110 block wiring questions

signal15

Senior Member
Who here knows it all about wiring a 110 block? Turns out there is a huge data/telecom warehouse about 2 miles from my house, so I picked up a Suttle 300 pair block, with C-4 clips, and a 5 pair punchdown tool (they were out of the 4 pair ones).

I have a few questions and assumptions, correct me if I'm wrong on anything:
- I put the incoming pairs into the block, and punch it down so it cuts the wires, THEN I put the clip on top and punch that down. Then I can make my cross connects.
- Can the clips be installed in any direction? They look like it, but one side of each clip is colored green.
- I guess I can set the clips in there to test this, but do you normally put a C5 clip on each end and then use C4 clips for the rest?

Even though this is just for alarm wiring (since I wired it all with Cat6), I still want to make sure I'm doing it "right" as I'll be eventually using these to do a riser to the attic for ethernet.

Also, any tips would be helpful.
 
The C-4 clips are installed in Blue-Orange-Green-Brown sequence left to right. Since there are slots for 25 pairs across a 110 block and C-4s take just 24 of them, it is common to use a C-5 at the right end just to fill out the row. The C-5 has the same sequence but adds another pair with a color coding called slate. It is really gray color, but don't ever let a phone man hear you call it gray.

I hope you used solid, not stranded, cat6. Some say they use stranded, but I haven't made reliable connections in 110-blocks or 66-blocks with stranded wire.
 
I used solid core for everything. I did a test punch last night and I think I'm ready to unhook everything from my panel and put it into the block tonight
 
just be sure to get it right the first time... those clips rarely come off without damage once they're on. For that reason, lots of people actually prefer the 66 blocks for easy changes. also Cat6 is thicker so hopefully it's a Cat6 block.

i have one of those 5-pair punches - that thing is great - especially for seating the clips
 
It's not a Cat-6 block, it's cat5e. The cables do fit in there fairly tight. However, there are no Cat-6 110 blocks. There are Cat-6 "110-style" blocks, and all of the manufacturers have their own design for them. The spacing is closer together for the conductors and there is some shielding in between each one. Suttle has a patent on their 210 block, so that's why all of the manufacturers have different designs. The 210 blocks are super expensive, so I just went with a regular 110 block.

I have everything that's wired punched down and cross connected as of last night. It looks nice, I'll post a pic eventually. Now I just have to figure out how to get the clip off that I used as a test punch before I started on the real wiring.
 
It's always fun resurrecting old threads.

Just got my 110 blocks mounted last night and I'm planning on doing the terminations this weekend... Just wanted to confirm a few things:

1. I should punchdown with my 110 punhdown tool (which trims the excess) before I insert the C4 clip? I'm a little concerned about the wires being trimmed to length before the clip is inserted.
2. Am I going to run into problems without owning a C4 punchdown tool?
3. How much force is going to be needed to insert the C4 clip? I'm also a bit concerned that if it requires excessive force it may break the way I mounted the blocks into my can.

Thanks in advance,
Kent
 
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