Reasons Why It's Hard To Make Good Crimps On Rj45S; Solid Wire Is Ductile; The Right Crimping Tool - Lighting Controls Blue Box LT Series Installation, Operation & Maintenance Manual

THE BLUE BOX LT MAKING UP CAT. 5 CABLE WITH RJ45 CONNECTORS 33
REASONS WHY IT'S HARD TO MAkE
GOOD CRIMPS ON Rj45s
There are two components needed to crimp a Cat . 5 cable:
a "crimper" and a "RJ45 modular connector . " A crimper is
the tool used to make a crimp and seal the cable to the
connector . RJ45 connectors create the interface for a con-
nection and come in four sizes : 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-position
(position is the placement in the connector that holds a
contact [pin]) .
It is important to note, all crimpers and connectors are
not created equal . We have performed many trials to de-
termine a recommended crimper tool and connectors for
our systems; these products will be discussed in a later
section .
Note that no matter what brand of connector or crimp
tool used, just the action of crimping a connector to a
cable can cause it to deform and splay the connections .
Figure 1.7a
Figure 1 . 7 a illustrates how the crimper head pushes the
contacts down by the same distance but deforms the
plastic case under the pressure; as you see in Figure 1 . 7 b
the contact causes the center crimp to not be adequately
supported or seated . Figure 1 . 8 shows a crimp after
release; notice how it has a "bowed" appearance .
Figure 1.8
Figure 1.7b
A bowed crimp is a recipe for
disaster . The two center pins
do not have adequate contact
with the wire . And for the
purpose of LC&D lighting
systems, the two center pins
carry the data! The ONLY
way to completely flush the
Figure 1.9a: Contacts are seated properly.
Figure 1.9b: Contacts are not seated properly.
center pins is to crimp multiple times (Note: we suggest
5-10 crimps for a successful Cat . 5 cable crimp) (Figure 1 . 9 a
and 1 . 9 b are examples of properly seated and non-properly
seated contacts) .

SOLID WIRE IS DUCTILE

The action of pulling a cable side to side does two things: a) pulls
the side wires out of the crimp and/or b) squashes the copper
wire, first one way and then another . The copper "flows" into
a new shape and stays there as if it has been hammered
flat . An example of this pulling occurs unintentionally when a
switch is pushed/forced into a tight space or wall enclosure .
This can result in an "open" connection . This is why we do not
recommend solid wire cable .

THE RIGHT CRIMPING TOOL

Choosing the right crimping tool is the most critical part
of a cable crimping job . All crimping tools do pretty
much the same thing, they force the contacts within the
connectors onto the cable . But as we mentioned earlier,
there is a big difference in the quality of crimps on different
types of crimping tools . In trial testing, we found even the