I bought the UbiGear Crimp 315. I have not crimped Cat5e before so there was a learning curve. Fortunately, I have a brother with experience.
The yellow wire stripper is useless. When I used it to strip the Cat5e cable it nicked 1 or more wires underneath the outer shield. So I used a small scissors to cut upwards from the end for the length that I needed, then around the cable to reach the wires underneath. I made the mistake of trying to strip the individual wires before inserting them into the clip; not necessary. However, the stripper did a very poor job anyway, either stripping one side of the insulation or cutting through the wire. I have tossed the stripper.
The crimper does a very nice job of piercing the wires and making a good connection. Once I understood how to do it, it was fairly easy and each connection worked well. The tester allowed me to separate the units and put one on the second floor and the base on the other end on the first floor. The clips aren't high quality but they work just fine for my needs. I ran the first two wires from 2nd floor, to the attic, down to the crawl space and back up to the first floor. I put the clips on all 4 ends and used the tester to confirm. I connected to my cable box, the Roku box and the Sony Blu-ray player. All connections tested OK and now no more drops from the wireless connection. I'm going to add a switch to one of the wires and run more Cat5e to other first floor rooms.
How I did the crimps
-Run your wires as necessary in your home
-Strip about a half inch of outer insulation from the end of the Cat5e exposing the 4 twisted pairs of wires
-Straighten the individual wire pairs and align them according to the T568B or T568A standard (see the included instruction sheet). Whichever you use, always use that through your network. Flatten the pairs of aligned wires, you may need to trim them so they are all the same length.
-When you have the wires aligned to the standard, use forceps (or some gentle clip) to flatten and hold them in place
-With the retaining tab facing down, push the wires into the end of the clip. You should see the tips of the wires at the other end of the clip. You can look at the edges to see the outer 2 wires. It's very important that you have them ALL THE WAY to the end of the clip
-Insert the clip into the center (8P) of the crimper, tab up, careful not to pull the wires out. Squeeze the crimper and the chrome slide will go up to force the gold tabs up into the individual wires, piercing them and making the connection. Depress the tab on the clip and remove it from the crimper
-Do the other end of the wire the same way
-Separate the 2 pieces of the tester, put the smaller on one end of a new Cat5e clip
-Make sure there are batteries in the large tester and put the other end of the Cat5e into it. Move the slide switch to on or s(slow). "G" will light on only one of the testers (OK). Each tester will glow red for each of the numbers 1-8 (4 pair). If any light is missing then the crimp didn't work. (I went through about 6 clips before getting it right. Then the rest were OK on the first try.)
Hope this helps someone else.
| Brand | UbiGear |
|---|---|
| Series | UBITOOLKITS |
| Item model number | UNTK002 |
| Item Weight | 1.35 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 8.5 x 1.5 x 6 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 8.5 x 1.5 x 6 inches |
| Power Source | Battery Powered |
| Manufacturer | CAAG Technology Inc |
| ASIN | B008UY5WL0 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | August 8, 2012 |
