Wiring questions

[Marshall Henry]

I have a few questions I was hoping you guys could help me out with. First a little background/context - I have a two story home, with only 1 coax from the basement closet where my node for the hopper & splitters are headed up to the 2nd story (routed inside). I also have 1 ethernet cable that goes from that closet to my office upstairs, which is routed outside. All three of my coax cables from the dish are also routed along side that ethernet cable.

Last summer, I finished my basement and in doing so I finished over the ethernet cable/coax cables in the basement, they are now only exposed in the closet under the staircase (all connections are in that closet).

All of the cables are run down the side of the house, which is on the south side. At some point I would expect the sun/weather will probably ruin these cables, at which point they would have to be rerouted to the other side of the house where this is a un-finished "utility room" and into the closet from there. Is there a way to better protect these cables? What do you guys suggest?

And my second question is, I am looking to add coax to the rest of the bedrooms on my second floor. The cable that was run to the master bedroom runs through the attic first so I do have reasonably easy access to it and they left a lot of slack. I have no experience adding ends to coax cables, which I am sure I could learn, but does anyone have suggestions as to a "starter" crimping kit, etc?

Thanks.

 

[ds2600]

As far as ease of use, I've done the whole stripping cable manually, and this cable prep tool makes it quick, easy and you don't have to worry about cutting off too much of the jacket or anything.

You can find connectors for a good price near anywhere. This is pretty much what you're looking for though.

You'll also need a decent set of crimpers, which you can get for a reasonable price most anywhere as well.

 

[harshness]

The covering probably doesn't need to be watertight, it just needs to be UV resistant and something you can put over existing cable. Unless you live in an area with extreme sun exposure, the cable should last 15 years or more without additional protection.

Terminating cable should be done with what is commonly called "compression connectors". Crimps are out of favor (because they aren't easy to do consistently) and screw-on connectors were never acceptable.

You can buy a compression crimper at a home improvement store for $15-25. Most carry the Ideal brand and they aren't too shabby.

A good stripper will set you back around $10-15 and you should use cable cutting shears ($7 or so) to cut the cable. Diagonal cutters are not as good as shears as they pinch and squeeze.

Here's one of Ideal's kits:

Most of the compression connectors are compatible with the tools so as long as you don't buy anything exotic, you should be able to make something like this work.

There are numerous YouTube videos that speak to the process of terminating using compression connectors and you would be well served to start there to see what you're in for.

 

[Ganthet]

I would worry more about ethernet cable being exposed than the coax. Average cat5e/6 is intended for indoor use. They do make outdoor grade Cat5e/6 rated for exterior use, but it is a real pain to work with so your install is probably standard indoor cable.

You could protect the cables with exterior wire mold. That would put a cover over all the cables to protect them from the elements. They are also usually paintable so they can be made to match your house color.

 

[Marshall Henry]

Thank you for the input, very helpful. I did wire the cat5e cable myself and I bought an outdoor rated cable Which I am hoping lasts a long time. It is the cable I am most worried about, however.

 

[n0qcu]

a diagonal cutter will work just fine because when you strip the end of the cable you remove the part that has been pinched or squeezed.

 

[harshness]

a diagonal cutter will work just fine because when you strip the end of the cable you remove the part that has been pinched or squeezed.

The tip of the center conductor may be flattened like a cold chisel and that's not optimal. Shears typically leave a round center conductor tip with a flat perpendicular face.