I was running cat6 in a new build outside Columbus about 6 months ago and this old timer contractor walks over while I'm wrestling with a tough pull box. He didn't say much at first, just watched for a minute. Then he pulls a regular wooden pencil out of his vest and starts running it along the edge of the drywall where I was trying to get the cable to seat into the raceway. I thought he was messing with me. But the pencil graphite actually made the cable slide right in without snagging on the rough edge. He just said 'sometimes the cheapest tool is the best one' and walked off. Ever since then I keep a pencil in my tool pouch for tight spots where the cable keeps catching. Has anyone else had an old timer teach them something that simple that actually works better than the fancy tools?
Honestly, I've been rolling my eyes at those cheap crimping tools you see at the counter for years. Always figured they were junk compared to my Klein. But I had a job out in Maple Valley this morning and forgot my main bag in the truck. Ran into the Shell station and grabbed their generic crimper for $28.99 just to get through. I'm not gonna lie, it did a solid job on the RG6 connectors for the whole run. No loose ends, no split sleeves. Has anyone else had a random cheap tool beat their expectations? Kinda makes me wonder what else I'm sleeping on.
Honestly I thought I was being smart grabbing a $35 toning probe kit off Amazon instead of dropping $120 on a Fluke. Big mistake. The thing could barely pick up a signal through drywall, let alone through the bundle of 50 cables in a telecom room. I spent almost 8 hours redoing half the panel because I labeled stuff wrong based on that junk probe. Ended up buying the Fluke anyway the next morning from a local supply house. Has anyone else dealt with those cheap kits failing on dense cable bundles?
Ngl, last spring I had a day that started with a cat chewing through a coax line in a crawlspace full of fiberglass. Took me 45 minutes just to get back there and splice it. Then the next job had a grandma who made me wait while she found her remote, but she tipped me $40 and gave me a plate of homemade tamales. Made the whole week worth it. Anyone else ever get a surprise tip or treat that turned a rough day around?
I was swapping stories with a guy who's been doing cable since the 80s over at the supply house in Denver. He showed me how he strips the jacket with a razor instead of the standard tool, leaves just the right amount of braid exposed for the connector. Tried it on three runs this morning and my signal loss readings were way lower than usual... anyone else got weird hacks that actually work better than the book says?
I was wiring a new house in Phoenix last week and this retired telco guy was watching me. He asked why I was just tracing wires by color instead of using a toner to verify. Now I carry my Fluke Pro3000 on every job, cuts my troubleshooting time in half. Anyone else skip the toner until someone called them out?
Had a job last month in an older building downtown, running RG6 to a third floor apartment. Im usually pretty quick with the strippers and compression fittings, but this guy who used to install back in the 90s watched me for a second and said "youre leaving too much braid exposed, thatll ghost signal on you within a year." He showed me how he trims it flush every time and uses a bit of dielectric grease on the connector. Honestly felt dumb but I tried his method on the next few drops and my signal loss readings dropped by almost 2 dB. Now I take an extra 30 seconds per termination and havent had a single callback since. Has anyone else had an old school customer drop some knowledge like that?
Had a new home run to pull for a customer's office remodel. The wall looked straight forward, but there was some old bracing inside that I couldn't get past. Tried from the attic, tried from the crawlspace, nothing worked. Ended up drilling a small access hole behind the baseboard and patching it after. Anybody else run into hidden fire blocking that eats up your whole afternoon?
Honestly, I was down in a crawlspace yesterday and that old coax plate just would not budge. Put too much torque on my trim tool and it cracked right in half. Had to finish the job using a flathead screwdriver and a lot of swearing. Anyone else had a tool break at the worst possible moment?
Picked the Knipex 10-inch model over the Klein because it felt better in my hand after using both at a supply house in Denver last month. Has anyone else ditched the usual brand for something else and actually been happier with it?
I used to just hammer RG6 staples until they were flush with the cable. Then last month I had a job in Arlington where half the runs failed signal test. Turns out I was crushing the dielectric on every staple. Now I leave a tiny gap, just enough to hold the cable without pinching it. Has anyone else had to redo a whole house because of pinched coax?
I was doing a new build in a condo complex near downtown Austin last Tuesday when the owner walked up and pointed at the coax plate. She said she watched a YouTube video where a guy used super glue to hold the wall jack in place because the old screw holes were stripped. I had to explain that glue would make it impossible to change cables later and screws are standard for a reason. She argued for a minute until I showed her the $30 charge for a drywall anchor kit versus $200 to fix a glued jack. Has anyone else had homeowners try to talk you into something weird based on a video?
I bought this Klein VDV501-851 toner and probe set because everyone on YouTube said it was the bees knees. Cost me about $200 at the supply house and honestly I've used it maybe three times in six months. The amp clamp on it is too big for tight bundles and the tone gets real weak past 50 feet. I keep going back to my old Fluke 2000 that I got used for $80 and it works better every time. You guys ever drop decent money on a tool that just collects dust? What toner do you actually trust for long runs in commercial buildings?
Last month on a job in Austin I grabbed one of those cheap fiberglass fish tapes from the supply closet instead of my usual steel core one. Ran it through a 90 foot conduit run with three 45 degree bends and it snapped clean in half halfway through. Took me an extra 2 hours to finish the pull because I had to re-fish from scratch. Has anyone else had a fiberglass tape just give up on a tight bend like that?
Was out in my own backyard in Phoenix, running a fresh fiber drop to a shed. Took me like 40 minutes to get the fusion splicer dialed in and the pigtail clean. Soon as i closed the splice tray and turned around, this fat little squirrel chomped right through the jacket. Had to redo the whole thing from scratch. Anyone else have wildlife just wreck your work mid job?
I was on a job yesterday running a 200 foot line from a tap to a new house, and the signal was way too weak by the time I got to the box. My buddy who's been doing this 15 years told me to swap out my RG6 for RG11 and it fixed the whole thing. I never really thought about the difference in signal loss between the two, I just grabbed whatever spool was closest. He showed me the spec sheet and RG6 loses like 6 dB per 100 feet at higher frequencies while RG11 is closer to 4 dB. That 2 dB difference added up over the run and made all the difference. I don't know why I never looked into this before, but it makes me want to recheck some older jobs. Has anyone else run into signal issues they fixed just by swapping cable types?
I was working a new install in a house off Bell Road and went to check the cable drop. Turns out rats had gnawed through the RG6 right where it entered the crawlspace. I had to splice in a new section and wrap it in steel mesh to keep them out. Has anyone else dealt with critters wrecking their runs in the summer?
Got into it with an audio guy at a supply house in Denver last Tuesday. He swore up and down that soldering gives cleaner signal and lasts longer. I told him I've seen solder joints crack on subwoofer runs in 3 different bars I've wired, but my crimps on a 200 foot run at a church are still solid after 5 years. He said I was just lazy and didn't care about quality. Who's right here for the average install? Has anyone else had crimps hold up better in a high vibe spot?
For the longest time I figured the basic tone tracer that came with my kit was fine. Then I grabbed a Fluke Pro3000 after a buddy in Tacoma swore by it. Honest truth? It saved me 4 hours on a nightmare buried drop last week. But part of me still thinks the cheap ones do the same job if you know the trick. What side are you on?
Bought a cheap Klein knockoff for $12 and it stripped the jacket uneven on every single connector. Ended up having to redo 8 drops in an attic in Texas heat. Has anyone else had luck with the ratcheting ones instead?
I was doing a retermination job in an old apartment building last week and spent 2 hours tracing lines with a basic toner. Finally borrowed a better setup from a coworker and found 3 splitters buried behind drywall that were messing with the signal. That little probe made all the difference. Has anyone else had luck with a specific brand of toner for finding hidden junctions?
Last Tuesday I was crawling through a 130-degree attic in Dallas to run a drop for a new customer and the fiber kept snagging on old insulation. Three hours later I realized the spool had a kink I missed and I had to redo the whole run. Anyone else get that sinking feeling when you find a mistake after you've already sealed everything up?
I used to swear by screw down connectors for everything. Then I did a big install at an apartment complex in Greenville SC and had to terminate 60 drops in a single day. My hands were killing me by noon. The foreman handed me a bag of push on connectors and told me to just try them. I finished the job 2 hours early and only had one bad connection out of all 60. Anyone else made the switch and had good luck with them?
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?