Maybe I should clarify the extent to which there are spare wires. On one current project

- We wired 7 video locations.

- Of those 7 locations, 5 are spare (i.e. we are only rolling out 2 TVs initially, and the other locations are for possible future TVs.)

- Each location gets 4 cat6, 1 shielded cat6 and 1 RG6, of which 2 cat6 and the RG6 are spares even at the 2 locations where TVs are being installed.

So, for TVs alone, there are 5 cables that will be used and around 35 cables that are spare. I can hardly justify 8x the termination labor to terminate spares.

You may argue that too many spares have been run, but I suspect if you knew the details of the project you would not hold that position.

Ok so being a little OCD I get irritated when I see Cat cables not punched down that could be.
If you have the patch panels in place punch that $hit down and get it over with. You know how long they have to be and that is your big time consumer.
That's just me.

Now the rest of the wires if identified correctly wont take much time to terminate. Thinking very basic here. How about put a shelf on the rack down low and find some form of metal box that you could set on the shelf that would contain the extra wires, run the umbilical into the box neatly coiled and put the lid on. That way as you add equipment to the rack you can pull out the wire you need and terminate and be done. With the box down low you would not have as much wire in the box versus mounting it at the top.

Just thinking out loud from a visual perspective if you cant tuck it up in the ceiling or do the +1 thing.

Bill for it!

This. If I run a cable, future or not, I terminate it at the head end in my enclosure. All of my D-tools “rough-in” packages for different cabling include the labor time and trim parts to cover this.

Big high budget job...punch it all down and bill for it. Small project where budget matters...spend that extra grand in parts and labor somewhere else IMO.

Terminate a wire that may well NEVER get used?

I see absolutely no reason for this.

Label and set aside.

IF you ever go back, terminate and charge for it at that time.

I am not a big believer in punching down cables in a patch panel. I think each cable should go from its source equipment to its destination with no interruptions. Any break in the cable is a potential point of failure. I understand that sometimes it does not look as elegant but function first, always.

Unused or spare wire needs to be addressed on a case by case basis. Some racks have room for spare wire and some do not. We work in a custom industry so most of my solutions are custom. Sometimes spare is in the rack and sometimes in the wall but always where it is easy to retrieve and identify quickly.

I also agree with this statement however, more and more manufactures are welcoming patch panels. For audio and video distribution I believe direct between sender and receiver (amp and speaker) is best. This provides only two locations where the fault can occur on terminations.

Networking and Coax I like to keep on a separate wall rack with patch panels. I will terminate any rack equipment directly into the network switch but also have a patch panel for the house Catx and coax cables (if required).


Depending on the system, but generally 2 Catx cables at each location will be designated to the patch panel and the rest will go into the rack. Needing more than 2 network connections at a TV is highly unlikely. Any unused cables gets dressed down the rack separately from the used wires and neatly coiled up on the floor. I have also seen installations where the racks were installed on a riser and any unused wires were placed under the rack in the riser cavity.

Sorted by color (I color code my larger prewires), clearly labeled (at eye level in the rack), trimmed to uniform length, bundled, run down the rack and coiled up at the bottom.

Exception is domestic network locations (client accessible wall plates). Those are terminated and landed on a switch.

What extra wires? All of my customers keeping telling me that everything is wireless now!