c/cable-installers

8

emeryj66•18h ago

Old lady in Henderson taught me a trick about coax cable bends

I was hooking up her cable last Tuesday. She came out and showed me how she used to work for the phone company. Said I was bending the cable too tight around the corner of her house. She showed me a loop method that keeps signal clean. Anybody else get advice from customers that turned out to be right?

26

jessej23•1d ago

Thought those expensive cable testers were a rip-off, but I caved

For years I used a cheap $20 tester from Amazon and figured it did the job fine. Then last month I picked up a Fluke from a guy in St. Louis for $150, just to see what the fuss was about. Turns out my old tester missed a bad crimp on a customer's line that was causing intermittent signal drops. Anyone else get schooled by upgrading a tool they thought was fine?

19

umar49•1d ago

Drop ceiling cable runs keep snapping my coax - anyone deal with this?

Last week in a new build in Dallas, I was pulling RG6 through a suspended ceiling grid. The T-bar clips I used kept catching the cable and snapping it. Two broken ends in one hour. I switched to J-hooks halfway through but they slowed me way down. How do you guys handle grid ceilings without destroying cable?

20

nguyen.morgan•1d ago

Unpopular take: I think fiber splicers are way overhyped for basic residential installs

Had a fiber run go down last Tuesday in a neighborhood outside Phoenix and my cheap mechanical splice held up fine for 8 months while my buddy's $2,000 fusion splicer sat in his truck. Anyone else think the industry pushes expensive gear when a simple twist-on connector does the job most days?

2

sean854•5d ago

Spent a whole job with a crimper that kept slipping

I was doing a new build in Austin last week and had to pick between a cheap crimper from the truck or driving 20 minutes back for my good one. I gambled on the cheap tool and it messed up three connectors before I just used a twist-on instead. Anyone else ever take a shortcut on gear and regret it right away?

1

the_sam•5d ago

Just passed 50,000 feet of coax pulled in one year

Hit that number this morning on a job in a new subdivision outside Denver. Never thought I'd care about a milestone like that but seeing the total on my log sheet made me stop and think. How many feet are you guys pulling in a typical year?

25

hayden_craig95•7d ago

Just realized my crimp quality changed after switching dies

Been using the same Klein crimpers for 3 years on CAT6 runs. Last month I swapped to a different die set on a job in Austin and noticed the connector seating looked way more even. After about 50 terminations I checked with my tester and saw zero failures compared to my usual 2-3 out of 100. Turns out my old dies were slightly worn down from hitting concrete floors. Anyone else notice a before-and-after when they swapped crimper parts?

3

nelson.vera•7d ago

Debate: fiber optic cleaning kits - worth the $200 or just overpriced tools?

I dropped $180 on a proper fiber optic cleaning kit last month and it solved my signal loss issues overnight. But my coworker swears by his $20 isopropyl alcohol and lint-free wipes method that's worked for years. Has anyone else found a middle ground that actually works for everyday installs?

7

the_rowan•8d ago

Hit 500 terminations in one day and my hand still hurts a week later

Last Wednesday we had a rush job for a new apartment complex downtown. I told my boss I could handle the whole floor myself, 6 units with 4 drops each. By noon I was on number 250 and my fingers started cramping up. I kept going because we had a deadline and no backup. Finished at 7pm with exactly 500 terminations done, plus testing and labeling. That was 6 days ago and I still have a weird ache in my thumb joint. Has anyone else dealt with repetitive strain stuff from doing too many jacks in one shift?

20

kaigibson•12d ago

Just switched from a fishtape to a glow rod for a 60ft conduit pull and never going back

Had to fish through three 90 degree bends in an old building downtown, fishtape kept binding up and I wasted 45 minutes. Glow rod got it done in 10 minutes with zero frustration - anyone else make this swap?

3

hugos46•12d ago

I finally buried a line too shallow and paid for it big time

Was running a drop to a new shed in a backyard in Denver last fall, figured 6 inches deep was fine for the distance. Three weeks later the homeowner calls saying their internet cut out and I find the cable sliced clean through by a sprinkler line. You ever have a rookie mistake come back to haunt you like that?

27

juliarodriguez•13d ago

That time a client's son shadowed me all day and asked why we don't just use Wi-Fi for everything

He was maybe 14 and dead serious about it, and after I showed him the 2% packet loss on his dad's gaming setup from a single plaster wall with metal lath, he just nodded and handed me the crimper without being asked the rest of the shift - has anyone else had a young person completely flip their view on wired vs wireless after seeing real test results?

5

wade250•14d ago

Spent $180 on a fiber cleaver on Amazon and it couldn't cut butter

Needed a replacement fast after my old one took a dive off a ladder. Saw this no-name brand with decent reviews. Big mistake. First cut left a jagged edge that looked like a zigzag. Second cut shattered the fiber. Third try the blade chipped. Sent it back same day. Anybody got a go-to cleaver under $200 that actually works more than once?

9

ray_williams•15d ago

Walked into a job site in Phoenix last week and found three different types of coax splitters daisy-chained together

The signal loss must have been insane, has anyone else run into setups like that where you just stop and wonder what the previous guy was thinking?

31

karencampbell•15d ago

Switched to a different brand of crimpers and I'm sticking with it

Honestly, I know everyone in this group swears by Klein tools for everything, but I had to make a call last month when my old pair finally gave out after 6 years. I picked up a set of Greenlee crimpers instead, and I gotta say, the grip feels way more solid on those RG6 connectors. I did about 30 terminations in a crawl space over on Maple Street, and not a single one slipped or had a bad connection. A few guys I work with keep telling me I'm crazy for not going Klein, but these things have saved me time redoing ends. Has anyone else tried a different brand and stuck with it even when the crowd says otherwise?

27

drew_hart4•15d ago

Just realized my fish tape was bending wrong the whole time

I was pulling a run through an old conduit in a basement downtown and the tape kept binding up. After 45 minutes of fighting it I finally pulled it out and saw the tip was slightly bent from some job last week. Straightened it out with pliers and the pull went through in like 5 minutes flat. Anyone else ever waste time fighting a tool that just needed a quick fix?

16

logan561•1mo ago

Found out Cat6 has a 100 meter limit the hard way after running 130 meters for a church install

I was pulling cable for a new fellowship hall at a church in Akron last month. Ran a solid 130 meters from the patch panel to the furthest wall jack. Spent three hours terminating and testing before realizing the link kept failing. Looked it up and sure enough, the spec says 100 meters max for twisted pair copper. So which side do you fall on? Do you plan your runs to stay under 100 meters or just throw a switch in the middle and call it good? I'm leaning toward the switch method but curious if anyone has had luck with signal boosters past that limit.

16

the_leo•1mo ago

Buried a splice in a wet vault last summer, regret it now

I thought I sealed it up good with some cheap gel tape and regular rubber tape on top. Three months later I got a call about noise on that line. Opened the vault and water had gotten under the tape and turned the splice green. Had to redo the whole thing in the rain on a Friday afternoon. Cost me 4 hours and a service call. Anyone else stop trusting cheap tape on underground work?

15

nguyen.angela•1mo ago

A quick thank you to a homeowner in Denver who saved my morning

I was running behind on a Wednesday install in the Denver suburbs, and this older lady offered me a cup of coffee while I was running coax through her crawlspace. She said 'take your time, I used to do this job 20 years ago.' She pointed out a junction box I would have missed behind some drywall, saved me a good 40 minutes of backtracking. Anyone else have a customer who actually knew the trade and made your day easier?

24

cooper.drew•1mo ago

I laughed at the old timers for using fish tape instead of glow rods... until my fiber run got stuck at 60 feet

Back in 2015 when I first started installing cable, I thought fish tape was ancient tech. I only used glow rods for everything. Then I had this massive attic job near Springfield where the insulation was so thick my glow rods kept bending and snapping. The homeowner's dad was an old installer and handed me his steel fish tape. Pulled that 60 foot run in like 10 minutes flat. Now I carry both in my truck but I definitely respect the old school tools more. Has anyone else had a moment where the traditional way just worked better?

5

dylan_brown30•1mo ago

Stick with rented hydraulic puller or buy my own for big jobs?

I had to choose between dropping $200 a month renting a hydraulic puller from the local supply house in Akron or just buying one outright for $1,200. I went with buying it after my 6th rental in 8 months, figuring I'd break even in a year. First big job with it was a 500-foot run through old conduit and the thing paid for itself in time saved alone. Has anyone else made that call and regretted going either direction?

11

shane_clark•1mo ago

The difference a proper coax prep tool makes is night and day

I used to just use my snips and a utility knife for stripping coax, figured it was good enough. But last month I finally bought a real coax prep tool for $25 after fighting with a bad connection on a job in an attic. The strip came out clean and even the first time, and my signal loss meter dropped from -12dB to -7dB on that same line. Has anyone else noticed a big difference after switching to a dedicated prep tool?

27

river952•1mo ago

Walked into a job where the previous installer used staples on fiber. That was a fun conversation.

Customer said their internet kept cutting out. I get there and the line is stapled to the baseboard every 6 inches. Not even the right staples, just regular ones. Found three kinks and a crushed section. Took me twice as long to run a new drop because I had to explain why staples are a death sentence for fiber. How do you guys handle fixing other installer's messes without sounding like a jerk about it?

24

mark_ward•1mo ago

Shoutout to the tech who showed me a better way to strip coax in a crawlspace

I was out on a job in Springfield last Tuesday, working on a new build where the builder had buried the lines under like 3 inches of spray foam. Total nightmare. I was fighting with my regular stripper, cussing up a storm, and this older tech who was running fiber in the same basement just shook his head. He came over, handed me this little Klein tool I had never seen before, and showed me how to cut the jacket without nicking the braid. First try came out perfect, no stray strands. It took me maybe 30 seconds total instead of the 5 minutes of frustration I had before. Why do the newer training videos skip over these little tricks? Has anyone else found a tool or trick that totally changed how you handle a common job?

19

leo_black76•1mo ago

Vent: why I stopped hating on the Klein fish tape reels

Honestly, I always thought the blue Klein reels were overpriced junk. Then last month I was pulling 200 feet of cat6 through a conduit on a Johnson Street job and my buddy handed me his. The lock mechanism actually held this time, saved me like 20 minutes of cursing.