Crimping CAT7 connectors high failure rates

[CapLeaker]

I’ve had and got a few projects using quality CAT6 and CAT7 23awg solid copper, shielded, direct burial cable. Each time I use CAT7 connectors, most of them fail making good connections to the 4 wire pairs after crimping. I tied a couple of crimping tools, thinking my crimper is bad. Also used different CAT7 RJ45 connector manufacturers. Same thing. I kinda calculate 6 connectors to make one cable!
Get this: I use CAT5 or CAT6 connectors, no problem. Very rare I have a miss crimp with those. So what gives?!

[sam_sam_sam]

Do you think it is a quality issue with the crimp connectors dose the CAT7 use the same crimping tool as the CAT5 or is the cable quality the issue or a combination of both of them

[stj]

i had to do some outdoor cat7 for a friend - the insulation on that stuff is very tough to penetrate.

[sam_sam_sam]

i had to do some outdoor cat7 for a friend - the insulation on that stuff is very tough to penetrate.

So do you think that the crimps are designed correctly for the insulation on the wires to make a good connection
or
Dose the crimping tool needs to be made differently to penetrate the wire insulation to make a good connection between the connector and the wires of the cable
or
A combination of both of these items needs to be made better

[CapLeaker]

Do you think it is a quality issue with the crimp connectors dose the CAT7 use the same crimping tool as the CAT5 or is the cable quality the issue or a combination of both of them

I have no idea what the problem is. It's almost like they need a different crimping tool or they use different AWG wires. I tried a few different AWG 23 outdoor rated and shielded cables manufacturers and CAT6 and CAT 7 quality cables. Using these cables with a CAT6 connector is no problem, besides its a very snug fit. But using any kind of CAT7 connector spells a lot of miss crimps for me, where at least one to 4 wires do not make any or intermittent connection on the cable end. Sux balls man!

[CapLeaker]

i had to do some outdoor cat7 for a friend - the insulation on that stuff is very tough to penetrate.

Yes, it is though cable, exactly what I need. But it is the end crimp from the connector to the cable pair that is the problem.

[stj]

i wasnt doing plugs, i was doing keystone wall sockets.
those use split-contacts.
but i still had to compress the crimp body with plumbers grips!!!

there are differences in plugs from different companies - the good ones have the wire go right through the plug and the crimper trims the exess after you squeeze them.
the contacts on cat5 plugs are pretty blunt - i think for cat7 they need to be razor sharp to be reliable - that and/or longer to go not just into the wire but out of the other side to be 100% sure it penetrated.

[CapLeaker]

i wasnt doing plugs, i was doing keystone wall sockets.
those use split-contacts.
but i still had to compress the crimp body with plumbers grips!!!

there are differences in plugs from different companies - the good ones have the wire go right through the plug and the crimper trims the exess after you squeeze them.
the contacts on cat5 plugs are pretty blunt - i think for cat7 they need to be razor sharp to be reliable - that and/or longer to go not just into the wire but out of the other side to be 100% sure it penetrated.

Aaah! To me its more like the pins on the crimper tool aren't long enough to push the pins on the connector down good. I tried a couple of different crimpers with the exact same result.

[stj]

with cat7 you need to use crimpers designed or made by the same company as the plugs

[sam_sam_sam]

with cat7 you need to use crimpers designed or made by the same company as the plugs

What the heck is this nonsense so that got a racket on this item really ( crimps and tooling wow )

What think of next you buy a brand of cable then you buy crimps and the tool all the same manufacturer wow

At this point you might as well buy a complete cable with end already installed

[stj]

cat7 plugs arent "normal", each company has tried to make them "better" in various ways.
they arent as compatable as cat5 plugs from the instalation standpoint.
extreme example here:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CXLCAT8FD.html

[CapLeaker]

cat7 plugs arent "normal", each company has tried to make them "better" in various ways.
they arent as compatable as cat5 plugs from the instalation standpoint.
extreme example here:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CXLCAT8FD.html

These are the crimp less RJ45's what you are talking about. You need a punch down tool for these, just like a wall socket.

What I had gotten from large suppliers was this style and keep sending me this crap. Problem is that I can't use the other connector due to room constraints. There is just no way for me to fit that crimpless style.

[harp]

I am wonder on what force is connection relay? In order to reliable connect two solid material, there must be some element who can provide elastic force all the time. I look at the picture of cat.7 connector and it designed to squze terminal pads directli on top to wire, but when force is gone it is suposed to some other element act like oposite elastic... is that plastic insulation? Realy? I found some pictures where is ilustrated that contact go through insulation, which make sense, but it is overiltstrated - in reality I think that pads just bump to wire and stay there marely touching pads... stiffnes of wire, and zig-zag plastic pattern allow that joint can micro move develop a poor contact too due to weakness of plastic over time...

[harp]

Capleaker......... Aaah! To me its more like the pins on the crimper tool aren't long enough to push the pins on the connector down good. I tried a couple of different crimpers with the exact same result. ?................. If you thin that is the problem you can try make some extension adapter to push it litle more, maybe 0.3-0.4mm will fit?

[CapLeaker]

Capleaker......... Aaah! To me its more like the pins on the crimper tool aren't long enough to push the pins on the connector down good. I tried a couple of different crimpers with the exact same result. ?................. If you thin that is the problem you can try make some extension adapter to push it litle more, maybe 0.3-0.4mm will fit?

Hmm... they are using stranded wire in the illustration there. I am using solid copper. I did look closer with a microscope at these CAT7 connectors (3 different brands) and compared them to the CAT6 connectors I got. The hole for the wire pairs are a bit bigger on the CAT7 vs CAT6. It's like the CAT7 is made for AWG22 vs CAT6 AWG23!
Problem is there is not much of 22AWG wire CAT anything to be had!

[stj]

cat7 and up is getting stupid - may as well just use optical fiber.
the cable is so stiff i had to use 45mm deep wall boxes to get the cable behind the plate - just.
the box really needed to be a lot deeper but thats the deepest they make!

[the Benninger]

Each category was designed with different specifications, clearly if you have a Cat6 cable you must use a Cat6 connector and not another, you are making a storm in a glass of water

[rogfanther]

And that becomes a problem. The stiffeness of the cable makes the things inside of the wall boxes to be tensioned like a spring. Even with Cat6, after some time bad contacts start forming due to this "tension". Worse yet when you need to install two RJ45 jacks on the same 2x4 plate... But people hear that they should "use Cat6 because it is better ... ", ...

[CapLeaker]

Each category was designed with different specifications, clearly if you have a Cat6 cable you must use a Cat6 connector and not another, you are making a storm in a glass of water

Same thing with CAT7 cable. Most CAT6 have same AWG23 wire pairs inside. There is very little AWG 22 around. Go around and have a look!

[CapLeaker]

And that becomes a problem. The stiffeness of the cable makes the things inside of the wall boxes to be tensioned like a spring. Even with Cat6, after some time bad contacts start forming due to this "tension". Worse yet when you need to install two RJ45 jacks on the same 2x4 plate... But people hear that they should "use Cat6 because it is better ... ", ...

I don't have problems with CAT6 and tension. CAT 6 is better specifically with very long runs. That is a problem I have.... most of my runs are 200+ feet and up from there and outdoor, shielded and direct burial. Not that cheap indoor crap. I don't use this stuff for anything indoors. This cable is used for other things that have POE+ and passive POE and live outdoors.

Power consumption is another problem I have. 60W @ 28V! over a 200ft run. There is quite a bit of power loss in that cable.