Crimp Tool For Shielded CAT5e

[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

I don’t do a ton of LV, but this just came up.

I’m running a bunch of shielded cat5 and I’m wondering if there is a specialty tool for making crimps on the shielded connectors, to properly crimp the metal sleeve to the shield?

The interwebs are unsurprisingly both overwhelming and uninformative at the same time.

 

[ModbusMan]

On the female/keystone side, I'm not aware of any. When I did my house 10 years ago with 6A, there was a tool to set the conductors into the keystone itself and evenly press them in all at once (as opposed to a 110 style impact tool to do one at a time), but for the shield I'd peel back the webbing, close and snap the clamshell around it, then trim off the whiskers with a pair of mini-dikes. For the male, I would just buy what I wanted and not fuss with making my own.

 

[hbiss]

When I did my house 10 years ago with 6A, there was a tool to set the conductors into the keystone itself and evenly press them in all at once (as opposed to a 110 style impact tool to do one at a time)

Sure. I have the one for Leviton CAT5e unshielded keystones that I use all the time.

Not sure which end the OP is looking for. Keep in mind that the shielding carries through the jack and plug. Here is a typical plug. Notice how the outside of the plug is the ground and how it connects with the ground from the cable.



The keystone jack is quite a bit more complicated than the usual unshielded ones. The instruction sheet is here: https://www.alldataresource.com/ass...sX1_Shielded_Connectors_5ESJK_61SJK_6ASJK.pdf


All manufacturers are different. The plug requires the specific crimp tool from the manufacturer. Not all keystone jacks are the same either. So, whatever manufacturer you pick you have to go to their website to see the installation instructions and what tools to use. Good reason to pick one you like and stay with that one.


-Hal

 

[tthh]

I have a Klein Tools 80024 RJ45 crimp tool for pass-thru connectors that does unshielded and shielded. Off hand, I don't remember doing any shielded, but it works fine on unshielded.

 

[hbiss]

How well does it work with non-Klein plugs?

-Hal