Staples for CAT 5 cable

[Stuart91]

I have an installation to tackle soon which is going to require tacking down a long run of CAT 5 cable. The run is round lots of curves so trunking isn't an option. My first thought is to use a staple gun to tack it down. We already have an Arrow model which shoots insulated staples which are about the right size for typical mic cable, but I think they'd be a bit loose for CAT 5. We have smaller staples that are ideal for induction loops, but whilst they are fine on a solid wire, I'm concerned that they'd crush the CAT 5.

 

I'm wondering if there's a solution in between that would work? I'm sure there are plenty of people on the forum tacking down CAT 5 on a regular basis so keen to hear your experiences.

[sleah]

Telephone and alarm cables are regularly stapled, and the cable is often the same size as CAT5, so maybe search for staples for alarm/telephone cable?

[timsabre]

If the cat5 is used for ethernet, you will knacker up the impedance of the cable if you crush it with the staples and this will cause problems. So I would be careful...

[gyro_gearloose]

If you're worried about crushing the cable, then cable clips, a hammer, and a steady hand are the way to go. The problem with stapling cable is that you never know if the staple will crush your cable until you've stapled it!

[Stuart91]

If you're worried about crushing the cable, then cable clips, a hammer, and a steady hand are the way to go.

 

Hammer? Check!

Cable clips? Check!

Steady hand? Err...

 

Certainly I'd prefer to staple the cable down, prior experience with mic, speaker, and VGA cable has been that staples have wound up being a neater solution.

 

I'm guessing some sort of insulated staple would provide protection against crushing?

[beware]

Or insulated cat5...

[Stuart91]

Or insulated cat5...

 

Indeed.

 

I haven't bought the cable yet, so am open to ideas on that front too.

 

I had thought about using cable designed for outdoor use, which is a little bit more robust, but I can only see that in black, and need white/cream for this job.

[jonathanhill]

I have used an Arrow T59 stapler with the insulated staples for mains, signal and Cat5.

 

Two sizes, 6mm and 8mm are available.

[Stuart91]

I have used an Arrow T59 stapler with the insulated staples for mains, signal and Cat5.

 

Two sizes, 6mm and 8mm are available.

 

Do the 6mm cables hold typical CAT 5 cable quite snugly? We're got a T59 but I think it's the 8mm that we've always used, mainly for speaker cable.

[paulears]

You can get insulated staples for a staple gun that have an safe shape

here

http://www.limelight.org.uk/staple.png

[jonathanhill]

It was a while ago, but I cannot recall any issues with 6mm staples on Cat5.

[Stuart91]

The staples that Paul links to are the T59 6mm ones that Jonathan is recommending.

 

We've already got a T59 gun, so I'll buy a few packets and try them out on some scrap cable. Looks like the best option at this point.

[dbuckley]

Folks with long memories will recall that the then British Telecom bought their way into the alarm business, with the idea that installing an alarm is no harder than installing telephones, and they had a country-wide force of people who could do such a thing.

 

The BT wiremen used the same stapler for security wiring as they did for phone wiring, and of course, the the wire was physically different, and thus incompatible with their staplers.

 

So the moral here is you need the right tool for the job, as Cat5/6/whatever cable is, as noted by Tim above, electrically compromised when deformed.

[Ynot]

Speaking from experience, the Law of Sod will dictate that when using a cable stapler, it will either be on the last couple of yards that you will inadvertently pop a staple THROUGH the cable, thus rendering said cable null and void, OR it will be somewhere in the middle of the run, and you have no easy way of finding and removing (on the off chance that it MAY work afterwards)said staple....

 

;)

[alistermorton]

Cat5/6/whatever cable is, as noted by Tim above, electrically compromised when deformed.

 

For this reason it's also not really a good idea to pull CAT5, it should be laid (or as a last resort, blown). It doesn't take much tension on a CAT5 cable to alter the characteristics permanently.