I have spent over an hour trying to crimp an RJ45 cable

[Scouzer]

Never done it before. Looked simple enough online. It's not.

I have the proper tool. Problem is the tool is a POS and can't strip the jacket on the inner wires. It has too big of a gap. So I'm trying to strip them with scissors, and it's not working.

Ideas? I have 7 hours to fix this cable or I'm in deep trouble.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
Never done it before. Looked simple enough online. It's not.

I have the proper tool. Problem is the tool is a POS and can't strip the jacket on the inner wires. It has too big of a gap. So I'm trying to strip them with scissors, and it's not working.

Ideas? I have 7 hours to fix this cable or I'm in deep trouble.

If you can't terminate an RJ45 in seven hours you are a full-blood hippie.

Edit: what tool are you talking about? All you have to do is cut back the outer jacket, stick the wires (in the proper configuration) into the RJ45 jack and crimp away. Done. The conductors in the jack penetrate the jackets of the individual wires.

 

[OdiN]

White Orange, Orange, White Green, Blue, White Blue, Green, White Brown, Brown

Just in case you didn't know that part.

But uhh....you DO NOT strip the inner wires. Leave them alone. Shove them into the connector in the proper order (and make sure you know which way is "up") - the crimper forces metal pieces to pierce the wires, thus making the connection. No need for stripping inner wires.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: OdiN
White Orange, Orange, White Green, Blue, White Blue, Green, White Brown, Brown

Just in case you didn't know that part.

But uhh....you DO NOT strip the inner wires. Leave them alone. Shove them into the connector in the proper order (and make sure you know which way is "up") - the crimper forces metal pieces to pierce the wires, thus making the connection. No need for stripping inner wires.

Hmm... that explains a lot. This Youtube video says you do strip the inner wires, but he has a bad accent and I bet he means cut off the excess, not STRIP them... that'd make life a lot easier... lol

lemme try this with my new knowledge

 

[dawp]

Ya don't strip the indevidual wires, just the outer sheath. That is your just making a ethernet cable.

I found this guide usefull

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: OdiN
White Orange, Orange, White Green, Blue, White Blue, Green, White Brown, Brown

Just in case you didn't know that part.

But uhh....you DO NOT strip the inner wires. Leave them alone. Shove them into the connector in the proper order (and make sure you know which way is "up") - the crimper forces metal pieces to pierce the wires, thus making the connection. No need for stripping inner wires.

Hmm... that explains a lot. This Youtube video says you do strip the inner wires, but he has a bad accent and I bet he means cut off the excess, not STRIP them... that'd make life a lot easier... lol

lemme try this with my new knowledge

If it says strip the inner wires, it's just flat out wrong.

What you usually do is get them in the right order, and then trim the excess so that you:

1 - Have a straight line, and each wire reaches the end of the connector. You should be able to easily see the gold colored wire touching the end of the plastic connector - should be fairly even.

2 - Enough of the jacket around the cables goes into the plastic connector so the crimper crimps that inside and you don't have wires hanging out. Makes a stronger connection so if it is bent all the force isn't on the inner wires.

 

[Scouzer]

lol, now I can't figure out how to actually crimp... the removable plastic crimping attatchment has a piece of plastic in it... can't shove a connector in there

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
lol, now I can't figure out how to actually crimp... the removable plastic crimping attatchment has a piece of plastic in it... can't shove a connector in there

Did you get the crimper out of a cereal box?

 

[Scouzer]

the plastic part is the actual crimping mechanism, but i can't figure out how to get it to withdraw so i can actually crimp with it... picture:

http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imag0036mp8.jpg

I'm guessing I have to unscrew that screw to withdraw the actuator...? If so, I don't have a screwdriver that size, and I'm screwed.

 

[Eli]

Hmmm..

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
the plastic part is the actual crimping mechanism, but i can't figure out how to get it to withdraw so i can actually crimp with it... picture:

http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imag0036mp8.jpg

I'm guessing I have to unscrew that screw to withdraw the actuator...? If so, I don't have a screwdriver that size, and I'm screwed.

You shouldn't need a screwdriver to use a hand crimping tool.

Have you tried squeezing the tool all the way down hard so it will release fully?

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Scouzer
the plastic part is the actual crimping mechanism, but i can't figure out how to get it to withdraw so i can actually crimp with it... picture:

http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imag0036mp8.jpg

I'm guessing I have to unscrew that screw to withdraw the actuator...? If so, I don't have a screwdriver that size, and I'm screwed.

You shouldn't need a screwdriver to use a hand crimping tool.

Have you tried squeezing the tool all the way down hard so it will release fully?

Got it. It was jammed for some reason and needed to be pried out with a screwdriver.

Too bad my first cable doesn't work... time to try again lol

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

How can a young male be so bad at working with his hands?

 

[freegeeks]

the most important part is to trim all the wires to the same lenght

 

[dquan97]

I think I taught a chimp how to crimp rj45 cables...if he can do it, then you should too!

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
How can a young male be so bad at working with his hands?

I've always been extremely poor at working with my hands.

Still working on my second crimp attempt, doubt I can even do this honestly.

 

[Scouzer]

Attempt two failed... can't do it. It's been 2.5 hours now, I guess I'll have to go into town in the morning and buy a new network cable.

I have no clue why the cable doesn't work. They are in the correct order, and equal length.... sigh. This sucks ass.

 

[TheVrolok]

I'm sorry OP, but I've got to go with the others in this thread. This should be a relatively simply task.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
Attempt two failed... can't do it. It's been 2.5 hours now, I guess I'll have to go into town in the morning and buy a new network cable.

I have no clue why the cable doesn't work. They are in the correct order, and equal length.... sigh. This sucks ass.

Do you have a DMM?

Test your work.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Scouzer
Attempt two failed... can't do it. It's been 2.5 hours now, I guess I'll have to go into town in the morning and buy a new network cable.

I have no clue why the cable doesn't work. They are in the correct order, and equal length.... sigh. This sucks ass.

Do you have a DMM?

Test your work.

Afraid not. But it doesn't work in the computer, which is test enough I think lol

 

[MichaelD]

If you cut the wires all to the same length and
You can see the ends of the wires touching the end of the RJ45 connector and
You have all 8 wires in the same order on both sides of the wire and
It still doesn't work then:

You fail at cable making...but seriously:

You didn't clamp down hard enough on the crimper, so the 8 individual little cutter blades did not go thru the insulation on the wires and into the actual copper wire. Assuming the above steps are all true, this is the only possible explanation left.

 

[Bateluer]

Crimping an RJ45 cable is a cake walk. But I have seen connectors and crimping tools that make the job a lot more difficult than it should be.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Crimping an RJ45 cable is a cake walk. But I have seen connectors and crimping tools that make the job a lot more difficult than it should be.

its cake if youve done it a couple of times already.

if not, youre probably not going to get it right without someone showing you what to do.

this should have been in the networking forum, where everyone could tell you DONT CRIMP YOUR OWN CABLES unless its an absolute emergency.

OP: when you go to get a cable, get 2. home made cables cant compare to factory made cables if you cant certify them. im not saying they wont work, but factory cables are cheap and its not worth bothering with home made cables.

 

[O2Deprived]

I had trouble the first time I tried it too. Now it is relatively easy. Also, be sure that both ends of the cable have the wires in the same order (since there are 2 wiring guidelines).

 

[keird]

I wonder if the OP is trying to crimp CAT-6 cable into a CAT-5 connector. That is a huge pain in the ass, but can be done.

Good luck OP!