best RJ45 crimper under $100?

Hi,

Can you recommend a good crimping tool for RJ45 plugs under $100?

I'll use it mostly for me and friends, not for professional work.

Thanks.

Even they may be displeased. Crimpers take a lot of knowledge and skill to use correctly. You need to know a fair bit in at least three areas: wiremap, plug/cable selection and crimp depth.

Hint: pros _buy_ patchcords and avoid crimpers.

-- Robert

LOL I own a pair of AMP crimpers and I can't remember exactly when I had the 8-pin die in the tool, but I remember where. It was an auto dealership that has not been my account for at lest 5 years :-)

Likewise, the 4-pin handset die has been in its case for at least 4 years.

Carl Navarro

maxim2k wrote in news:42ff1c75$0$849$afc38c87 @news.easynet.it:

Ideal makes a really nice one for 60 or 70 dollars. which i believe is their most expensive rj45 and rj11 crimper. also cuts and strips...

smowk

ps - also at home depot and the likes

Are you talking about RJ11 and 45 connectors or coax? With those plastic block twisted pair connectors, you're only pressing down the pins and the lock tab, not actually crimping anything.

I heard that Ideal tools only crimp in two locations, not in three like professional crimpers (AMP, etc.).

Is that true for all Ideal tools or just low-end ones?

How about the Ideal Ratchet Telemaster (30-696)? Does it crimp in two or three locations?

Thanks.

As someone that installs my own plugs plugs only when I can't avoid it I find that the *only* plugs I can wire up correctly are the AMP plugs that have the little alignment block. I have the right AMP tool for those plugs.

If the OP hasn't tried to do a crimp already I suggest he borrow a tool, plugs and some wire and try it for himself.

IMO I could live without crimping any plugs and just use 110 keystones in surface mount blocks or keystones.

It is not how many locations, it's what's the actual position on the plug it presses at. Ideal crimper won't crimp AMP plugs due to differences in positions of the locking tab on the plugs from those manufacturers. But if you get Ideal plugs and Ideal crimper you won't have a problem at all. Ideal crimper is nice, I actually like it better that AMP, but that's just a personal preference. Good luck!

So, why the reference to three locations?

RJ45, as per the message subject.

And that would be in reference to coax connectors, not RJ45.

As per my previous message, I read that some tools only crimp in two locations and they don't do a good job as professional tools that crimp in three locations.

Thanks.

As with most things, you gets what you pays for. The inexpensive Ideal crimper, for example, does not crimp at all three locations. It only crimps two points, so the wires don't have a firm anchoring as with a better quality crimper. The Paladin crfimpers were up around a hundred, maybe more than that now, and looked pretty sturdy. I don't rememebr if they crimped all three points, tho.

A couple points that are important. Some cheap crimpers try to do doo much, like also crimp RJ-11. They have cut corners, so they do not seat the gold plated pins well, so that the teeth don't pierce the wire insulation fully and make good contact.

Also, you will never get better than cat5 quality cables. Since currently virtually all contractors are installing cat6, IMHO you will never get the full channel up to cat6 if you use anything but the best cripmers that do the special cat6 connectors. And it's also so cheap to buy your patch cords premade, with cat6 cable and connectors, so doing your own crimping is not the best idea nowadays.

Warning about this - see my other followup.

AMP crimpers (RJ) crimp the connectors in three locations, not two, as do some of the cheaper crimpers.

I still don't understand what the 3 points are. There are the contacts, which are pushed down, the locking tab and ???

"Watson A.Name - \\"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\\"" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

I have both a nice paladin, around $120, and an Ideal, and i carry the ideal all the time, lighter, smaller, easier to user, and just all around better.

smowk

This may be a patented AMP improvement on RJ plugs.

Their third location is a lock-down bar between the gold IDC teeth and the cable jacket lock-down bar near the end. This intermediate point holds conductor insulation tightly and reduces stress on the gold IDCs when the cable jacket crawls.

-- Robert

That might explain it. I've never worked with AMP plugs, that I'm aware of.