Hot take: I was crimping my RJ31X jacks wrong for a decade

I was on a service call for a false alarm at a dentist's office in Tacoma. The panel kept showing a line fault. I checked my usual stuff, then the owner mentioned his phone guy was there last week. I pulled the jack and saw the crimp. The wires were in the right order, but the jacket wasn't seated all the way under the crimp bar. The phone guy had done it perfectly. I realized I'd been leaving a tiny gap for years, just enough to let moisture or movement cause issues. My crimps looked fine to me, but they weren't factory tight. I bought a new tool that day. How many of you actually check the jacket crimp, not just the pin connections?

3 comments

3 Comments

leow9026d ago

Yeah that jacket crimp is key for a good seal. You got a link for that new tool you bought?

webb.evan24d ago

That crimp detail feels a bit overblown, leow90, unless you're building a submarine.

faithgonzalez26d ago

Wait you were doing that for a decade and nobody ever called you on it? That's wild lol. I'm lowkey paranoid now and gonna go check my last few jobs. It's always the tiny detail you never think about that gets you.