Attaching Compression Fittings...

[JKeats]

When attaching a compression fitting (i'm using Digicon DS6) i know i fold the braid back over the cable... but what about the foil. is that supposed to be folded back as well, or left in place, or removed entirely?

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[ats7627]

I always leave the foil in place. Make sure none of the braid or foil is near the center conductor.

 

[JKeats]

the conductor being the copper core... right? lol. sorry... i don't have all the terms down.

also... i'm using digicon DS6 fittings and my cable is RG6 yet it seems quite difficult to get the fitting to push on all the way to the cable (prior to compression). is this normal? or should they be going on with much ease and something's amis with either my cable or my fittings?

 

[mudder1310]

You should be folding back all the braid but not the foil that is next to the white dielectric foam, about 1/4" long. You should be able to slide the fitting on smoothly but firmly, twisting a bit as you go. The white foam inside should line up even with a collar so it looks like a full glass of milk. Crimp. Set your side cutter on the front rim of the fitting and trim the center conductor back, this should leave it just past the front end of the fitting. No braid, foil, or foam should be left around the center conductor.

 

[JKeats]

great. thanks!!!!

 

[peid]

I just did 15 fittings in my basement and about half of them slid right on the other half I had to fight like you wouldn't believe.

 

[Devil24]

I need some tips too, hehehe.

I just got a new Ripley crimping tool plus some fittings (both PPC and Gilbert) from The Dish Store because I'm putting up 2 new dishes, one for 61.5 and one for 148, here in my place.

Any advice will be appreciated .

 

[Mike500]

Here'd the proper way to strip the cable and place the fittiongs. I compiled this from industry manuals including Snap-N-Seal, PPC and Digicon;

Stripping and installing connectors on RG6QS Coax


Careful preparation of the cable end is very very important, especially with quad shielded cable. Sloppy preparation will result is the ruining of the tool and failure to set the Snap-N-Seal connector properly.

1. Place the inner sleeve of the Snap-N-Seal connector with the wide end away from the end of the cable.

2. Strip off the outer jacket of the cable and a portion of the center conductor as instructed by the document provided with the tool.

3. Carefully fold back the outer shielding wires against the outer jacket of the cable evenly, exposing the inner shielding wires.

4. Carefully cut away the outer foil shielding layer, and remove it to exposed the inner shielding wires.

5. Carefully and evenly fold back the inner shielding wires evenly against the outer jacket.

6. Snap off the main body of the connector and insert it fully on the cable end. The connector is fully inserted when the center connector is level with the end of the connector, when looking inside the nut.

7. Compress the connector on the cable with the proper compression tool.


Reasons why the shield wires must remain intact and must be folded over the outer jacket

A straight cut of the outer jacket and the shield wire layer(s) down to the center conductor insulator will not allow full contact and retention of the outer shield. The shielded wires must be folded back over the jacket. Not doung so means that the connector is just slid over the shield wires and outer jacket and retention of the shield wires are held by friction, not by tightly held tension. Tightly clamping the ends of the shield wires prevents degrading the electrical contact of the shield wires, which serves as one leg of the voltage switching circuit for the multiswitch or lnb of 15-18 volts. If you are passing only a RF signal, it is not a problem, and might not be a problem for short coax runs. But on long runs, any minor bit or corrosion or separation of the barrel from the shield wires might lead to failure and a resultant voltage drop over time. This will manifest itself in the lost of the even transponders in the signal.

The industry standard is the 1/4"x1/4" strip on the coax. If the center insulator is below the center hole in the barrel, the coax has not been fully seated. Idealy, it should sit about 1/16" or 2mm out of the hole. If you a using a compression tool that applies pressure to the inside of the connector, the plunger will force the center conductor almost flush. Over time it might return to the 2mm protrusion. This protrusion is ideal in that it eliminates the "air" gap between the center conductor insulator and the female socket port. The "air" gap increases the chances of water vapor entry and corrosion. If you look at an F81 female port carefully, you will notice that it is recessed about 1/32" or 1mm.

So, folding back the shield wires enhances the electrical contact surface between the shield and the barrel of the connector. It also increases the connectors resistance to pull off. The bent over shield wires clamped by any type of connector prevents "pull off" and ensures the integrety of the connection for passage of both the RF signal, and more importantly, with dbs, the free conveyance of the lnb switching current.


My compilation refers to quad shielded cable, which is the most difficult to install connectors on. Trishield and regualr shielded install methods are similar.

 

[markspace]

> 4. Carefully cut away the outer foil shielding layer, and remove it to exposed the inner shielding wires.

I think this may be a matter of preference and the tolerance of the compression connector being used. I have found that leaving both shields in place is not a problem, and I actually believe that gives me slightly more electrical contact for that outer shield (than removing it would).

For those that have found it hard to fully insert the stripped coax into the fitting: I use a tool that I picked up from Hometech (the Etcon CX1, billed as "F connector installation tool"). The CX1 lets you use your palm to push the connector onto the coax, and makes the insertion painless and easy.

I've been using only the T&B Snap-n-seal connectors, too. ymmv with other compression connectors.

-- Mark

 

[Grandude]

> 4. Carefully cut away the outer foil shielding layer, and remove it to exposed the inner shielding wires.

I think this may be a matter of preference and the tolerance of the compression connector being used. I have found that leaving both shields in place is not a problem, and I actually believe that gives me slightly more electrical contact for that outer shield (than removing it would).

For those that have found it hard to fully insert the stripped coax into the fitting: I use a tool that I picked up from Hometech (the Etcon CX1, billed as "F connector installation tool"). The CX1 lets you use your palm to push the connector onto the coax, and makes the insertion painless and easy.

I've been using only the T&B Snap-n-seal connectors, too. ymmv with other compression connectors.

-- Mark

Thanks to all for this thread.
I too have been struggling with the problem of pushing the compression connector on far enough without ruining my hands.
That Etcon tool looks like a good addition to my tool chest.
I have one question though: I have looked down the barrel of two styles of compression fittings and the inside of the barrel appears to be plastic as opposed to metal so it would seem to me that there really is no electrical contact of the shielding to the outer barrel. It would appear to me that the electrical contact is where the inner tube pushes down between the shield wires and the foil. Am I missing something? Are some compression connectors different from what I have seen so far?

 

[VOOMER]

Thanks to all for this thread.
I too have been struggling with the problem of pushing the compression connector on far enough without ruining my hands.
That Etcon tool looks like a good addition to my tool chest.
I have one question though: I have looked down the barrel of two styles of compression fittings and the inside of the barrel appears to be plastic as opposed to metal so it would seem to me that there really is no electrical contact of the shielding to the outer barrel. It would appear to me that the electrical contact is where the inner tube pushes down between the shield wires and the foil. Am I missing something? Are some compression connectors different from what I have seen so far?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where you possibly looking at Digicon fittings ?

They have an insert which slides out when you insert your RG6 into the connector.

 

[Devil24]

markspace,

Do you think this tool will also be a good option for 'F connectors' installations???.

I just don't want to wait for that long if I order the CX1 from Hometech, which if shipped via UPS Ground, will be here wednesday/thursday of next week if I complete my order today.

 

[Grandude]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where you possibly looking at Digicon fittings ?

They have an insert which slides out when you insert your RG6 into the connector.

No, I was looking at Gilbert and Eagle Aspen. (so far)

 

[Grandude]

markspace,

Do you think this tool will also be a good option for 'F connectors' installations???.

I just don't want to wait for that long if I order the CX1 from Hometech, which if shipped via UPS Ground, will be here wednesday/thursday of next week if I complete my order today.

I ran down to RS today and bought the tool. It does work but has one drawback. You cannot tell if you have pushed the connector on far enough. The work-a-round for me would be to make a mark approximately 1 and 1/4 inches down on the cable but that may be different for various connectors and also difficult if the cable jacket is black.

I think it also can be used to compress Gilbert connector along with one wrench. Haven't tried that yet.

 

[markspace]

markspace,

Do you think this tool will also be a good option for 'F connectors' installations???.

I just don't want to wait for that long if I order the CX1 from Hometech, which if shipped via UPS Ground, will be here wednesday/thursday of next week if I complete my order today.

That RS part looks like it would serve a similar purpose, although because of it's shape, it wouldn't fit quite as nicely in your palm. If you're in a hurry, the $4 for the RS T handle wouldn't be much of a gamble. When I got my Etcon tool, I figured I was only going to do about 6-8 connectors. But with it, the nice stripping tool, and the easy to use compression pliers, I ended up doing a lot more cables (didn't think twice about replacing and/or rerunning a length instead of just making do).