Advice Needed Crimp F-Connectors and Crimping Tools

jeallen01

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But for any purchase over a fiver I'd need a loan ......
Start saving - 10p a week for a year and you're nearly there :D
 

jeallen01

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Kinky...

Being pedantic here, actual cripmed F types or compression? I don't like crimps so much on larger RF cable, it's ok for small stuff like RG178 etc.
So, CH says crimps for large cables, whereas you say NOT for large cables :confused
PS: I know that CH doesn't like compression connectors on coax.
 

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I just can't figure out why you didn't get in with Cabelcon connectors, they are the best thing I've ever used. 100% success rate and are sealed by design. Did you use the ones with a tool or the self install tool-less design. Every Virgin media install have them and they use some really awkward coax.

Yes crimps on larger cables I see a lot of failures. Often see the braid/sleeve pulled out. Bigger the cable the more it seems to happen. Forget then on RG213.
 
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Channel Hopper

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Kinky...

Being pedantic here, actual cripmed F types or compression? I don't like crimps so much on larger RF cable, it's ok for small stuff like RG178 etc.


Personally I think a compression connector design is overkill for something that can be achieved with a crimp design. Neither can be reused (well they can but that is the ghost of the Yorkshireman behind me) and so it all boils down to the purchase cost and tools required. The crimp tool I own must be getting on for 30 years now and still has no play in the levers/pivot points. I would need to buy a compression tool for a product that costs ten times as much.

With the advent of LNBs with a drop down sleeve there is also little need for amalgamating tape either.
 

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Personally I think a compression connector design is overkill for something that can be achieved with a crimp design. Neither can be reused (well they can but that is the ghost of the Yorkshireman behind me) and so it all boils down to the purchase cost and tools required. The crimp tool I own must be getting on for 30 years now and still has no play in the levers/pivot points. I would need to buy a compression tool for a product that costs ten times as much.

With the advent of LNBs with a drop down sleeve there is also little need for amalgamating tape either.
Yes it is all about the tool...

No I don't use amalalgamating tape on LNBs or or switches that are encased.

Joined F's I use liquid tape.
 

purplemarina

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cablecon compression plus cheap tool= Excellent they are also smooth and shiny:-wow
 

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Yes it is all about the tool...

No I don't use amalalgamating tape on LNBs or or switches that are encased.

Joined F's I use liquid tape.
"Liquid tape" - don't think I've heard of that (could it be low strength threadlock?). Any links to such products ?
 

jeallen01

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cablecon compression plus cheap tool= Excellent they are also smooth and shiny:-wow
I've got a couple of cheap compression tools but they just don't work very well -> either they just don't tighten the compression part enough and then the cable just slides out, and/or the compression part gets skewed!

I still have a few cablecon connectors left and I might be prepared to buy another compression tool - but only if I could find one that really works! Any suggestions?
 

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Use screw-on ...... :unsure
 

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..With the advent of LNBs with a drop down sleeve there is also little need for amalgamating tape either.
The drop down sleeves do prevent rain/snow directly hitting the F-connectors on LNBs (and some switches), but they can't prevent moisture ingress into the connectors when the humidity levels are high and/or condensation on the connectors when the temperature has fallen quickly.
 

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You are highlighting issues that really don't manifest themselves in the real world, though I could pop over and give you a demonstration on the correct way to attach amalgamating tape if you wish.
 

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I use almost exclusively Cablecon Self install compression connectors, very quick and no tool required, if I need something which will handle a real soaking, then I use Triax Compression connectors by choice, but they are mostly a much of a muchness. Never had an issue with compression tools, I have several of the small palm tools and a larger multitool, all do the job well.
 

jeallen01

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You are highlighting issues that really don't manifest themselves in the real world, though I could pop over and give you a demonstration on the correct way to attach amalgamating tape if you wish.
Thanks for the offer but I don't think that would help me too much because I've been using s/a tape fairly successfully for quite a few years, but on a few occasions (especially when the weather is cool/cold - but then I try hold a finger on the tape to help the amalgamation process) then fails, or at least I find that out "sometime" later when corroded connectors &/or cable cores appear.

Unfortunately for this whole issue, I have the physical problem of having quite large fingers and thumbs, and my Right thumb tip has had little or no feeling since it healed after I virtually decaptitated it at work 10 yrs or so ago - those two things make it very difficult for me to apply the tape to F-connectors in tight spaces, e.g. below motors and on switches, as I can't feel very much (being Right-handed, that hand does most of the work!). For that reason I would prefer connectors that are inherently fairly "weatherproof", although I am happy to use , and now sometimes do use, slide-on "rubber" sleeves over the cable ends of the connectors.
 

jeallen01

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I use almost exclusively Cablecon Self install compression connectors, very quick and no tool required, ....
I bought some of those as the first attempt to use something other than screw-on connectors, but then I tried them without much success - maybe I didn't follow the instructions carefully enough, or maybe I bought the wrong ones?

Which particular versions do you use for WF100 and CT/WF125 as those are the cables that I have generally been using?
 

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"Liquid tape" - don't think I've heard of that (could it be low strength threadlock?). Any links to such products ?
This is handy stuff to keep in your tool box, I use it from repairing damaged wires, sealing things, all kinds of repairs.
Liquid Electrical Tape

Might be cheaper on eBay?
I bought some of those as the first attempt to use something other than screw-on connectors, but then I tried them without much success - maybe I didn't follow the instructions carefully enough, or maybe I bought the wrong ones?

Which particular versions do you use for WF100 and CT/WF125 as those are the cables that I have generally been using?

WF100 I use Cabelcon 5.1

I also use this compression tool, it fits all compression F's I've come across:
Compression Tool Kit Crimping Crimper For RG6 RG11 RG59 F-Type Crimper Connector 7089098141997 | eBay
 

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Unfortunately for this whole issue, I have the physical problem of having quite large fingers and thumbs, and my Right thumb tip has had little or no feeling since it healed after I virtually decaptitated it at work 10 yrs or so ago - those two things make it very difficult for me to apply the tape to F-connectors in tight spaces, e.g. below motors and on switches, as I can't feel very much (being Right-handed, that hand does most of the work!). For that reason I would prefer connectors that are inherently fairly "weatherproof", although I am happy to use , and now sometimes do use, slide-on "rubber" sleeves over the cable ends of the connectors.

Now you tell us ! Fitting both screw on and crimp require a knack but basic feedback is also useful especially, the latter is helped along with a slight twist whilst applying and crimps need continuous pressure in one direction ( a bit of saliva helps both in cold weather).

I am not a fan of rubber boots - oooerrrr - unless they are designed specifically around the LNB moulding. Over the years I have seen far too many connectors swimming in pools of water and the centre core has almost always become part of the soup.
 
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I bought some of those as the first attempt to use something other than screw-on connectors, but then I tried them without much success - maybe I didn't follow the instructions carefully enough, or maybe I bought the wrong ones?

Which particular versions do you use for WF100 and CT/WF125 as those are the cables that I have generally been using?
I use WF100 or similar, hardly ever use WF125, but have some Cabelcon compressions for that.
 

jeallen01

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This is handy stuff to keep in your tool box, I use it from repairing damaged wires, sealing things, all kinds of repairs.
Liquid Electrical Tape
Might be cheaper on eBay?
Many thanks

Had a look at the linked video (at SOTA Beams) - looks to be some very interesting stuff that might well address many of my weatherproofing issues, and so ordered a can from SOTA Beams because they are actually slightly cheaper than either eBay or Amazon. But, interestingly there are a number of similar/competing products shown on Amazon including both paint-on and spray-on versions from another supplier - the spray on one could have some uses in the future.
WF100 I use Cabelcon 5.1
I also use this compression tool, it fits all compression F's I've come across:
Compression Tool Kit Crimping Crimper For RG6 RG11 RG59 F-Type Crimper Connector 7089098141997 | eBay
I was wrong in saying that I had some Cabelcon connectors left, just checked again and I don't, but I think they were 5.1s. However, on genuine WF100, I couldn't get them to grip and they mostly fell off again!

As for the compression tool, I bought one that looks pretty much identical to the one you linked, but it had, and to an extent still has, a manufacturing defect (which I didn't find out for some weeks after I bought it and when I began using it, and so could not return it:() - the compression depth adjustment screw was bent, and so, when it compressed the connector it didn't do that entirely along the connector axis, and so it bent the compression part of the connector! I did some mods (IIRC replaced the adjustment bolt and/or filed down the sliding part) and that helped but it still doesn't work properly - and it was proved very easy to over-compress and break the connector.
 
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