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bed of nails question

I do a lot of tracing and probing trying to follow wires in private homes for Ethernet access. I recently got a bed of nails for my signal generator, hoping it would make it easy for me to simply clamp onto a wire instead of having to strip the wire and use alligator clips. It appears that the distance between the "nails" and the clamping side is so large it will not pierce a standard telephone wire during testing of the product I received.

Is this defective, or should I simply build up the flat under the bed of nails to increase the pressure. This is my first experience with a bed of nails set, so I don't know what the distance is supposed to be inside the clamp. I have a piercing clamp, and that single point actually goes beyond the flat through a hole, but it's only good for heavier wires. If I use that clamp, and can get it centered on the wire, it will snap the wire for sure. I actually modified that one to fit my VOM.

Any advice welcome.

Sheldon snipped-for-privacy@sopris.net

Reply to
Sheldon
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There's only one company I know of that makes top-quality ABN (Angled Bed of Nails) test clips: J.S. Popper. You'll find their stuff on most butt sets, and pretty much all of the Greenlee-branded toners (except for their lowest-end stuff).

You can buy just a pair of the clips, complete with red & black boots, from Graybar Electric, as they're a full-line distributor for Popper.

I can't speak to whatever you found, but I do know from direct experience that Popper's clips will go straight through most insulation with practically nothing other than clip pressure, and they won't clobber the wire doing it.

Happy hunting.

Reply to
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee

Thanks.

The problem with these clips is that there is too much space between the "bed of nails" and the other side of the clip, and as you know phone wires and Ethernet wires are pretty thin.

Reply to
Sheldon

Ah. You needn't worry about that with Popper. The nail tips aren't even a millimeter away from the flat surface on their clips. I've used them with great success on 24-26 gauge solid wire, and stranded CAT-5 as well.

Keep the peace(es).

Reply to
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee

Thanks again. Yeah, I took a look at the Popper clips on the Net and they do look a lot better than the ones I got.

Sheldon snipped-for-privacy@sopris.net

Reply to
Sheldon

I called the company and it turns out the bed of nails was defective. They forgot to mount the "anvil" in the clip, so the nails had nothing to press against. They are sending me another set at no charge, and I don't have to return the defective one.

Reply to
Sheldon

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