Tips for wiring office

[sys-eng]

What these more experienced cablers are saying is true about Cat6. You must determine up front if you are going with 100-Mb or GigE because they do require different procedures, patch panels, connectors, wire, and sometimes different tools. It can be frustrating and wasteful to install Cat6 then find that it does not test much better than 100-Mbs.

Not reusing punch panels sounds like a warning from the people selling the panels. In the Bell System network where I was a Central Office Switching Engineer, we reused the same connection many times with no problems. I suspect this may apply more to environments with corrosive atmospheres but not a typical office.

 

[Rob_NNCC]

I second StoneCat, it is B all the way. I wire everything B and find that almost everything is wired B.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

I've never heard of any preference...like res or gov. Back when doing my cert classes with Leviton, they even said in the US it's 99.99999% B, other countries you can find A.

Even the wiring guys we sub work to...it's all B regardless of type of installation.

Well NEC I believe stated that you could use A in residential, I use "B" for everything, but our government contracts were VERY specific that "A" HAD TO BE used..... it was even in the RFQ.

 

[NETWizz]

Just use B for any new installs and match what they have got on existing installs. I doubt hardly anyone uses A, but if they do match it for that job.

The bailing wire is a great idea as is pulling in some pull string to do more pulls (especially if you have conduit).

That said, never do two (2) drops instead of one (1)... unless they are paying for two drops. If you do, they will probably forget all about you and then contract with another company that will determine the cable is already there and charge them a full $150 to $200 for the drop, which will take 5 minutes to terminate, test, and label being the cable is already there.

Yeah... Do the service loops, too.


Make sure you have fiberglass fish rod, and remember metal construction is EASIER than wooden construction! With metal you just feed it down the hollow wall and are good to go. With wood, you keep hitting fire-breaks and have to cut sheet-rock (carefully to be easily patched) drill a hole, and feed the cable through it... This takes a LOT of time... Plus you have to glue or tape and sometimes sand/paint to get rid of the access hole you cut for sheet rock on wood...

Then there is BRICK, which is the worse because all you can do is drill a hole through it and fish the cable... Then you have to run tons of cable runner and get all the end caps, inside/outside corners, 90 degree bends... joiners, etc. To me cable runners look bad though they are a TON better than just running cable on the wall.


Regardless, you now have enough tips to do the job. Just make sure it looks good, is easily serviceable in the future, supports future bandwidth (i.e. CAT6 vs CAT5), that you are legally allowed to do the work, and that it is up to code. I don't like seeing shortcuts everywhere!

 

[Velvis]

All great tips and much appreciated and very helpful. Couple of questions:

1) What is a service loop?

2) Does anyone know if plenum rated cable is required in Mass for above drop ceilings? (its quite a bit more expensive than riser) (I assume it is)

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

All great tips and much appreciated and very helpful. Couple of questions:

1) What is a service loop?

2) Does anyone know if plenum rated cable is required in Mass for above drop ceilings? (its quite a bit more expensive than riser) (I assume it is)

1: a service loop is usually about 3' of cable that is left in the wall or above the ceiling in case you need to move or reterminate at a later date.

2: It all depends on the building, - check whether it's an air return or not.

 

[sys-eng]

. . . With wood, you keep hitting fire-breaks and have to cut sheet-rock (carefully to be easily patched) drill a hole, and feed the cable through it... This takes a LOT of time... Plus you have to glue or tape and sometimes sand/paint to get rid of the access hole you cut for sheet rock on wood...

Most modern construction does not have "fire blocks" because they really only waste wood if covered with drywall. but they were popular about 30 years ago. If you do run into horizontal blocks, there are special drill bits that you put through the top plate hole and drill the blocks. I have these bits in 4 ft and 6 ft lengths. They have a flexible rod and a hole in them to pull your twine through with also. I believe they cost no more than $30. They sure beat cutting the drywall.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

Most modern construction does not have "fire blocks" because they really only waste wood if covered with drywall. but they were popular about 30 years ago. If you do run into horizontal blocks, there are special drill bits that you put through the top plate hole and drill the blocks. I have these bits in 4 ft and 6 ft lengths. They have a flexible rod and a hole in them to pull your twine through with also. I believe they cost no more than $30. They sure beat cutting the drywall.

yep I can go up to 30' horizontally or vertically, coupled with a camera they do great!

 

[sys-eng]

30 ft !! Wow!!

Mine have a solid spring-steel rod. Yours must be more fancy than that. You would have to have a camera that far away to avoid drilling the wrong place.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

Most modern construction does not have "fire blocks" because they really only waste wood if covered with drywall. but they were popular about 30 years ago. If you do run into horizontal blocks, there are special drill bits that you put through the top plate hole and drill the blocks. I have these bits in 4 ft and 6 ft lengths. They have a flexible rod and a hole in them to pull your twine through with also. I believe they cost no more than $30. They sure beat cutting the drywall.

30 ft !! Wow!!

Mine have a solid spring-steel rod. Yours must be more fancy than that. You would have to have a camera that far away to avoid drilling the wrong place.

if you use the thicker ones (like 1/2") that are 8' extension rods you can go a long way, need a high powered drill though.

 

[twonline]

Well NEC I believe stated that you could use A in residential, I use "B" for everything, but our government contracts were VERY specific that "A" HAD TO BE used..... it was even in the RFQ.

Yep, the NCS Recommendations, which govern Federal policies on wiring, say they have to use T568A because it's cross-compatible with telephone wiring. In the A config, the center connectors (4,5) are B/BW for line 1, and (3,6) O/OW for line two. In the B config you only get Line 1, as the O/OW pair is on pins 1 & 2.

While I understand the theory, 568B just caught on as it's how AT&T wired their Merlin phone systems and just created a de facto standard.

As for not running 2 drops instead of one, that's a personal choice. If it's your customer and you know you'll be supporting them, and their cabling, it makes sense to do it now. If it's a one off call for cabling that someone else usually handles, I can see your reasoning. I've had it both ways....contract companies asking me to pull a new run, and asking me to pull a spare drop for future use. Do as you see fit, and charge accordingly.

And plenum cable..yes, it's more expensive but it's also most likely required by local fire code. Even non-plenum spaces above a drop ceiling can become plenum spaces if the duct work becomes detached or damaged. If you're running cable there, do yourself a favor and use plenum rated cable.