c/cable-installers

Wasted $200 on a bad crimp tool - stick with the name brands

Bought a no-name crimper off Amazon for cheap. First 50 terminations looked fine. Then had three callbacks in two weeks where the connectors just slipped off. Tore my hair out before realizing the die was a hair too big. Tossed it and got a Klein. Has anyone else had junk tools cost them more in service calls later?

Customer told me my self-leveling sealant was wrong for their fiberglass entry door

Been doing cable entry seals the same way for 5 years. Last Tuesday this old electrician watched me prep the conduit boot and said I was using the wrong stuff. He said self-leveling sealant drips off vertical fiberglass and leaves gaps. Switched to a non-sag polyurethane on his advice. Checked back yesterday and the seal is holding perfect. Anybody else been using the wrong sealant on certain door materials?

Just realized I was totally wrong about using compression fittings on outdoor burial cable

I always swore by gel-filled connectors for direct bury but after my last job in that new development off Route 9 cracked open a compression fitting I put in two years ago and it was bone dry inside, what do you guys use for long term outdoor runs where the ground shifts?

Overheard a telco guy say he never uses gel-filled connectors on aerial drops anymore

He said the gel traps moisture in the long run and now I'm second-guessing every splice I did last summer with those blue crimps.

Lost three hours on a Tuesday because a ladder leg sank in wet grass and the whole setup tipped

Had to re-terminate 12 drops in a rich guy's backyard in Tampa after my 6-footer sunk into soft soil and yanked the coax right out of the wall plates, anyone else battled hidden ground issues on a routine job?

That time I had to choose between a fish tape and a glow rod for a 4-story apartment building in Phoenix

Last summer I was working a job downtown and needed to pull cable through a really nasty conduit run with three 90-degree bends. I went with the fiberglass glow rod because it's stiffer and I figured it'd push through easier, but man, it snapped on me halfway in and I had to start over. The fish tape would've bent around those corners better and saved me two hours. Anyone else had better luck with one over the other in tight spots?

That cheap Klein cable tester I almost returned actually saved a job

Last month I was out at a new build in a big apartment complex near Charlotte and kept getting intermittent signal drops on one run. I was about to just re-pull the whole thing and eat the time but grabbed my $40 Klein VDV501-851 that I bought on a whim and almost took back. Threw the remote on the far end and it caught a partial short at the staple gun damage I never would have spotted otherwise. Took me about 10 minutes to patch the jacket and the line passed perfect after that. Honestly figured those little testers were junk for anything beyond basic continuity checks but this one paid for itself on that single call. Has anyone else had a tool they nearly returned that ended up being a lifesaver on a tricky install?

Found out coax cable can last 30 years if buried right

Was digging up an old run near a warehouse in Tulsa and pulled out some RG6 that had been in the ground since '93. Still passed signal clean on the meter. I always thought you had to swap it after 10 years or so, but that dirt actually protected it better than the stuff I see in attics. Anyone else come across old cable that still works fine?

Question about using plastic staples on fiber lines in Denver

I was on a job in Denver last month and saw a crew using plastic staples to hold fiber lines along a wall, but my supervisor says metal staples are the only way to go for long term hold. The building had concrete walls so drilling anchors would have taken forever, and the plastic ones saved tons of time. What do you guys use when you're stuck on a tough surface like that?

Why does nobody talk about how Ethernet cables degrade in direct sunlight?

I was replacing a line on a house in Tucson last week and the jacket just crumbled in my hands. The sun baked it for like 3 years straight. Anyone else run into this and just swap to direct burial stuff?

Debate: Should we still run coax to every room or go all Ethernet?

I was on a job in a new build last week and the homeowner wanted coax in every room for cable TV. I told them nobody uses that anymore and they got pissed. Makes me wonder if we're just wasting time or if there's still a reason to keep doing it. What do you guys tell customers?

Talked to a homeowner about his "temporary" coax splice from 2008

I was out on a service call last week in a town called Oakridge, pulling a new line for a guy who kept losing signal. He shows me in his crawlspace this splice held together with electrical tape and a zip tie, said he did it "just for the weekend" back in 2008. He was proud it lasted 16 years but I had to explain how much signal loss that thing was causing. Has anyone else run into crazy old temp fixes that really make you wonder how people think?

Walked into an old hospital in Pittsburgh and spotted a mess of cable runs

I was doing a site survey at Allegheny General last Tuesday for a new install. The ceiling was a disaster zone with coax and Cat6 tangled together, some runs just hanging off J-hooks. It got me thinking about how much easier our residential jobs are compared to this rat's nest. Do any of you guys specialize in hospital or campus work, or do most of you stick to houses like me? How do you even plan a pull through plenum spaces with all that existing mess?

Lost a $400 tuner because I didn't label the box properly

I was doing a big retirement home job near Dayton last month, 48 units all needing cable and internet drops. I labeled my van boxes with a marker but it rubbed off after two days in the heat, and I ended up leaving a nice $400 meter at one of the units. Has anyone found a permanent labeling method that holds up to summer temps and rain?

Customer asked me to hide a cable behind a baseboard that wasn't even attached

Had a install last Thursday in a older house over in Maplewood. Lady pointed at a loose baseboard and said just tuck the coax behind it, it'll look clean. I gave it a slight tug and the whole thing fell off the wall. She just stared at me like I broke her house. Then asked if I could nail it back on for free. How do you handle people who think we do carpentry too?

Spent 6 hours chasing a bad ground in a new build

I was out at a new subdivision in Phoenix last Tuesday, running RG6 for a four unit quad. All the signal tests were passing fine at the tap, but every single unit had random tiling on the higher channels. I checked the connectors, the splitters, even swapped out the drop line once. After about four hours I finally thought to look at the grounding block. Whoever installed it had the ground wire pinched under a screw and it was barely making contact. It took me another two hours to verify and redo it right. That little mistake cost me a whole day of work. Has anyone else had a ground issue drive them crazy like that?

Swapped from coax to fiber splitters last month, night and day difference

I was running a three way coax split on a big apartment complex job and kept getting signal drop complaints. Switched to a fiber optic tap setup instead and everything stayed clean across all units. Has anyone else had better luck with fiber taps over old school coax splits?

My crimper died on me mid-job yesterday, had to borrow one from a security guy

That cheap fusion splicer from Amazon actually held up for 6 months

I was always told you gotta spend at least $5k on a fusion splicer, but I grabbed one off Amazon for $800 last summer just to see. Ran 200 splices on a job near Rogers Park in Chicago and the loss readings were solid. It finally crapped out on a rainy Tuesday, but it paid for itself twice over. Anyone else try the cheapo route or am I just lucky?

Finally caved and bought a decent toner for my kit after a year of guessing

I spent about $80 on a Fluke toner last month after fighting with a cheap $15 one that just couldn't handle busy bundles. It paid for itself on a messy commercial job downtown when I traced 8 lines in under an hour. Has anyone else found a big jump in quality between budget and mid-range toners?

I finally figured out why my coax termination kept failing

Spent a whole 4 hours last Tuesday wrestling with a single RG6 connector at this old house in the suburbs. Kept getting intermittent signal loss and I couldn't figure out why until I noticed the center conductor was slightly bent from the previous guy's bad cut. Had to redo the whole thing three times before I grabbed my micrometer and saw it was off by like 2mm. Anyone else run into a tiny bend that takes forever to spot?

Found out my old boss was still using the same truck from 1992

Was scrolling through some old company photos a guy posted on Facebook and spotted my old foreman's rig. That white Ford had 340,000 miles on it when I left in 2007. Looked up the plate number out of curiosity and it's still registered to the same shop in Wichita. Has anyone else run into a van or truck that just refuses to die after decades of hauling cable reels?

Heard a stat about fiber termination failure rates that made me question everything

I was at a supply house the other day about my usual splitters and connectors. Talked to the counter guy who said around 18 percent of field terminations fail within the first year. That number seems crazy high to me. On one hand I think a lot of guys rush through cleaning and cleaving, but on the other maybe the training just isn't there for new guys. Has anyone else seen a study or real numbers on how many of your own terminations actually go bad down the road?

That cheap fish tape I bought is way better than I expected

Tbh I was real skeptical when my helper showed up with a $12 fish tape from Harbor Freight. I figured it would snap on the first 90 degree bend or just be useless plastic junk. But we had to run three lines through an attic in this old house on Maple Street and that thing held up fine for all of them. Has anyone else had a cheap tool actually surprise them like that?

Am I the only one who tried using a 3/8 inch drill bit for a wall fish and it actually worked better?

Honestly, I was on a job in Charlotte last month and my 1/2 inch bit was just not getting through a double top plate. Out of pure frustration, I grabbed my smaller 3/8 inch bit from my bag and gave it a shot. Ngl, it went through like butter and the cable pulled through just fine, no snags. I've done it on three more jobs since then and it's saved me a ton of time and effort. I always thought you needed the bigger hole for the connector, but the smaller one seems to grip it tighter. Has anyone else tried downsizing their drill bit for tough spots, or am I just getting lucky?