olivers28•27d agoMost Upvoted

An old timer told me my barrel connectors were junk and now I crimp everything

I used to rely on those twist-on barrel connectors for outdoor splices because they were fast and easy. This guy with 30 years in the game watched me do one and said those things fail every time moisture gets in, so I switched to compression fittings with heat shrink. Has anyone else had splices go bad after a few months with the twist-ons?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_eva27d ago

Has your inner perfectionist ever looked at a messy cable job and just had to walk away for a minute? Mine sure has, I've definitely been the one re-crimping the same wire three times because it wasn't pretty enough.

robin48927d ago

And honestly @the_eva, I've walked away from a whole project for a day just because the zip ties weren't lined up perfectly. My neighbors probably think I'm a little odd when they see me out on the porch holding a cable at arm's length, squinting at it like it's a piece of fine art. I've definitely re-terminated the same ethernet cable five times because the jacket wasn't stripped back exactly 3/4 of an inch. My wife just rolls her eyes now whenever she hears me muttering "close enough" to myself in the basement. I guess it's a small price to pay for the satisfaction of a perfectly flat, color-coded patch panel though. You're not alone in the three-crimp club.