punch down tool

[sellmen]

Hi,

I was wondering what the difference is between impact and non-impact punch down tools?

Also, will pretty much any punch down tool work well? Or are their significant differences between cheaper/more expensive ones?

Thanks in advance.

 

[groovin]

arent impact the kind that are spring mounted so they make that loud snap and some force when you do the punch and non impact where the punch instrument and handle are one fixed unit (not tension mounted, so no snap) so you can control the amount of force you wedge wires down into a block?
not sure if i am correct... can someone confirm/negate?

In my opinion having a nicer one comes in handy if youre going to be doing this sort of work often. ive only used the more expensive kind and found having the ease of changing the end pieces around to be very helpful... especially when im already really p!ssed off from punching down 100 wires in a 100yr old wiring cabinet thats 100+ degrees!

 

[WobbleWobble]

I was just going to ask this question too!

Hopefully someone can provide more answers.

 

[cmetz]

sellmen, groovin's definition of impact/non is correct.

The standard Harris/Dracon Punchmaster II with 110 blade costs about $60. At that price point, it is just not enough savings to buy a cheapie tool if you do any significant amount of punching.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Can you get away without a punch down tool? And maybe push each wire down with a flathead screw driver? I haven't done this stuff before and am interested in wiring my house.

 

[Fiveohhh]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Can you get away without a punch down tool? And maybe push each wire down with a flathead screw driver? I haven't done this stuff before and am interested in wiring my house.

That would be pretty tedious work. The keystone jacks I got came with a cheapie punchdown tool that worked fine for the jacks I wired up(only about 10)

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Can you get away without a punch down tool? And maybe push each wire down with a flathead screw driver? I haven't done this stuff before and am interested in wiring my house.

no, you cannot.

what you can do is purchase jacks that don't require a punchdown tool. panduit makes some

 

[blakeatwork]

Are you punching to a patch panel, BIX block or keystones??

 

[cmetz]

WobbleWobble, why do you want to wire your house poorly? Spend a little money and do the job right. You're going to have to live with the results.

 

[Dowfen]

The punch down with the 110 blade is for 66 panels whereas there are punch downs for the little keystone jacks (rj45, rj11, etc.) don't have blades.

WHat are you punching?

 

[WobbleWobble]

Ugh, I'd hate to hi-jack this guy's thread. Hopefully he's asking some of the same questions as me. Sorry guy!

I'm looking to punch keystones. I'd only be punching for a few rooms as I live in an apartment. That's why I don't want to spend more than I have to. Is there a big difference in the result you get with the impact vs non-impact?

 

[Dowfen]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Ugh, I'd hate to hi-jack this guy's thread. Hopefully he's asking some of the same questions as me. Sorry guy!

I'm looking to punch keystones. I'd only be punching for a few rooms as I live in an apartment. That's why I don't want to spend more than I have to. Is there a big difference in the result you get with the impact vs non-impact?

If you're just going to home depot and getting the little Ideal keystone jacks they usually come with a little plastic punch down. It works fine. As long as you take your time it will do a good job.

Just my opinion.