spread them wide apart in the order they'll line up: when looking at the clip side of the plug, it will normally be Brown, Green, Blue, Orange. I've memorized this order because it's the order of colors going from ground to sky (brown ground, green grass, blue sky, orange sun).
- now untwist the pairs, solid color goes on the left, striped color on the right.
- green striped wire is the exception that gets separated from its pair; move it between the blue and orange wires.
- hold the well-ordered wires tightly between your thumb and index finger and use a rocking side-to-side and back-and-forth motion to bend and comport with its final positioning. This lessens the chance it will mis-align when inserted into the plug.
- Use scissors or some other tool to clip the wire ends so they are of equal length and can extend inside the plug completely. after years of practice this has ended up being the length of my thumbnail, which is convenient since that's where I'm holding the wire as I cut.
- Put wiring into plug and view that wires enter their correct slot. Be sure to enter via clip side facing you (as that's how wires were oriented above. I prefer the clip side because it's easier to see that wires are entering properly.)
- Push cable jacket snugly into plug and rock back and forth to ensure wiring enters full length. Cable jacket should be well inside the plug past the crimp wedge.
- Crimp!
- Check that contacts have all been seated properly. As the crimper gets older it will have a tendency not to seat the contacts properly. This is a sign that it's time to invest in a new $10 crimper.
- Check that opening side of plug has wedged on top of cable jacket and not the wiring. Cable jacket should not be separable from the plug. If you don't do this, over time the jacket will separate from the plug and the wiring will eventually fail.
- When both ends are crimped check with the cable tester.
Add in there to make sure the crimp bar falls on the outer cable jacket. If it falls on the individual wires, the strain relief will be terrible and the crimp will likely be loose.
I updated with your wording to make this clearer.