where to start for a 100% total noob at laying wire...

[purbeast0]

I have never used the glow rods myself. I have an old steel fish tape I have used for years and it has never failed me. The upside of the fiberglass tapes is they are non-conductive so if you were to hit an exposed/non-insulated energized line, you wouldn't be electrocuted.

I'll probably buy a fiberglass tape one day when my steel tape fails me.

gotcha. they do seem like they are used for the same type of thing. i hope i don't have any exposed wire behind the walls lol!

thanks though, i will use this steel fish tape and see how it goes!

i guess another benefit of the rods is that you can pull the rod through instead of having to go back up and retrieve it.

 

[frowertr]

i hope i don't have any exposed wire behind the walls lol!

No you won't. That wouldn't pass inspection for new construction. And unless a child did the remodeling in your house you still won't.

 

[purbeast0]

No you won't. That wouldn't pass inspection for new construction. And unless a child did the remodeling in your house you still won't.

yea i am not worried in reality

going to head to HD in a little bit to get some protective eye wear and a headlamp.

 

[alkemyst]

Which leads us to why home inspections are important folks.

 

[purbeast0]

Which leads us to why home inspections are important folks.

not sure wtf that even has to do with this thread, but okay...

 

[purbeast0]

alright so earlier i finally got 1 wire snaked. i got it going from my closet (where the patch panel and switches will be) to the other side of the room where the outlet is going to be.

now i am going to be running 2 network cables to this jack and 1 coax.

tomorrow i planned on cutting the wire from the entrance side where the spool is and pulling it all the way through. i was ten going to cut another network wire, and the coax wire, to the same length as the wire that i end up pulling through.

i was then going to get all 3 of them tied together with zip ties every few lengths so it kind of forms '1 thick wire' if you know what i mean, and re-snake it through the walls.

now is that a good idea to do that, or is there an easier way that i'm missing?

also, is it okay to have cat5e cable right next to rg6 that is quad shielded?

 

[frowertr]

I'm confused on your description, but if you think you can pull through that many at once go right ahead. No there will be no problem running coax next to the Cat5e.

 

[purbeast0]

I'm confused on your description, but if you think you can pull through that many at once go right ahead. No there will be no problem running coax next to the Cat5e.

well basically i was going to take the wire that is currently snaked, out of the wall since i know it is the right size.

i'm going to cut another cat5e cable the same length, as well as a coax the same length.

i was then going to ziptie them all together.

next ill go back to my attic, run the fish tape down the wall back into the closet.

then go into the closet and duct tape the 3 wires to the fish tape, and go back into the attic.

then go pull the wires into the attic, pull it through the attic, fish it down the hole in the other wall.

then go back into the room and get it out of the wall, and i should have all 3 wires going from one hole to the other.

 

[notposting]

Don't ziptie them together, they will catch on everything. When pulling wire you want it smooooth not catching (on wire, on holes, on insulation), just tape a head at the front of the pull, (I should probably take a picture of this for you or something) and tape it good with *quality* electrical tape.

edit, just tape the head together (stagger them a bit, cut the ends at an angle, tape it up nice and firm, preferably with your string attached also, then just tie the string on when you get the fish tape to the right place. Crap, I probably should make a video at this point. The cables should be loose behind the head (otherwise things will go south in a hurry for you).

Oh god I saw duct tape mentioned too. Electrical electrical electrical Anything above dollar store quality should be good enough.

The glow-rods can sometimes be better than fish tape in a wall, fish tape can curl and bend the wrong way, get deflected easier, takes some practice to get the skills for it. But it is more flexible which sometimes is a needed attribute as well.

 

[purbeast0]

could someone explain how to use the rg6 compression tool?

i stripped 1/4 of the bare wire, and 1/4" of the white layer, and put the compression head on and compressed. however the pin isn't coming close to moving forward to come out the hole on the end.

i'm using quad shield rg6 as well as quad shield rg6 ends by ideal.

i've wasted 4 out of the 10 connectors of my one pack trying to figure this out so any help would be appreciated!!!

 

[imagoon]

could someone explain how to use the rg6 compression tool?

i stripped 1/4 of the bare wire, and 1/4" of the white layer, and put the compression head on and compressed. however the pin isn't coming close to moving forward to come out the hole on the end.

i'm using quad shield rg6 as well as quad shield rg6 ends by ideal.

i've wasted 4 out of the 10 connectors of my one pack trying to figure this out so any help would be appreciated!!!

Use the stripper tool, leave the center wire long (1-2 inches is ok), With your hand, press the end on to the wire, press until the center insulator seats in the connector, you may need to twist it a bit. PS if this quad shield, this step can be a major PITA. Trim the center wire, insert it in to the compression tool, and compress.

 

[purbeast0]

Use the stripper tool, leave the center wire long (1-2 inches is ok), With your hand, press the end on to the wire, press until the center insulator seats in the connector, you may need to twist it a bit. PS if this quad shield, this step can be a major PITA. Trim the center wire, insert it in to the compression tool, and compress.

so when pressing with your hands, do you want to get the inner white part to be all the way "in" as far as it can go, so it's pressed up against the inner ring of the end? because even after compressing i couldn't get it to touch, and that was making my wire not even come out of the connector.

and yea its quad shield, although these ends say they are for quad shield as well.

 

[imagoon]

You don't compress the connector until the white insulator is as far in as needs to go to let the center conductor pop out in place. I'm not at home so I can't take some screen shots.

 

[skyking]

Don't ziptie them together, they will catch on everything. When pulling wire you want it smooooth not catching (on wire, on holes, on insulation), just tape a head at the front of the pull, (I should probably take a picture of this for you or something) and tape it good with *quality* electrical tape.

edit, just tape the head together (stagger them a bit, cut the ends at an angle, tape it up nice and firm, preferably with your string attached also, then just tie the string on when you get the fish tape to the right place. Crap, I probably should make a video at this point. The cables should be loose behind the head (otherwise things will go south in a hurry for you).

Oh god I saw duct tape mentioned too. Electrical electrical electrical Anything above dollar store quality should be good enough.

The glow-rods can sometimes be better than fish tape in a wall, fish tape can curl and bend the wrong way, get deflected easier, takes some practice to get the skills for it. But it is more flexible which sometimes is a needed attribute as well.

What he says. As I posted in that sticky thread, all at once is the only way to insure you won't "burn" a cable.

 

[purbeast0]

You don't compress the connector until the white insulator is as far in as needs to go to let the center conductor pop out in place. I'm not at home so I can't take some screen shots.

well the problem i was having, is that the white insulator when stripped to 1/4" (which is recommended from my readings) was nowhere NEAR being in as far as it can possibly go. it was probably at least 1/4" or more away from the center, when i couldn't twist/push it in more with my hands.

maybe i have to just press harder or something? it's the quad shield too so it may just be a PITA because of that. it just sucks that i wasted 4 of these because i can't get the compressed stuff out of there lol.

so maybe i just have to strip off and expose a bit more of the white center so that it goes in as far as possible before i do the compression?

 

[purbeast0]

What he says. As I posted in that sticky thread, all at once is the only way to insure you won't "burn" a cable.

i actually did not use zipties to pull the wire through. i ended up using electrical tape though so that there would be no tangled wires as i was pulling through, causing "bunches". i ended up doing 6 network and 2 coax cables into a 1" hole and that was pretty snug, and i think taping the wires i was snaking like every 3-4 feet helped. it was like a 50' run total.

 

[imagoon]

well the problem i was having, is that the white insulator when stripped to 1/4" (which is recommended from my readings) was nowhere NEAR being in as far as it can possibly go. it was probably at least 1/4" or more away from the center, when i couldn't twist/push it in more with my hands.

maybe i have to just press harder or something? it's the quad shield too so it may just be a PITA because of that. it just sucks that i wasted 4 of these because i can't get the compressed stuff out of there lol.

so maybe i just have to strip off and expose a bit more of the white center so that it goes in as far as possible before i do the compression?

The coax stripping tool should have the proper sizing on it. you should just clip it on and twist, and it should trim the end to the proper size and length.

 

[purbeast0]

The coax stripping tool should have the proper sizing on it. you should just clip it on and twist, and it should trim the end to the proper size and length.

yea it wasn't working too great for me. i have to adjust it because it was simply cutting it all off sometimes, sometimes stripping 1/4", and just doing funky stuff in general.

but when it did it properly, i could not press the wire nearly close enough into the inside portion to where the white inside part was pressed as far as it could with the copper wire pointing through. but again, maybe because it was the quad shield and hard to push up there.

these are the connector ends i got.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...&langId=-1&keyword=ideal+f+ends&storeId=10051

and on the box it says to do the 1/4" and 1/4" stripping then compress it, so i must be doing something wrong.

 

[alkemyst]

From what I remember is you need to have 1/2" of the main body stripped and 1/4" of the inner insulator (the white), you then need to slide that down so the white is touching the inner hole and you have your 'pin'/center conductor where it needs to be.


Then you compress it and it should be good.

 

[imagoon]

yea it wasn't working too great for me. i have to adjust it because it was simply cutting it all off sometimes, sometimes stripping 1/4", and just doing funky stuff in general.

but when it did it properly, i could not press the wire nearly close enough into the inside portion to where the white inside part was pressed as far as it could with the copper wire pointing through. but again, maybe because it was the quad shield and hard to push up there.

these are the connector ends i got.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...&langId=-1&keyword=ideal+f+ends&storeId=10051

and on the box it says to do the 1/4" and 1/4" stripping then compress it, so i must be doing something wrong.

Um... the stripper is directional. You need to make sure you clap it on the correct direction. You also do not need to "hold it closed" just let the spring do the work. Yes quadshield is a pita to get the end on. Since those are universals, quad shield is the largest and tightest cable so it takes a bit to get them on.

 

[purbeast0]

Um... the stripper is directional. You need to make sure you clap it on the correct direction. You also do not need to "hold it closed" just let the spring do the work. Yes quadshield is a pita to get the end on. Since those are universals, quad shield is the largest and tightest cable so it takes a bit to get them on.

yea i had the direction correct. i also noticed there are ways to make the blade closer/further as well.

tonight though i will try to just push the cable on further. i guess i did not try hard enough lol. but i do know once i compressed it, there was no way i was just pulling it off.

 

[purbeast0]

From what I remember is you need to have 1/2" of the main body stripped and 1/4" of the inner insulator (the white), you then need to slide that down so the white is touching the inner hole and you have your 'pin'/center conductor where it needs to be.


Then you compress it and it should be good.

yea that is what i was trying to do but i couldn't get it. i need to just stop being a pussy and push it harder since apparently quad shield is just more of a bitch to deal with.

the fact that i cut my knuckle off my index finger on my dominant hand friday night doesn't help matters for me though.

 

[imagoon]

yea that is what i was trying to do but i couldn't get it. i need to just stop being a pussy and push it harder since apparently quad shield is just more of a bitch to deal with.

the fact that i cut my knuckle off my index finger on my dominant hand friday night doesn't help matters for me though.

Bleeding on the project makes it your own, blesses the install, and keeps the demons away.

 

[purbeast0]

Bleeding on the project makes it your own, blesses the install, and keeps the demons away.

haha well i was just happy i actually got to do my wiring this past weekend. i had snaked 1 wire thursday night and i came home friday from work and was all excited to get it tarted.

i pulled the one wire out so i could cut 2 other wires the same length that were running with it.

well i had the 2 wires between my fingers and went to cut the longer one, and the scissors slipped and cut the top part of my knuckle off. thought i saw bone at first but i think it was a tendon - definitely saw something blue like a vein heh. it was bleeding a lot and i probably shoulda gotten stitches.

it definitely made things take longer and was as PITA to climb around my attic with my index finger splinted up, so i take pride that i did it all while handicapped!

 

[purbeast0]

so yea it was a total nub mistake on my part, had no problems doing it tonight after i just pushed it a little harder (no homo).

http://imgur.com/a/oAhkH

finished wiring up the 4 upstairs bedrooms tonight and tested it all out and working like a charm. going to hopefully start on my main setup downstairs where i have 6 network jacks and 2 coax. i have to cut 3 holes in the wall for the wall plates but the actual wire connecting should not be too tough at all.

busy as hell this weekend though so not sure if i will have time to finish it all