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Crimping

This document provides instructions for crimping RJ-45 connectors onto CAT-6 ethernet cable. It notes that CAT-6 cable is thicker than CAT-5 cable, so CAT-6 connectors are larger. The steps include stripping cable insulation, untwisting and straightening wire pairs, arranging wires in proper order, inserting wires into connector while holding them in place, cutting cable to length, and crimping to secure. Proper crimping ensures good electrical connection and avoids needing to re-do connections later.

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Jojo Takato
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8 views15 pages

Crimping

This document provides instructions for crimping RJ-45 connectors onto CAT-6 ethernet cable. It notes that CAT-6 cable is thicker than CAT-5 cable, so CAT-6 connectors are larger. The steps include stripping cable insulation, untwisting and straightening wire pairs, arranging wires in proper order, inserting wires into connector while holding them in place, cutting cable to length, and crimping to secure. Proper crimping ensures good electrical connection and avoids needing to re-do connections later.

Uploaded by

Jojo Takato
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Guide to Crimping

RJ-45 Connectors
• Not all RJ-45 connectors are created equally. One
reason why CAT-6 cable is much harder to work
with than CAT-5 cable is that CAT-6 is quite a bit
thicker.
• So it's hard to get RJ-45 connectors intended for
CAT-5 cable to attach properly to CAT-6 cable. When
you're shopping for RJ-45 connectors, make sure
the ones you buy are suitable for CAT-6. The picture
below shows a CAT-5 and a CAT-6 connector the
CAT-6 connector is the darker one).
• RJ-45 connectors intended for use with CAT-6
cable are larger than their CAT-5 counterparts. But
even with the correct types of connectors, working
with CAT-6 cable can be tough.
• Still, you can make the process easier. Begin by
stripping the outer covering from the end of the
cable. Remove about an inch of covering.
Eventually you'll have to cut down the amount of
exposed cable, but the process of installing the RJ-
45 connector will be easier if you have plenty of
exposed cable to work with (but not too much).
• Once you remove the outer cover, you'll see
that some of the pairs of wire are twisted
together (hence the name twisted-pair cable).
Untwist these wires. Once all the wires have
been separated, pull them backward, as
shown below, so you can cut off the exposed
plastic core, as shown below. Remove as much
of this core as you can. Be careful not to
accidentally cut the wires in the process.
• Now that the core has been removed, your
next task is to straighten the wires that were
previously twisted. The easiest way to do this
is by using two pairs of tweezers. Use one set
of tweezers to firmly hold the wire just
beneath a bend, and the other pair to
straighten the bend. The wires don't have to
be perfectly straight, but the straighter they
are, the easier your job will be.
Once you've straightened the wires, your next task is to arrange them in the order they'll
be placed into the RJ-45 connector. Working from left to right, the order of the wires is:

• Orange with a white stripe


• Orange
• Green with a white stripe
• Blue
• Blue with a white stripe
• Green
• Brown with a white stripe
• Brown
• Since the leftmost wire is the orange with the
white stripe, there's a natural tendency to
start with this wire on the left. Although it's
possible to get the wires in the correct order
using this technique, getting the wires to stay
in order when you insert the RJ-45 connector
becomes very difficult.
• Rather than starting with the orange and
white wire, lining up the wires is a lot easier if
you start with the green wire with the white
stripe, and then work on lining up the blue,
blue and white, and green wires. When all is
said and done, the wires will still have to be in
the correct order, but starting with the green
and white wire forces you to turn the cable a
different direction than if you were initially
working with the orange and white wire.
• This seems to make all the difference in the
world for getting the wires lined up in a way
that facilitates easy installation of the RJ-45
connector.
• The easiest way to slide the RJ-45 connector onto the
cable is to use your thumb to apply pressure to the
cable in the spot where the wires are first exposed from
beneath the insulation. This will help keep the wires in
order.
• When the cable is finally cut to the correct length, you
should check a few things before crimping the cable.
First, make sure the wires go all the way to the end of
the RJ-45 connector, as shown below. The easiest way
to do this is to look at the end of the connector and
make sure you see copper in each wire slot. This is
difficult to photograph, the figure below shows that the
wire goes all the way to the end of the connector.
• You should also verify that the wires are still in
the correct order. It's easy for the wires to get
out of order when installing the cable end. A
quick check at this point will keep you from
having to cut the cable end off and starting
over later.
• Assuming the wires are in order, you can go
ahead and crimp the cable. When you've
finished crimping both cable ends, you can use
a cable tester to verify that the ends were
installed correctly.

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