Help with RJ45 Network Connector

[philba]

Another approach is to get an RJ45 jack,

cut off your broken connector and punchdown the wires on the jack.
Get a surface mount box and put the jack in that.

Then use a standard rj45 cable. Probably around $6-7 cost plus cable cost.

[MrAl]

Hi again,

Len:
Funny story here...i was originally going to use two jacks as you suggest, but what happened
was the place where i was about to order from suddenly went out of stock on them but i still
had to place the order because i needed other things, so i ended up not being able to order
from another place that might have them, and i lost out on getting them for the time.
Too bad too because they were arranged as 2 per board (small pc board) and that would have
given me exactly what i needed. The price was so good too.
I think i will take your advice anyway and order two sockets and do it that way.

philba:
Oh yes, that jack looks like something that could be wired up without any special
tools. Where did you find that blue one?
I was also going to buy a two socket block like i think your other pic shows, but they
wanted 10 dollars for it at Office Depot and i thought that was just way too much.

[philba]

You can get punch down keystone jacks just about anywhere. I think I saw some at 7-11...

Seriously, home depot carries them. and lots of on-line stores have them as well. should be around $3 on-line, $5 from brick and mortar places. The ones from home despot usually have an el-cheapo punchdown tool. Ugly but it works. You'll need to trim the wires separately. I bought a good punchdown tool for about $35, iirc. Of course I wired 2 houses for phone and networking so it was worth the price.

[MrAl]

Hi again,

I didnt know that Home Depot carried them. I dont remember seeing anything like that there,
but then i wasnt really looking all the times i was there for other things.
The one we have near me, we are lucky they carry 2x4's ha ha.
I will definitely look for one or two next time i am over there.
Yeah i really dont want to spend 35 dollars on a tool when i will probably only
have to do this once. Maybe i can do it some other way. I'll have to see the
connector first though.
As i was saying before i had great success doing phone line 4 conductor end plugs
without a special tool...just a little jig to hold the end firmly while i pushed down the
pins with a thin blade small screwdriver. Takes little force but it works great for
those one or two piece home jobs.

[MrAl]

Hi,

I had a look on the Home Depot site and it looks like they only carry a 50 pack RJ45 connector pack???
This would be wayyyy too many for my needs, now or for the next 1000 years. Do they sell
smaller quantities?

[frhrwa]

do you have a graybar supply house anywhere nearby?

[reloadron]

Mr Al, if you just want several RJ45 connectors feel free to PM me and I'll send you some. I have bags of the things.

I know what you mean as to the Home Depot website. However, I have a home depot 1/2 mile one way and a Lowes 1/2 mile the other way. Each has a section in an aisle with wall plate female connectors, cable, and all sorts of connectors and adapters for home networking, as well as a collection of telephone connectors, cable and jacks. I didn't see any of that stuff on their website.

Radio Shack is another good source of that stuff.

Ron

[Lenp]

Al,

I'll second the offer, and send some cat5 cables too!

Len

[MrAl]

Hi,

Wow, you guys are way too kind! Now i dont know which one of you to ask
Len, i think you still have my address?
What can i do to repay the generous offers? Can i at least pay the shipping?

Actually, two RJ45 plug ends and one cord would hold me over for 100 years

[Lenp]

Al,
Your address seems to be lost!
PM me and I'l get the package out!
Len
(PS:What length cables, if you have a choice?)

[reloadron]

OTAY, we will let Len take care of it then. This should put the problem to rest.

Ron

[MrAl]

Hi again,


Thanks very much to both of you.
Len, i'll send you a PM.

Thanks again...

[MrAl]

Hi again,

Ron, thanks very much again for your generous offer. I really do appreciate that.
If you think i can help with any of your projects, dont hesitate to ask.
Len has now sent me a bunch of stuff, much more than i expected, which
includes several RJ45 plugs, several really nice self-crimping jacks (really cool),
a coupling box, and several cat5e cables! I have plenty to experiment with
now thanks to him and i think i will have this problem fixed for good now.

[MrAl]

Hi again,


In a word: FIXED!

Ok, but that doesnt do it justice he he. Thing is, i got the new connector on there and wouldnt you know it,
one wire, and one that was needed for the network connection, did not make contact to the new plug!
I had to carefully pry one of the connector pins back up so i could slide the missing wire under the prongs.
Luckily, it worked when i pushed it back down
I'm typing in here now so it must be working.

Thanks again!

And, goodbye toothpick


I almost forgot to mention that when one of those RJ45 connectors is crimped on the end of the wire there
are 8 contacts that have to be pressed down using a lot of force with a screwdriver or something, but even
once that is done normally with a tool to do this the tool would also crimp the *plastic* itself down onto
the body of the plastic jacket that surrounds the 8 tiny wires and makes it a cable. Without the tool, it is
not obvious how to do this correctly so instead i had applied a small amount of super glue to the top and
bottom of the jacket and then slid it into the plastic plug and let dry for two hours.
The jacket slides a bit over the wires even after the 8 contacts are pushed down (they embed into the wire)
and so the jacket can be slid out of the plastic plug, glue applied, and then slid back in without too much
trouble. This gives the plug more durability without having to actually crimp the plastic too.
I used to do this with regular phone plugs too (4 conductor) but i dont remember how i crimped the plastic
plug onto the jacket...i know i used super glue for that too, but i also crimped it somehow, maybe with a
larger screwdriver.
Well anyway just in case anyone else ever has to do this at least we know it is possible.

And once again, goodbye silly toothpick

[frhrwa]

to bad your so far away, I have the RJ45 tool and could put ends on for you, but.. why not just put RJ45 jacks on each end of the cable, and use shorter RJ45 cables in them to/from whatever your hooking up?..