RJ45 Crimper Advice

Hi,

I'm in the market for an RJ45 Crimper so that I can create my own Ethernet cables. From what I understand, crimpers vary significantly in terms of quality, ranging from good to downright useless. Is there anything specific that I need to look for to ensure years of trouble-free crimping?

Cheers,
Greenice.

Look for ones on which the jaws alight precisely, made of diecast or dropforged steel, ususally the better ones will do rj45 and 11 as well as the multi-rj which will fit in both jacks (the clear-blue ones) Hope that helps.

Greenice,

Buying an good crimping tool is very important as you want to buy it once and not every 6 months!

Before I left Australia, I got myself a neat crimping tool which I use all the time and don't regret paying the extra cash for it. The amount I paid was around the $150 mark, but certainly worth it.

I've attached a few pictures for you to look at:

The first picture is a close up, and you can see the 3 different sockets it has. It can crimp 4, 6, and 8 pin RJ 45/11. It also has a 6m and 12mm cable stripper (visible in the picture) which I've always used it for stripping telephone cables. On the other side (not shown) there are another pair of blades which simply cut the cable (no stripping).







Since I don't remember the brand, I've included a picture of the tool which shows the model number - you should be able to track down what brand the tool is by using the part/model number:

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Update

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Well I figured I'd save you the trouble and see if I can find it for you and it seems like your in luck!

Here's a link to the company that makes them and also have an online catalogue:
www.horizone.com.au/catalogue/TOOLS.htm

Let us know what your final decision was!

I spy a Cisco 2400 in the background.......

Oh no .... I've been caught! :lol:

Actually, it seems like 2400 is printed on it but it's actually a 2600 I bought from ebay! I was quoted 3,985 euros for it and picked it up for 600 euros from ebay

Thanks for the advice regarding the crimper.

After some research, I concluded in favour of buying a crimper from Ideal Industries - an American manufacturer of professional tools for Electrical and Data comm professionals. They can be found at www.idealindustries.com .

The model I purchased is called the Ratchet Telemaster, (model no: 30-696) which crimps RJ-45 and RJ-11 modular plugs. The advantage of the ratcheting feature is that it ensures that every crimp has been pressed down completely - the crimper will not release the plug otherwise. And like most crimpers, it will also cut and strip the cable. In terms of cost, I purchased a new one from an American Ebay seller for $32US. I have seen them advertised for as much as $80US+, so definately check Ebay first. Delivery to Australia was another $18US for air freight. I think that's pretty good value considering the quality of the tool.

Mind you, despite being an American company, the tool is made in Taiwan. Seems to be the trend these days.

Cheers.