Tiny details that crimp your lifestyle...

When does a "little thing" become a big thing?

Certainly, a tiny, near-worthless piece of plastic is a little thing by any standard. But when that piece of plastic acts as a spring supplying the pressure to hold an RJ-45 plug securely in a computer network card, I can think of few things more annoying than its failure -- especially when it is on the end of a 50 foot ethernet cable which goes to the Internet-connected router.

I find it extremely annoying that a tiny and stupid piece of plastic can cause me to lose a blog post.

To add insult to injury, you cannot just go out and replace the tiny piece of plastic when it fails. Mine began to fail by going flat, and instead of springing back against the wall of the female NIC receptacle as it was supposed to, I had to manually pull it back. Finally it broke off, meaning that the RJ-45 plug just sits inside the NIC opening in the most sloppy manner possible, as if waiting for the opportunity to fall out. And fall out it will. All I need to do is walk around, and the cumulative effect of the vibrations on the floor will eventually cause it to loosen. If I'm lucky, I'll be there and see the warning pop up. Then I can go back behind my computer and engage in the hopeless "repositioning" ritual (repetitively shoving it back in).

Most people in such a situation would go out and buy another 50 foot cable and be done with it, but I'm a cheap and stubborn son of a bitch, and I don't like the idea of paying ten times the actual value of the cable and two plugs because some greedy bastards had an imprisoned child in China do what I can easily do myself.

And it is easy to do it; the procedure is explained in detail here.

crimp1.jpg The infuriating little plastic spring which eventually flattens and breaks is of course integral to the RJ-45 plug, but that does not matter, as each plug costs only a few cents. No big deal, right?

It's a big deal if you don't have the crimping tool and the plugs lying around (which most people don't). So, I went to TigerDirect.com as directed in the post and looked around. Things must be getting pretty competitive in the crimping tool industry, because I found this one for only $4.99! Such a deal! Of course, a comment warns that it won't last:

"This was a great product while it lasted but for me was only about two weeks. It's awsome for the price but if you plan on using it a good deal... don't."
I don't plan on using it more than once, but OTOH, what if I can't? Should I shell out $39.99 for what appears to be the Rolls Royce of crimping tools? Or for just seven more dollars, they have an ergonomically designed model... (Nah, that's probably intended for guys who make cable crimping into a lifestyle.) Maybe I should go with the medium-priced, $19.99 model?

As for the plugs, they're ten for ten dollars at TigerDirect, but I can get 100 for less than ten dollars on Ebay. However, former are described as being for "round, stranded cables" while the latter are for "Flat Stranded Cable."

So what's that about? Am I now supposed to become an expert at distinguishing between "flat stranded" and "round stranded" cables lest I spend money and find myself stranded with the wrong strands? Probably so, because another Ebay listing delivers this ominous warning:

Designed for use with solid or stranded wire! Watch out! Most plugs are designed for stranded wire only and won't work reliably on solid wire!
Solid wire? How the eff am I going to know whether my wire is solid, stranded, flat, or round without cutting into it? And if I do that before I have the new cable plugs and the crimping tool, then I won't be able to use this effing computer!

Grrr....

See what I mean about a tiny piece of plastic being a major pain in the ass?

No wonder normal people just go and spring fifty bucks for a whole new cable. They're sold nearly everywhere now, with stores just waiting to take your money. So easy and convenient! As long as you just pay, pay, pay, and shell out ten times the cost, you won't have to drive yourself nuts acting like a cheapskate. (And you'll help provide more jobs for the imprisoned children of China!)

See how complicated this gets? And it's all over a worthless piece of broken plastic. I can either spend time and money (surely the former is worth something) learning the intricacies of RJ-45 cables and the repair thereof, or I can pay a lot of money, and throw a perfectly good (and once quite expensive) piece of cable in the trash, where it will eventually end up in a politically incorrect landfill.

Might there be a better way? I was intrigued to discover evidence that I'm not the only person to realize the absurdity of this situation. An American inventor has designed a Replacement RJ45 latch, which if ever brought to market, would allow people to save suffering Chinese children, and the environment, while saying money:

The replacement latch includes a housing and a latch within the housing, wherein the latch includes: a substantially U-shaped component having a middle section that joins a first arm of the U-shaped component to a second arm of the U-shaped component, wherein the first arm terminates at a first arm end that has a shape that is geometrically similar to a standard RJ45 retention protrusion, and wherein the middle section is rotatable about a pivot point that is inside the housing, and a horizontal activator having a depressor that is in sliding contact with the second arm, wherein a horizontal movement, in a first direction, of the horizontal activator causes the middle section to rotate about the pivot point to cause the first arm end to engage against a retention lip in a female RJ45 receptacle.
Sounds like someone paid a technical writer to describe what's basically another little plastic thingie that clamps over the broken plastic thingie in such a way that there's a new spring clip to press against the NIC opening, which you can depress from a housing further back on the cable.

Hey, right now, I'd buy it. I think a lot of people would.

I almost feel stranded without it.


MORE: This site seems very thorough, and offers some details on how to distinguish between stranded and solid connectors:

The stranded-wire and solid-wire connectors are almost identical, but if you look at the crimping contacts with a magnifying glass, you will see one essential difference between them. The crimps of the stranded-wire connector have two teeth that bite straight down and through the insulation and conductors of each wire. But the solid-wire crimps have two teeth angles away from one another slightly, so that they bit down on either side of the solid conductor inside the wire.
All good and fine, but how do I know what my existing cable is without taking it apart?

It's as if I have to choose between becoming an expert about nit-picky and time-consuming details (learning the hard way, through trial and error reinvention of the wheel for a one-time project) or just simply pay up like another clueless chump.

posted by Eric on 08.27.07 at 09:13 AM





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Comments

I made custom length cables when I wired data outlets in my home. I bought a box of reasonably high-quality cable, blue - as the cable comes color-coded. I bought a crimper set that came with 20 or so connectors, for round, multi-stranded cables. I cut the pieces of cable to the desired lengths, snaked them through the walls and to their new outlets, then crimped on the connectors, which plug into the backs of the outlets. A little testing to verify I got all of the itty-bitty wires in their correct itty-bitty receivers, and that data flowed, then sealed it all up and put the crimper away.

The crimper now resides like so many of its brothers, getting in the way of my finding more immediate tools, such as vice-grips, in my toolbox.

John Lynch   ·  August 27, 2007 10:14 AM

I believe the "round or flat" refers to the overall cable and has nothing to do with the strands in each wire.

Also, you probably have stranded wire; solid wire is much stiffer and is not terribly popular for patch cables.

You might be able to tell the difference by looking closely at the end of the connector on your cable.

BC   ·  August 27, 2007 10:21 AM

How about going to the GEEK SQUAD to see if they can do it?

LYNN HARGROVE   ·  August 27, 2007 12:50 PM

There are lots and lots of uses for Cat-5 cable, so those crimpers may be more useful than you think. You can very easily use it for high-quality audio cable, for instance, though I use the old BNC+RG58 coax cable for that.

Loren Heal   ·  August 27, 2007 12:57 PM

Excuse me while I mop up ... I just peed myself laughing. I actually have the limited edition Roles Royce Model that I bought last century ... still going strong. Wired the whole damn manor with it.

Much like John ... mine also sits dusty, high upon the tool shelf.

mdmhvonpa   ·  August 27, 2007 10:23 PM

I've been dealing with broken RJ clips, mostly 11s, for ages. Fold up a scrap of paper into a wedge, and force it in where the spring clip went. I've never had a cable come loose after doing that.

triticale   ·  August 28, 2007 12:25 AM

Solid cable is for permanent wiring behind walls or in ceilings. It provides a cleaner signal for long runs. The cable is stiff. If you bend it 90 degrees it holds the shape like the arms of a Gumby doll. Dont flex it too many times or the conductors will break.

Standed cable is what they sell at BestBuy or WalMart. The signal-to-noise ratio is not as good as solid cable, but it is more robust for repeated flexing. Used for patch cables.

Then there is plenum-rated solid cable. It uses a special fire-resistent Teflon coating that doesn't release noxious gases when burned. Required by building codes in many localities. Rather expensive.

A good crimp tool will also crimp telephone cable (RJ11/RJ14) and BNC coax F-connectors for cable-TV. Useful if you do any sort of low-voltage home wiring.

Gideon   ·  August 28, 2007 05:38 AM

Hey thanks for all the comments! I decided that the wire had to be stranded, and I bought a good ratcheting crimper on ebay with 100 connectors for 15 bucks.

But Triticale, your comment about the paper was exactly what I needed! When I first tried it the paper wouldn't fit and the whole thing kept getting pushed out by the rubber sheath which once covered the plastic clip. I cut off the sheath and now it fits snugly, with no problems! (The rubber sheath, now that I think about it, was probably acting as a spring to keep pushing it out!)

Eric Scheie   ·  August 28, 2007 10:01 AM

I've spread CAT-5 cable all around my house. If you have a lot of computers and video game systems like I do it does make a lot more sense to do it yourself. But man does it drive me nuts getting all those different wires lined up properly, and then you have to test the wire and if it doesn't work you have to guess which of the two RJ-45s is the bad one...I run through a lot of those darn things :)

Mr. Bingley   ·  August 29, 2007 08:08 AM

Has no one noticed the little numbers printed along the length of the cable ? Or just never thought you could look up useful information using those numbers ? Just a thought ;-)

Pogo   ·  September 1, 2007 04:59 AM

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