Mike McGinley, Double-M Service
Problem
It is tedious to trim and dress the end of a solid unshielded twisted-pair (utp) cable for insertion into an 8-pin modular plug and to keep the conductors straight and in the proper order. Consistently maintaining the untwist length necessary to ensure consistent performance is also challenging.
Solution
Make a jig by cutting an unused 8-pin modular plug. You can then guide the conductors through the jig each time you`re terminating a utp cable. The jig is easily made in the field and involves little time or material cost.
Procedure
1) Using a fine saw such as a razor or jeweler`s saw, cut an unused 8-pin modular plug just behind the metal wire-gripping contacts. If you do not have a razor or jeweler`s saw, you can use a hacksaw, but make sure the cut is clean. You may have to file the cut end of the plug.
2) Strip about 11/2 inches off a utp cable jacket, lay the conductors in the proper order, and insert them through the jig until the cable jacket bottoms out in the plug as it would during a normal termination.
3) Straighten the protruding conductors with your fingers and cut them straight across, leaving approximately 3/16 inch exposed. The exact length that your conductors should be exposed will vary according to how long or short you cut the jig. You will have a good idea after a few terminations.
4) Withdraw the cable from the jig. It should now be ready to insert into a new plug with the conductors laying in a flat row and exposed exactly the right amount.
5) Carefully insert the conductors into the new plug and crimp.
Mike McGinley is a cabling contractor and an electrician with Double-M Service (Chippewa Falls, WI). This tip was submitted for the Cabling Installer Tips` Contest at Cabling Installation Expo `98, held last October in Atlanta, GA.
