Exactly!
I dont understand how anyone in our business doesn't have a punch tool. I have the EZ tool from ICC but have not brought myself to using it yet.
I couldn't picture life without this [Link: idealindustries.com]

Yeah, one side of the punch down tool blade is a bit longer than the other....The longer side goes to the outside of the keystone and cuts the wire when you punch it.  Pretty common mistake when you first start punching them down.  After you do a few, you'll get used to making sure the long side of the blade is on the outside of the keystone.

I've never used anything but a punchdown tool on keystones...I did see the snapav tool on the site about a month ago, and thought it was interesting but I don't think it would work for me, I don't punch down like other guys do.  I do 2 wires at a time, I think most people place them all and punch them all. 

I think they key to using a punchdown on keystones is the length of the CAT5 or CAT6...I always leave enough in the gangbox so that when I come back to punch down,  the wire will make it to the floor where I can easily punch it.  If you try to punch it while holding it in your hand it tears up your hands.

double post

The only thing i can think of is that your brother is referring to the cutting blade. If you dont have it pointed the right direction you cut the wire on the inside :). If you are using the gray plastic tool there is no cutting blade so they are not directional. Every punch down tool i have owned is a "4 in 1". There is a male and female with and without the cutting blade.

I have never heard these referred to as male and female. I made that up just now to differentiate between the two. 1 is for jacks like the Leviton Keystone and the other is for 110 Blocks.

Male



Female




You have to use Cat6 connectors, Cat6 patch panels, Cat6 patch cables with Cat6. Everything has to be Cat6 for it to pass. If the entire thing is Cat6 and you use a Cat5e patch cable from the wall to the PC you no longer have a Cat6 run.

In my experience Cat6 is a pita to work with compared to Cat5e. I have used EZRJ45 cat5 connectors with Cat6 here at my house with test cables. It takes forever to get the conductors into the connector. Usually harder to straighten out the conductors also. My uneducated guess would be that you had so many failures because you were trying to jam Cat6 into the Cat5e jacks. It can be done but (ask me how i know) but its difficult.

We run Cat5e and Cat6 everywhere. The Cat6 is for Voice/Data. We haven't experimented with HDMI baluns (and wont) but every other thread i see is full of guys saying you should use Cat6 with them.

I used to be able to position the jack right on the tip of my index finger while punching down with the other hand. I did a job once with so many jacks that my hands were bleeding by the end. That was the last time. I always use a block of wood or the coaster. Mine is black not orange though :).


They are not expensive now. You can get one at Home Depot for around $20 and you can find several brands online for around $20. Every time i walk into home depot i shake my head thinking.. "where the hell was all this stuff 15 years ago when i needed it".

I have had my punch down tool for over 15 years. Easily one of my most used hand tools.

These are the hand tools that i use the most.

[Link: wiremunky.com]

[Link: wiremunky.com]

[Link: wiremunky.com]

EZRJ45 is great, except for the outside 2 wires, with cat6. Always have to bend them back and forth to break them off, and then they're sticking out very slightly. Hasn't been a problem yet, according to the tester and everyday use, but I know those 2 slightly protruding outer wire 'nubs' will hit me some day.

I'm getting better at wrestling the male connector up to, and beyond, the cut jacket edge. I grab the flat wires sticking out the tip with a lineman's pliers, and really work the connector up.

I think it was you, Stamp, or maybe AnthonyZ, who recommended twisting the ethernet wires together, after the crimp tool is in position, to avoid the hassle of 8 small bits of wire on the dropcloth/carpet/floor.

I also found that trimming the lined up wires straight across is helpful, after straightening them, and prior to threading the male connector over the wires.

I used to use Leviton Keystone jacks with this tool  for years.

If you haven't used it, you need to try it. Got to ADI or wherever you get your stuff from, and try it, you won't go back to individual wire punching, I guarantee it. I still have my punchdown tool, mostly for 110 blocks, but not for the RJ11/14/45 jacks, that's for sure. I rather walk all the way to a van for my crimper if I have to make up more than 1 jack.

I recently ran out of the jacks (had a bags and bags of those) and checked on current prices of them.

Then I looked at SanpAV's ones. The  available here
were cheaper, with better wire layout (568A & B wires only change on one side), and they just work.
I bought their crimper  and with 100 connectors, just so you know, they come 25 to a box, I still saved money and that included the purchase of the tool.

I like Leviton tool a little better; it was a more open design, to where the extra leads that were getting clipped off didn't get in a way of the tool as much.
Also, SanpAV's tool 'pulls' the jack out of the seat on the opening stroke, but that's easy to manage, just hold the cable down. 
Overall, I like the tool and will continue using SanpAV tool and their connectors.

I have 2 of the Leviton crimping tools and 1 was only used for few connectors. I'll keep it on the van for a while as I still have several Leviton connectors in different colors. 

Seriously, get one of the tools from your buddy, or disty to try out; you owe it to yourself.

Mario

I use a pair of PANDUIT - CWST cutters to cut a straight line across the conductors before trying to insert them into the connector. The EZ tool has a slot built in that you can use to do this but i find it awkward and its much faster to just change tools. Heavy duty scissors work well also.

The two end wires have always been a pain in the neck but you can usually rock them back and forth and they pop right off. It starts a little bit after you change blades. I have had the same blade on for 4 years now and its still sharp. I dont know if there is anything they can do to redesign it. Either way its much faster to use vs the alternative. I was pretty good with those but most of the filed terminated connectors i have seen have a quarter inch gap between the connector and the cable jacket. This issue is resolved with the EZ products.

I started using this tool a little more than a year ago and will never "punch down" a keystone again. Many fewer wounds in the field....

I bought my second one 20 years ago after losing my old one from 1985. It's been around at phone supply distributors forever.


The little gray crap plastic one doesn't cut off wires, so it's not directional. "Directional" is best shown by the image Stamp provided. One end of the tool has a knife made for cutting off the wire, and if you position this the wrong way around, you will neatly cut the wire off the connector and make a reliable punch down connection to a scrap of wire. The other end of that tool has no blade. It's made for daisy-chaining connections, although that's not done with any data connections.


If you've GOT to put a connector onto CAT6 and all you have is CAT5 connectors, you won't meet spec (and often don't have to). When you separate the conductors, pull the sleeve back a bit and cut off the inner X piece, then let the sleeve slide back out. This allows you to make a strain-relieved connection to the wires.


I don't understand what you mean.


CAT6 wire isn't the best unless you learn how to install it and you use the correct parts. And I haven't looked at its frequency specs to see whether it's better than CAT5; I jsut expect it to be, despite what you say here.

Ernie, I didn't pick the right terminology in my post. Stamp figured it out and replied to my query in his reply, above.

I thought Cat6 was a thicker guage than Cat5. My reasoning was if it IS thicker and I Punched it down on a Cat5 keystone as far as it could go then I would think it would be a better connection based on the larger diameter of Cat6;

Be careful, Cat6 is thicker, and the blades of cat5 jack are spaced so that they nick, or cut the jacket of the individual Cat5 conductors. Putting bigger wire might nick the copper to the point where if you work the Cat5 wire enough, it might break right at the pinch point.
I doubt that will happen on the first or even tenth move of the wire but it could.

If you want to run Cat6 wire, than just use Cat6 jack

Look up "insulation displacement" (ID) to see how it works. That's the kind of connection made with any kind of punchdown, not limited to telephone or data, and not limited to solid wire.

In every case, the connector's tine spacing is made for ONE particular type of wire and cannot be reliably used with a different size or type of wire. Stranded wire has a larger overall diameter than the same gauge solid because gauge is determined by the overall cross section of the conductors (not counting the space between conductors), but its individual wires can move, so it requires a slightly smaller tine spacing.

Use a connector made for the gauge wire that you are using or expect to make a free service call. The wrong size can give you loose wires or wire breaks.

Also, CAT6 does not HAVE to be 23 gauge. That overly wise and perfect Wikipedia says it "is sometimes made with 23 gauge" wire, so if you expect it WILL be made with that, you might be unpleasantly surprised. Read labels. Read specs before you order.

+1, I was about to post this.