I dropped $120 on a Klein crimper set thinking it would make my coax terminations perfect every time. Honestly, it gave me more bad crimps than my old $30 cheapo tool from Amazon. I think the die alignment was slightly off out of the box. But I've got a buddy who swears by his Klein and says it's the only tool he'll use. So now I'm wondering if I just got a lemon or if the high end stuff isn't always worth it. I went back to my basic tool and haven't had a single callback since. Any of you guys had a similar experience where the expensive brand let you down?
He showed me his setup where he crimps and tests every cable before leaving the van, and after trying it for one day I cut my job time by almost 40 percent - has anyone else found a simple workflow change that saved them that much time?
He just said 'finger tight plus a quarter turn is plenty, you're crushing the dielectric' and I thought he was nuts until I actually cut one open to check. Has anyone else had to unlearn the 'tight as possible' habit their first supervisor taught them?
I was down in Austin last week swapping out a customer's drop line when the connector wouldn't bite, and I finally checked the die setting on my compression tool. Turns out I had it on the wrong gauge the whole time, every fitting I crimped was loose or barely hanging on. How many service calls did I waste because I never double checked a simple dial?
Saw a stat saying 90% of signal loss comes from bad connections. Found it in a manufacturer's white paper. Now I take triple the time on every pigtail splice. You guys ever run a test after redoing a termination?
I was up on a ladder running coax through a drop ceiling in an office building near downtown Austin. The tile gave way a little and I nearly lost my balance reaching for a support wire. After that, I started using a harness for any job over 6 feet, even if it's just a quick run. I've been doing this for 12 years and thought I had good footing, but one slip can end your career. Do most of you guys wear fall protection on normal residential or light commercial jobs, or just on the big stuff?
Saw a deal on a Klein kit at Home Depot. Looked good on the shelf. Grabbed it for my next job at an office building downtown. Got there and it kept picking up noise from the fluorescent lights. Couldn't trace a single line past the ceiling grid. Went back to my old Fluke kit after 2 hours of frustration. Anybody else run into tone gear that just fails in commercial settings?
Should have been a 2 hour job at most. Turns out the previous installer ran the line through a PVC pipe that was crushed in two spots. Had to dig up 40 feet of conduit to find both breaks. Anyone dealt with old crushed conduit like this or do you just run a new line every time?
About 6 months back I was on a job in Elmhurst and this guy with 30 years experience watched me wrap the coax cable around the ground block for extra security. He told me I was creating a choke point that would mess up signal strength over time. I switched to just using a straight compression fitting and leaving a drip loop instead. Signal complaints on that route dropped by like 40 percent I bet. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on some basic habit they picked up?
About 14 months ago I finished a big fiber install in a new apartment complex in Denver. Everyone told me the splices would settle in and look cleaner over time. But when I went back last week to check on them, the fusion splices actually looked messier with more visible defects under the microscope. I think the heat shrink and cleavers we used just degraded faster than people want to admit. Has anyone else noticed their splices looking worse after a year compared to when they were fresh?
Was on a roof in Austin during a downpour and noticed the compression tool I've been using for 5 years leaves tiny gaps when the cable isn't perfectly straight. Switched to a different brand of connector and haven't had a single callback since. Anyone else run into this with cheaper connectors?
I was at a house in Greenville this morning hooking up a new drop, and the homeowner told me he watches cable install videos for fun. He said if I ever can't figure something out, he'd just look up a tutorial and do it himself to save the service fee. That got me thinking about how many people are out there trying DIY fixes on their own lines now. I worry they're going to mess with splitters or amps and cause signal issues for the whole neighborhood. Has anyone else run into customers bragging about watching our trade online?
He said I was mangling the connectors and showed me how just using the right cutter kept the copper round. Ever since I switched to a dedicated coax stripper the failure rate dropped way down. Anyone else ever get called out for using the wrong tool and feel stupid after?
I figured I could just power through a quick drop in an attic during the heat of the day. 20 minutes in my temp gauge hit 145 and I was drenched. Nearly passed out up there and had to crawl back down the pull-down ladder. Now I only do attic work before 9am or after 7pm no matter the rush. Has anyone else had to bail on a job mid-run because of heat?
Swapped out all my standard compression fittings for the push-on style last week after a job in Salem, and I'm never going back. Has anyone else noticed how much faster they make hooking up wall plates?
Bought a fancy signal tracer and toner kit from that online supplier and it couldn't even find a live coax line in a new build. Anyone else had luck with a basic $30 model instead?
I was at a service call in Austin last week and the customer was on the phone telling their friend that my job was basically 'plugging in a few cables' like it's as easy as setting up a lamp. Bruh I spent 45 minutes fishing lines through a wall with fireblock and old insulation before I even got to terminate anything. People really don't see the time it takes to run clean drops, deal with attic heat, and make sure signal loss is under control. This is why some folks think we overcharge when they see a $150 service fee. Has anyone else had a customer totally downplay what we actually do on site?
I used to tap coax connectors in with my Klein hammer until a senior guy at a job in Dayton last fall showed me how a simple compression tool saves busted ends and your knuckles. Has anyone else wasted YEARS doing something the hard way before a coworker set them straight?
I always used to cut the jacket back with my snips and then strip the dielectric with that little ring on my compression tool. Left a ton of copper braid exposed half the time. Last Tuesday this old Bell guy watched me do one on a MDU job and just shook his head. He showed me one trick - score the jacket first with a knife, then snap it off clean before stripping. No more stray braids, no more intermittent signal issues. I had been making 200+ of these a month for almost 4 years doing it the hard way. Has anyone else had an old timer drop some wisdom on you that made you feel dumb?
Had a job last month at an old school in Ogden. Ran into a suspended ceiling grid where someone had laid cables every which way over the years. I needed to get one Cat6 from one end to the other. Figured 20 minutes tops. Four hours later I had pulled out three dead snakes, a coax loop back to itself, and a zip tie wrapped around every single data cable. Who actually signs off on these installs.
I've been doing residential installs for about 5 years and always bought name brand test gear, but that cheap probe found a broken wire in under 2 minutes last week. My coworker swore it would just beep at everything and give false readings, but it nailed the exact spot. Any other installers here use budget tools for tone testing or should I stick with the pricey stuff?
Had a job north of Phoenix where the customer's attic hit 130 degrees by noon. Crawled through fiberglass for 3 hours only to find a rat chewed through the main line. How do you guys handle extreme heat jobs without passing out?
Had this older guy in Austin watch me terminate a coax run and he just said 'son, you're leaving too much slack in the fitting.' I was pissed at first, but he was right. I started measuring my strip length to exactly 3/8 inch and my signal loss dropped like crazy. Anyone else get a random tip from a customer that actually made sense?