sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Extending Cat5e cables

If you do any kind of splicing note it at the MDF something like "Cables spliced rm ## n side 3 ceiling tile from the door."

that way if there are issues and somebody is troubleshooting they know where to start

If you shop around, you can find both 5e and 6 junction boxes for sub $4.00 each. I get mine from East Ohio somewhere, but I don't remember where. I have about 5 in stock. It's ugly when some clown extends cables in the ceiling with a 5e jack and crimps a 5e plug on the extended cable. I found it, because the cable leaving the source was white and the cable at the drop was blue :-)

When it happened, my tester said "Volts!" on the blue leg. I just used the whole mess as a pull cord and replaced the 135' run.

Here's a link to the inexpensive junction box https://www.electriduct.com/Junction-Box-Punch-Down-Type.html

Carl

I know Carl those are nice, but 20 of them up in the ceiling? Besides, I'd rather get paid to rerun the drops.

-Hal

I used a bunch of them a while back in a house where the omnipotent and omniscient "MASTER ELECTRICIAN" had not only run the data wires along with the Romex, but had actually tie-wrapped them all together. The customer's computers and whole-house audio system wouldn't work (shock!) I couldn't re-run them, because it was a finished house, so I used those splice boxes on a dozen or so re-routed Cat5e cables. Everything works, and I haven't heard any complaints since then.

Thanks all for the input. I agree but the customer wants to cheap it out. My last resort is when I go to pull the permit I will explain to the inspector how we will do this (So it doesn't come back to bite me)and maybe he will say no. Problem solved. Thanks again.

Every customer wants to go cheap

I can't imagine that the inspector cares how or why you spliced the cables.

Hmmm, good point. He would have something to say about patch panels or a bunch of those splice boxes in a plenum ceiling.

-Hal

What kind of inspection, and by whom? I have never once encountered an inspector who was in the least interested (or knowledgeable) in what kind of work I did. In this business, it's the honor system. And there some very dishonorable hacks out there.

Not all space above a drop ceiling is a plenum.

Yes, you can treat it all as a plenum to be safe if you want but there is no requirement to.