Planning my panel and wiring...

[rpiatt]

Organized? :blink: This just so I ONLY have to go to Home Depot / Lowes five times instead of 14... Plus, I use Excel quite a bit in my business life, so it works for me... YMMV, as they say.

As far as shipping, I haven't forgot, I just haven't figured out the optimum ordering arrangment. Total cost of acquisition... Meaning: Even though a particular item may be more money on a unit basis, the savings in getting more from one supplier may outweigh the unit cost increase...

Candidly, maybe all this list making is because I am too chicken to cut into the wall and just start the darn project...

 

[rpiatt]

I have been looking at tools, and want to get a 110 punch down tool. however, I see they come in both "impact" and "non impact" style. I can't seem to find something telling me the difference and which is preferred. Anyone?

Anyone have a recommendation for one of these?

 

[tmbrown97]

IMPACT!! it gives you that little kick that cuts the excess and makes sure things are punched down. Without it, there's a lot of palm-hitting of the tool... My first one was non-impact to save a few $$$, but would never touch one again...

 

[AceCannon]

I also have the construction plans in PDF so i mark them up with all the sensor and outlet locations and their ID's..

Just curious - I've got my plans in PDF format also. . . What software are you using to mark them up? My OCD nature would be so gratified to paste little LV boxes all around and label them.

 

[rpiatt]

I also have the construction plans in PDF so i mark them up with all the sensor and outlet locations and their ID's..

Just curious - I've got my plans in PDF format also. . . What software are you using to mark them up? My OCD nature would be so gratified to paste little LV boxes all around and label them.

Couldn't you just drop them into Visio, kind of as a background, and then add the LV boxes where they need to go? (This of course assumes you have Visio...)

 

[royalj7]

I would reconsider the different colors for the CAT5 and coax. It's true you are going to patch them all back, so you will be able to make the data line the phone line and vise versa, but trust me in saying you will not be labeling as well as you think you are, and the notes and documentation you write down will not be as clear as you think when you go back to terminate Same goes with the coax. With different colors all you have to do is know where it is coming from. "Orange is upper right, blue is lower right, white coax upper left, etc" Also, it's been my experience wiring houses that there is no price break for 2-3 boxes of the same color cat5, so you really don't gain anything by not differentiating them. My .02

For the tools the basic kit would be a impact punchdown tool, coax stripper, CAT5 stripper (not absolutely necessary, you can get by with a razor knife, but I it makes things go much quicker), compression tool, flaring tool (same as the CAT5 stripper but your hands will thank you), and wire cutters. None of the above tools will be expensive except the compression tool, and they are not too bad.

 

[felixrosbergen]

I also have the construction plans in PDF so i mark them up with all the sensor and outlet locations and their ID's..

Just curious - I've got my plans in PDF format also. . . What software are you using to mark them up? My OCD nature would be so gratified to paste little LV boxes all around and label them.

Ace.,...we use Adobe professional at work which allows you to mark-up PDF's with circles and squares,etc.

Exactly as you said...very good for the OCD to have them all neatly in there with labels and color coded.

PM me your e-mail and I'll send you a sample.

 

[rpiatt]

I think I am finalized with my wiring layout, in terms of the drops I need to accomodate. My materials list is pretty much done, and now I am just examining tools and such.

Later this week I hope to talk with an electrician friend who does work for me every so often about getting a dedicated circuit for the panel. Not sure how easy it would be, and the temporary solution may be to extend the circuit in the 2nd floor laundry room where the panel will be. I don't want this circuit to be exhorbitantly expensive (got a baby coming shortly), but I know it is the right way to do it...

I am traveling quite a bit for work the next three weeks, so my posts may be few during that time.

Thanks to everyone who has offered their insight on my little project here...

 

[tmbrown97]

Shouldn't cost too much extra (cost of a few more feet of romex, one more breaker, and maybe an hour of electrician's time). I think it's a good idea, but probably not mandatory either.

And may be late now, but I want to chime in on the colored keystones... Basically - DON'T DO IT! the Cat5/6 is totally universal - any attempt to color-key keystones is pointless and impossible to keep to those standards. IMHO, it'll look worse when you're not following your own standard down the line. Either label well, or do what I do and use jacks that can have indicators inserted (that's why I use Siemon - you only change the indicator without ever touching the jack wiring).

http://www.siemon.com/apps/Utilities/showI...MX5-FXX_big.jpg
They don't fit leviton face plates though - they require Siemon face plates as well.

 

[sic0048]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here.

I agree with the color keystones. It is really a waste, and it just draws attention to the plate in general. I personally want those wall plates to disappear as much as possible. Having orange, or blue or red keystones just draws attention to them. You can always get clear labels and print something for the plate, but you really only want to label them Cat6 -1 and Cat6 -2, RG6 -1 and RG6 2. To specify anything more is also going to be confusing when you end up repurposing the plug to do something else.

I'll also recommend that you run more CatX wire while you can. Two is not going to be enough in some locations. Better to run three or even 4 to each location IMHO. You might be thinking 1 for phone and 1 for data. But what about extending video signals (RGB) or IR repeaters, or audio signals, etc.

With todays houses becoming more media friendly, I think you will be happier if you run more wires. These extra wires can easily becat5e wires if you want, but better to run more than you need while you can. Since you can already find uses for two wires, you need to run more for the things you forgot about or that weren't practical now, but will be in 3 years.

I've run 6 cat5e wires to my Den, and I currently use them all. Three to the TV (one for the IR repeater system, one that extends serial control for the TV, one network data which is hooked up to a thin client attached to the TV, a network cable that I have my wireless AP attached to, one network cable behind the couch where I have another thin client hooked up, and one phone). I realize my situation is probably a little more extreme than most, but I only added the IR repeater system 4 months ago and the thin clients 1 month ago. So my system is constantly changing and I'm extremely glad I ran extra wire that I thought I would never use.

PS - you don't have to use one of these overpriced "horizontal" patch panels because your space is only 14"wide. You can get any regular patch panel and mount it horizontally. So you can easily get a much larger patch panel for about the same price as those "other" panels.

 

[royalj7]

Just a clarification, I was not recommending colored keystone jacks, but actually different colored wire. Colored jacks would look tacky IMO <_< The different colored wire has helped me in numerous jobs and sped up the terminations.

 

[rpiatt]

(that's why I use Siemon - you only change the indicator without ever touching the jack wiring).

http://www.siemon.com/apps/Utilities/showI...MX5-FXX_big.jpg
They don't fit leviton face plates though - they require Siemon face plates as well.

OK. WHat supplier do you get those from. I found them at CDW, but they were 14.99 a PIECE. that is way out of my budget. Tell me there is a better option... I'll keep searching...

 

[tmbrown97]

(that's why I use Siemon - you only change the indicator without ever touching the jack wiring).

http://www.siemon.com/apps/Utilities/showI...MX5-FXX_big.jpg
They don't fit leviton face plates though - they require Siemon face plates as well.

OK. WHat supplier do you get those from. I found them at CDW, but they were 14.99 a PIECE. that is way out of my budget. Tell me there is a better option... I'll keep searching...

Yowser - I know I don't pay that much... I get mine from the local electrical supply (Graybar - contractors only) or have the wiring vendor acquire them.

Just searching the web for the right model:
http://www.controlcable.com/custom.asp?i=SE002-3

They have a lot of similar part numbers - the one you found is screened - you wouldn't want that - you can't lay them side-by-side.

One concern I didn't think of earlier though, is that these won't go into a standard Leviton-style plate - so if there's a desire to mix both Cat5 and Coax in the same plate, you'd want their special coax connectors too.