Are keystones reusable?

[ecom]

I have a few keystones where the wires have come out. Can I reuse the keystones by punching the the wires down again or do I need to replace the keystone?

 

[skyking]

yes

 

[ScottMac]

YEs, with the caveat that they have not been "abused" in that the punch tension was too high on previous punches, or that the insulation displacement blades haven't been warped or dulled by previous attempts ... you get the idea.

You won't know until you use them again and test 'em, butm they're usually good for a couple punches.

 

[RebateMonger]

The next questions are:

If the original wires came loose, why? Will it happen again?

New keystone jacks are a dollar or less. Is having to wonder about them worth saving $1?

 

[ecom]

Ok, I'll have them punched down again.

The wires came loose because the install is a bit weird and these things aren't used like they are intended. The Cat5e comes out of a conduit under the floor into a recessed compartment that normally has a small metal plate over it. The Cat5e is terminated into a keystone but they're not mounted on any kind of plate so when a user uses these jacks, they move the wire and keystone around.

 

[ScottMac]

Can't they be mounted in a plate?
It doesn't sound like a very good install. Next you'll be tellin' us that it's stranded cable .....

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: ScottMac
Can't they be mounted in a plate?

Or there's always the surface-mount jacks that use two-sided tape. These cost five bucks or so and can take quite a bit of abuse.

 

[ecom]

Interesting...Will the surface mount jacks support GbE? The ones I found look like 8P8C phone jacks and don't have twisted pair at the end.

I would need something that will support 4 jacks.

It's an inherently bad design in that room, but it's what I have to work with. The cables are recessed in a triangular trough in the ground and one side has electric plugs. Whether or not a plate can be mounted there I don't know. I don't know what's under the trough. It is solid Cat5e though.

 

[ScottMac]

There are surface mount cases that handle a keystone insert. Some are as large as an electrical box (4-8 jacks), some are as small as a telco surface mount jack (1 or 2 jacks).

I'm pretty sure I've seen a Cat5 telco-style jack as well. Take a look through Anixter.com, or graybar.com

Here's a four port keystone plate from Anixter, it'll fit any standard box, screw-in, stick-on, or standard in-wal box:
Four Jack faceplate

Two-port telco-style case

 

[RebateMonger]

Fry's Electronics has several versions of surface-mount jacks, including CAT6.

Fry's surface mount jacks.

 

[ecom]

Thank you.T his looks like it would work. I will show my electrician.

http://www.frys.com/product/3940388#detailed