CAT5 wall socket - AAARRRGH!

slices the insulation to make contact, so no need to strip cable first but chop of ends after with side cutters.

Thanks - but which way do I feed the wires in before punching down?

The punch tool only seems to fit one way, with the 'heel' in the central gap between the two rows of contacts, but if there are wires running up this central gap then the 'heel' will foul on them.

Do they feed in from the outside, or along the top then down?

TIA Dave R

Every Cat 5 (Cat 3 & Cat 4) socket I have terminated has the wire down the centre and the 'fanned out' to the relevant IDC contact. What manufacturer are they from? Usually the pin numbers are marked against the corresponding IDC contact.

HTH

John

SLOT +--+ | | |\/| WIRE

The blade of the insertion tool is parallel with the wire, not the slot.

Not easy, but possible with pliers.

I have the proper tool with cutter, but the cutter is useless as it needs so much pressure to operate that it would damage the terminals.

Christian.

manufacturer

corresponding

So long since I bought them I can't remember where.

No manufacturere name obvious - just 'EC Made'. One side of the socket says MOD-TAP The other side says KATT-RJLP and has S348B CAT5E* printed on it.

The slots are not numbered (hence the strip and check with meter) just have red, green, blue and brown colour blocks. I am still not 100% happy about the numbering - this is what I currently think it is.

Looking from the back:

The pin settings are from checking with the meter. The colour allocations are from the 568B wiring scheme as shown in the Black Box catalogue. My concern here is that the blue and green splodges match the wiring colours, but brown and red(for orange?) seem to be switched over.

My concern over the 'wire down the middle' is that it would seem to conflict with the fit of this punch down tool, but perhaps there is tolerance for wires underneath it. Certainly wires down the centre seems the logical way to go.

Cheers Dave R

When you say 'slot' do you mean the gap down the middle between the two rows of terminals, or the slot into which the individual wire fits?

Are the connectors anything like those in normal phone sockets? [See

I would SERIOUSLY not use a cheap plastic insertion tool - at best they only do a few connections before failing - and then not very reliably. You can get a proper metal tool from the likes of Screwfix (No. D17402) for under £8.

Roger

Thanks - they are much like that, and I am concerned about the flimsy tool.

Also now a little concerned about the quality of the sockets.

The only downside of the Screwfix tool is that it really costs £13.94 unless I add loads of other things to the order to get 'free' postage.

I only need to do a couple of sockets (so far) but even so the proper tool sounds like a good idea.

Nearly there now - here is a picture of the socket in all its nastiness.

One last problem - the loop for the cable tie is at the bottom of the picture, below the contacts.

Does this mean I feed the cable up from the bottom of the picture, or do I feed it in from the top then loop it over itself to secure it?

Afraid I am having a very bad day at working things out :-(

Cheers Dave R

Whatever rocks your boat. Just remember to keep the twist right up to the terminals. Don't be tempted to unwind the pairs to make it easier. I must say, the picture isn't clear which side the stripy or solid conductors go.

Christian.

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote | The other side says KATT-RJLP and has S348B CAT5E* printed on it.

Your cheapy plastic tool isn't a telephone socket one is it? Phone sockets use Krone connectors and, whilst you can get Cat5 sockets with Krone connectors, the above part number suggests your Cat5 socket is using Katt connectors. They're different, although some (proper) tools will do both.

Owain

Electrical wholesalers usually stock them so if you have one locally you could try there. My 'proper' push down tool cost around £6 at Denmans.

That old Screwfix magic bites again.

I think I'll just have.....because it saves on the postage :-)

Is the wiring really that sensitive? The network cabling in our office actually consists of the old serial cable we used to use for dumb terminals, with the sockets changed for RJ45s. This works fine for us. It was a case of try it to see if it works before spending money and much disruption by rewiring. Network is running at 100Mbps, doubt it would stand up to gigabit...

Maplin used to do a similar tool (I don't have an up to date catalogue) but that was about £15 three years ago - so the Screwfix one is cheaper even if you have to pay postage!

Roger

thats why these type of connectors are called IDC- Insultation Displacing Conductors!!!

Tim..

Or connectors, even!

Christian.

AND Insulation (without the t after the l)!

Roger

Mod-Tap is the manufacturer, part of the Molex Group,

A standard BT tool either plastic or the 2A type is for use on Krone IDC's and will work on KATT connectors. Although they are not that good after a few insertions, they are after all only for doing one extension socket that you buy as a kit.

David the wiring of 568B is as follows:

Pin 1 White with orange ring (or splodge) Pin 2 Orange with White ring Pin 3 White with Green ring Pin 4 Blue with White ring Pin 5 White with Blue ring Pin 6 Green with White ring Pin 7 White with Brown ring Pin 8 Brown with White ring

(Which I think is what you are saying in your posting)

Hope that helps a little

John

Ooops, insultation.... LOL!

Tim..