TitleThis advice applies equally to copper and fibre-optic
cable.
Installation tips
General Public Safety Rules
KRONE is obliged by European Law to make course attendees aware of
Health and Safety rules and correct working practices.
Office Working
When working in an office, mark off areas where cables could be a
potential hazard
Remove all customer’s items that could be damaged during the
installation.
Remember: A tidy job is a safe job!
Installation tips
Protective shoes must be worn at all times.
Protective gloves should be worn when pulling in cables.
Goggles must be worn when removing ceiling tiles or when drilling
and chopping into walls.
It is advisable to wear protective overalls to stop loose clothing
getting caught.
Installation tips
Ladder Safety
Before using ladders and stepladders, make sure the correct Safety
Procedures are followed for
Siting
Bad weather use
Hazardous Materials and Precautions
If you think you may be working in an area where asbestos or other
suspect substances are present:
Stop and inform your supervisor.
Always ask your Supervisor if you have to work in the proximity of
unknown substances.
Always observe your national Health and Safety at Work
regulations.
Installation tips
Be aware of all electrical cables and inductive lighting.
Be aware of anything that could cause interference to the
cable
Installation tips
Possible Routes
A careful survey of cabling and wiring routes should be made to
select the best alternatives
The time taken completing a site survey of cable routes will
expedite the installation
Look for possible routes:
Be aware of electrical cable runs
Installation tips
Estimation of Cable Needed
Use site plans to estimate length of cable needed, remembering to
leave at least:
50cm at socket
2 meters at frame (for terminating).
For short runs pace out length
For suspended ceilings, remember to include length to ceiling and
drop to floor
Do not exceed the cable lengths specified in the Standards
Installation tips
Cables should follow well defined routes
Tray work can be used when available, but must be segregated from
other cables.
Where tray work is not available fixing to the top ceiling must be
made every 300mm max.
If fixing to ceiling is not possible, route round walls
Installation tips
Routing Precautions
On no account should cables be suspended from ceiling support
hangers.
When cables are concealed, they must be labelled at all points
where they enter and emerge
Fire walls and barriers must be reinstated to the original standard
of protection
On no account should cables run near fluorescent lights and
inductive circuits
Installation tips
Site Plans and Building Plans
Site plans will be available for a new construction; consult with
customer and construction company for running cables.
Occupied building: Ask customer for a plan with socket requirements
marked on it
Installation tips
Location of Central Distribution
A room or closet should be chosen for the central
distribution.
There should be adequate room to work freely around the frame and
equipment.
Be aware of heat dissipated from the telecommunication equipment
and look at what air flow is available; natural or installed.
Distribution frames should not be located where personnel could be
put at risk. Example: lift shafts, motor rooms.
Installation tips
Universal Stripping Tool for removing insulation without
damaging the conductors.
Side (Diagonal) Cutters (10 to 12mm) for cutting the cable off the
reel and to fine tune the cable ends.
Installation tips
Box Labelling
Label the ends of cable and the corresponding box. This will help
for identification purposes at the central distribution frame and
socket.
Installation tips
Running Cluster Cables
Connect first cluster of cables to draw wire and pull to the first
opening in ceiling.
Connect second cluster to draw wire and repeat the clusters process
until you reach the end of the run.
Installation tips
Floor access traps should not be left open and unguarded.
When working in a floor access use proper guard rails round tile
access.
As soon as work is completed all covers and fixing screws should be
properly secured
Installation tips
BS EN 50174-2 states that:
Data cables and power cables must not share the same duct or
conduit:
Installation tips
Installation tips
Suspended Computer Floor
When running under raised tile floor, lift as many panels as
possible to get from A to B
Cables must be labelled at all points where they enter and
submerge
Cables must follow well defined routes via floor access.
Installation tips
Suspended Computer Floor
Communication cables should be separated from electrical cable by
either an electrical screen or a distance of 50 mm to reduce
interference
Consideration should be given to the use of fire retardant cable
and low smoke emission properties
Installation tips
… use the correct categorised 4-Pair Cable.
… label each cable before installation, mark it at both ends - more
than once - using a waterproof marker.
… make the longest run first, so that you can take advantage of the
pull string on the shorter runs.
… run cables straight and free of kinks with gentle bends for any
change of direction.
… run cables point to point in one continuous length without any
joints in the run.
Installation tips
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Do
… make a schematic diagram showing where the cable runs are and
numbers of the rooms they go to...
… later, when you wire the patch panel, this plan will tell you
what order to position the cables.
… protect cables where they pass through or over sharp edges, holes
etc.
Installation tips
Don’t
… cut unlabelled cable; label cable before routing it or you’ll
lose track of which cables go to which rooms.
… label cable "Ms. Scholl’s room." Instead, use a label that will
be understandable to someone years later, such as "Room 103".
… plan runs longer than 90 metres.
… run UTP/FTP/STP cabling outside!
Installation tips
Don’t
… joint any cable between the patch panel and the wall
outlet.
… bend cables to less than 8x the diameter of the cable during
installation and 4x when installed.
… stretch cables (max. pulling force should not exceed 110
Newton).
... bend the cable or "kink" it when tying it down or laying it in
cable trays or runway strips.
… allow cable to be stretched, pinched, kinked, walked on or have
any other undue stress or tension applied to the cable.
Installation tips
Don’t
… tie cable ties too tight - they should be able to slide a
little.
… install or lay cable too close to fluorescent lights or power
lines. This may result in interference and reduce network quality
and/or speed.
… run cables near or parallel to power cables
… run cables near devices which can introduce noise. (i.e. heaters,
printers, monitors, lights, copiers, microwaves, etc.).
… strip off too much sheathing or untwist the pairs more than
13mm
Installation tips
Leave enough spare cable
Don’t cut corners with cable - leave ample slack. A metre or so of
cable costs a lot less than the time it takes to redo a cable run
because of cable lengths being too short or the cable being
stretched.
When you wire the jacks and patch panel you should have enough
slack to reach the floor and extend another metre at both ends of
the cable.
In addition, it’s standard practice to leave a service coil - a few
extra feet of cable coiled up inside the ceiling or other
out-of-the-way place. However, do not exceed the 90m rule.
Installation tips
Common cabling installation faults
Excessive untwisting of the pairs prior to insertion into the IDC
contacts. The maximum allowed is 13mm;
Failure to adhere to the maximum bend radius (less than four times
the diameter of the cable);
Over-cinching of cable bundles
Installation - Cable sheath removal
Maintaining cable sheath integrity is associated with the design
and control of cable impedance.
The most common problem associated with large impedance variations
is excessive return loss.
Disturbing the pair geometry and removing too much cable sheath can
adversely affect FEXT and Attenuation performance.
There are no standard requirements on the maximum amount of cable
sheath to remove, but we recommend that no more that 75 mm (3.0) of
the sheath be removed.
Installation tips
The following are quotations from Standards:
July 1991: “UTP connecting hardware shall be installed to provide
minimal signal impairment by preserving wire pair twists as close
as possible to the point of mechanical termination”.
October 1995: “The amount of untwisting in a pair as the result of
termination to connecting hardware shall be no greater than 13mm
(0.5) for Cat. 5 cables and no greater than 25mm (1.0) for Cat. 3
cables”.
No more than 13mm (0.5) of pair untwist should be made for Cat. 5e
and Cat. 6 cables.
Installation tips
Sheath removal
Care should be taken to minimise cable sheath disturbance and/or
removal. Do not exceed 75mm.
Untwisting pairs
Do not exceed 13mm of untwist for Cat. 5e and Cat. 6 cabling.
13 mm max.
75 mm max.
Floor Distributor Layout
Information on laying out a cabinet for use as a floor
distributor.
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Overview
The detailed layout of communications racks varies naturally from
installation to installation but there is an overall scheme that
has become generally accepted.
The scheme allows for the expansion of the wiring network and
maintains a consistent arrangement of equipment without the need
for constant reorganisation when additions or alterations are
made.
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1. Permanent UTP/STP cabling to users’ outlets.
This is usually presented in the form of RJ45 patch panels.
2. Permanent twisted pair connections to incoming voice circuits
from the Building Distribution Frame (BDF).
These too are presented in the form of RJ45 patch panels.
3. Active communications equipment connected to the campus data
network.
These always require an electrical mains supply but they vary
widely in outward appearance; commonly, they are Ethernet switches
presenting their output ports on RJ45 sockets.
4. Electrical mains distribution.
These components are installed as a bank of unswitched mains
sockets.
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Provisioning (2)
4.Optical fibre terminations that provide the actual link to the
campus data network.
These are usually presented in the form of a ‘fibre tray’ with the
connections protected by dust caps.
Occasionally, the connection to the campus data network may be
achieved by means other than optical fibres. (e.g. coax or twisted
pair cables).
5.Cable management components.
These usually take the form of metal loops to retain the cables
used to make the patched connections between active equipment and
users’ sockets.
NOTE: The use of nylon cable ties is now not recommended. Cable
bundles should be formed/secured using reusable fabric hook and
loop ties (‘Velcro’). This form of cable tie allows additions and
changes to be made easily, does not distort cables and does not
tear the skin.
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Recommended cabinet layout
Patching for users’ sockets is located at the front-top of the rack
and expands downwards.
Active communications equipment is located in the front-middle of
the rack and expands either towards the voice patching fields or
towards the users’ outlet patching fields as space permits.
Patching for voice circuits is located at the front-near-bottom of
the rack and expands upwards towards the top of the rack. Optical
fibre trays are located below the voice-patching field at the
front-near-bottom of the rack and expand downwards.
206.bin
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Notes
1. Mains distribution for the rack is located at the back of the
cabinet and is fed from an unswitched fused spur which is in turn
derived from an independent feed on the mains distribution board
within the building.
The mains cables to the communications equipment should formed into
a neat cable loom with fabric hook and loop ties and kept away from
any voice or data cables. The metalwork of the rack or cabinet
should be bonded to earth.
2. Cable management fields for patch cables are located at the
front-topmost position of the rack and then at every fourth
position thereafter.
Cable management for permanent wiring is located at the back of the
cabinet and secured using fabric hook and loop ties
(‘Velcro’).
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Installation tips
Laying cables (2)
Cables going through risers between floors must be properly
supported for their weight.
Installation tips
Laying cables (3)
Proper use of waterfall (rounded transition) fittings for cable
changing from a horizontal path to a vertical one. This maintains
the minimum bend radius for Cat. 5e and Cat. 6 cable.
Installation tips
NOTE:
.Finished section going into conduits that has been properly bundle
to Ladder Tray with Velcro strips.
The conduit bushings on the end of the conduits are fitted to
prevent the cable being nicked on rough conduit edges during
pulling.
Installation tips
There are multiple problems with this picture.
1: The Hooks are attached to the ceiling grid.
2: The cable bundle is practically laying in the fluorescent light
just left of middle in the photo.
Installation tips
Laying cables - Installation errors (2)
This is not acceptable. The cable should have branched out at the
support.
Installation tips
Never run parallel with electrical conduits or strap to them.
Installation tips
A kink that has been pulled
straight using excessive
back on itself.
forced straight.
Note the cuts in the
cable sheath
Installation tips
147.txt
The pairs have been untwisted too much.
The pairs are correctly untwisted to within 13mm of the IDC
termination.
Too much sheathing has been removed from the cable.
Cable tie wraps
The tie wrap is too tight, the cable geometry has been altered.
Never cinch plastic cable ties overly tight. If it deforms the
outer cable jacket it is too tight.
The cable tie is holding the cable but not changing the
geometry.
Wall fixings
Bend radius
Excessive bending tends to open wire twists making the cable more
susceptible to noise.
Common Cable Installation Faults
Excessive untwisting of the pairs prior to insertion into the IDC
contacts. The maximum allowed for Category 5e is 13mm and 0mm for
Category 6.
Failure to adhere to the maximum bend radius (less than four times
the diameter of the cable).
Over-cinching of cable bundles.
Installation tips
Cable Sheath Removal
Maintaining cable sheath integrity is associated with the design
and control of cable impedance.
The most common problem associated with large impedance variations
is excessive return loss.
Disturbing the pair geometry and removing too much cable sheath can
adversely affect FEXT and Attenuation performance.
There are no standard requirements on the maximum amount of cable
sheath to remove, but we recommend that the sheath be maintained as
close as practically possible to the point of termination.
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Insulation Displacement Connection
When the Insulation Displacement Contacts (IDC) pierce the
conductor they produce a weak point within it. By angling the
contact at 450 the weak point is minimised. If the conductor is not
restrained it could lead to a fracture
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Termination of PCB Patch Panel
Install the cable and tie the cable into position on the Patch
Panel plate using cable ties.
Terminate using the preferred termination pattern, either 568A or
568B
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Fire Stopping
Fire containment is an essential part of a cable installer’s job,
as it is often necessary to create openings in the existing walls
and floors within a building. These must be closed safely,
according to construction and fire regulations.
Firestopping Is necessary for 5 reasons:
– Saving lives
– Buying time
– Improper firestopping
– Not firestopping
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