c/cable-installers

Finally got my hands on that new Klein coax compression tool

Wasted $75 on a generic brand last year because it was cheaper. The crimps failed on three different jobs before I gave up and bought the right one. Anyone have a good method for testing a crimp before you button everything up?

Warning: don't trust the old coax in a 1970s apartment building

My lead, Mike, told me to just patch into the existing line in a unit in the old Parkview complex. I did, and the signal was so degraded the customer's modem wouldn't sync. Had to run a whole new drop from the pole, which took an extra hour. What's the oldest wiring you guys have seen that actually still worked?

TIL my coax crimp tool was set up wrong for years

I was finishing a job in a new apartment building in Charlotte last Tuesday, and the customer complained about pixelated sports channels. I re-terminated the outlet, same issue. My boss came to check and asked to see my crimper. He flipped it over, pointed at the die, and said 'You've been using the RG6 setting on RG59 cable this whole time.' I felt so dumb. The numbers were worn off, but I never checked. I must have done hundreds of installs like that, thinking my connections were tight. We swapped the die, re-did the fitting, and the signal cleared right up. Has anyone else had a tool setting blind spot that took way too long to notice?

Vent: A customer in a 100-year-old house in Savannah had me questioning my coax routing method.

I spent half a day trying to fish a line through a plaster-and-lath wall before the homeowner pointed out an original servant's call bell conduit that ran perfectly to the basement. Anyone ever found a weird old building feature that saved a job?

My boss told me to always use a toner probe on the main line, even when the tap is marked

I mean, I used to think it was a waste of time, idk. He drilled it into me when I first started, saying 'the paint fades and the tags fall off, trust the tone.' I rolled my eyes for months, maybe it's just me but I figured if the pedestal said 'Jones' and the tap was tagged, I was good. Then last Tuesday in a newer part of town, I hooked up a house and killed service for a whole block. The markings on the tap were wrong, someone had moved them. Had to call for a line tech and it took over an hour to fix. Felt like a real idiot. So yeah, he was right. Do you guys always tone it out, or only in older areas?

Bought a cheap coax stripper from a truck stop and it cost me a whole afternoon

It was one of those three dollar plastic things near the cash register. The blade was dull right out of the package and kept crushing the braid instead of cutting it clean. I had to re-terminate six drops in an apartment building because the connections were all junk. Anyone have a stripper under twenty bucks that actually holds up?

Warning: I spent $150 on a cable toner that just made my day worse

Everyone online kept saying a high end toner was a must have for finding breaks in walls. So I bought the ProTone X3 last month, thinking it would save me hours. First job with it was a rewire in an old brick house, and the thing gave me false positives on every single stud. I'd get a solid tone, drill, and find nothing but more brick. Ended up making three extra holes I had to patch, which the homeowner noticed. Lost about two hours of billable time and had to eat the cost of the drywall repair myself. Honestly, my old probe and a bit of patience would have been faster. Has anyone else had a toner totally fail on old construction like that? What do you use instead?

Bought a cheap cable toner online and it cost me half a day's work

I grabbed a no-name toner from a website for about 30 bucks, thinking it was a good deal. Tried to use it on a job in a small apartment building to trace a line, and the thing just gave a weak signal that bled into everything. I spent over four hours opening walls and checking wrong cables before I gave up and went to get my old reliable one from the truck. Has anyone found a decent budget toner that actually works right?

Vent: Had to run a line through an old brick wall and my normal drill bit just gave up

Got a job last week in a historic district, one of those 1920s houses with solid brick walls. The homeowner wanted a new line run to his office on the other side. I pulled out my usual 3/8 inch masonry bit, figured it would be fine. After about ten minutes of drilling, I'd barely made a dent and the bit was totally shot, just spinning and getting hot. I was about to call it a day when I remembered a tip from an old-timer about using a diamond-tipped core bit with water. I didn't have one on the truck, so I had to run to the supply house and grab one. Tried it, kept a slow stream of water on it from a spray bottle, and it went through like butter in maybe two minutes. I guess I learned that for really hard, old masonry, the regular bits are just a waste of time and money. What do you guys use for super hard brick? Is there a cheaper option than the diamond bits?

Spent three hours on a crawl space that should have taken twenty minutes

Got a call for a new drop in a split-level house, figured it was a simple crawl. Opened the access panel and found the entire subfloor cavity packed with old, collapsed fiberglass insulation. It was like a pink, itchy snowdrift blocking every possible route. Had to suit up, clear a path by hand, and still ended up with a layer of that stuff in my hair. Anyone have a better method for dealing with a buried crawl space besides just digging through it?

Finally got a clean pull through a packed conduit in the old downtown buildings

Last Thursday in the historic district, I had a run of 200 feet through a conduit that was already holding power lines. I used a Greenlee fiberglass push rod and a lot of fish tape lube, taking it slow around each bend. When the mouse finally popped out the other end without a single snag, the building super just said, 'Well, that was quick.' Anyone have a favorite lube for really tight, old pipes like that?

Watch out for that old coax in the attic crawl space

I was on a job in a 1970s split-level last week and the main line from the pole was buried under blown-in insulation, but I found a short piece of old RG-59 running along a joist and used it as a pull string for the new RG-6. It saved me about an hour of fishing and kept me from having to cut a new hole in the soffit. What's the oldest cable you've found still useful on a job?

Watch out for those old aerial drops in older neighborhoods

Last week in a 1970s subdivision, I put weight on a weathered line from the pole and the whole thing snapped, nearly dropping the ladder. Anyone else run into this and have a safe way to test them first?

Heard a new guy call a 66 block 'ancient tech' and it took me back to my first year in the trade.

It made me realize we used to spend half a day just punching down a single apartment building's phone lines, a job that takes maybe an hour now with modern panels.

Spent $300 on a new cable toner and it saved me hours on a job in Phoenix last week

Pulled a 20 year old coax line out of a house in Akron last week

It was the original install from when the place was built, still had the old twist on connectors and that stiff black jacket. Last month I was in a new build running fiber through a pre made chase, took maybe 20 minutes. Three years ago I was crawling through an attic in July to fish a line, sweating buckets. Now half the jobs are just swapping a modem. Anyone else feel like the actual cable part of the job is getting rare?

Heard a customer call our work 'just plugging in a box' on a phone call.

I was finishing a wall fish in a Denver apartment and the guy was talking to his friend, saying we have the easiest job ever. He said, 'They just drill a hole and plug a box in, how hard can it be?' Man, he didn't see the two hours I spent mapping his old coax, the attic crawl, or the custom plate I had to make. It's never just one thing. What's the most clueless thing you've heard a customer say about the job?

I finally tried that new compression tool from the supply truck after my foreman in Toledo swore it was faster, and now I'm mad I waited so long.

I was sure it was just another gimmick, but after using it to finish a whole apartment complex drop in under two hours last week, I have to admit it actually works. What other 'gimmick' tools have you guys tried that turned out to be worth the money?

Bought a cheap coax stripper online and it cost me a whole morning

I grabbed one of those $15 strippers from a random site last month thinking it was a good deal. The blade was dull right out of the box and it kept nicking the center conductor, causing signal issues on every other fitting. I had to redo three jobs from that day, which set me back about four hours of work. In my experience, that little tool probably cost me over $200 in lost time. Has anyone found a brand that actually holds up without breaking the bank?

Remember when we had to carry a separate toner for every cable type?

Back in 2012, my truck kit had three different toners (one for coax, one for cat5, one for phone lines, you know the drill). Now I just use my Fluke Pro3000 for everything, which happened about five years ago when the company finally upgraded our gear. It saves me at least 20 minutes per job not having to swap tools. Anyone else miss the old dedicated gear, or is the all-in-one unit just way better?

Almost got zapped on a job in Tampa last month

I was running a new drop to a backyard shed and didn't check for a buried power line first. My drill bit hit a 120v line that was only 4 inches down, and the whole metal ladder I was on buzzed. What's your go-to method for checking for hidden lines before you dig?

TIL a trick for fishing through a double-brick wall in an old Boston building

The drill bit kept binding up in the mortar. I tried a smaller pilot hole first, then used a shop vac to suck out the dust as I went... it went through clean in maybe 15 minutes. Anyone have a different method for those super thick walls?

Had a customer in a Denver suburb who insisted I run the coax through his pet door

I was setting up a new line for his home theater system last fall, and he pointed to the little flap in his back door. He said, 'It's already a hole, right? Just feed it through there, it'll save you time.' I had to explain that a standard pet door flap would chew through the cable in about a week. He looked genuinely surprised and asked, 'But what about the cold air getting in?' What's the strangest 'shortcut' a customer has ever suggested to you?

That time a squirrel chewed through a main line in a Cincinnati attic

I was up in a hot attic last summer running a new drop, and I found a whole nest of coax pieces where a squirrel family had been using the old cable as a chew toy. I had to splice in about 15 feet of new RG6 and secure the whole run inside a piece of PVC conduit to keep them from doing it again. What's the weirdest animal damage you've had to fix on a job?

The worst week of my career was in February, all because of one attic.

I got sent to an old house in the historic district to run a new line. The attic was maybe two feet high at the peak, packed with blown-in insulation, and it was 95 degrees outside. I spent over four hours up there, cutting in a new drop and fishing wire through three separate fire blocks. The debate I keep having with myself is whether I should have just refused the job on safety grounds or pushed through because the customer needed service. Has anyone else had a crawl space so bad you considered walking off the job?