Warning: I was crimping coax connectors wrong for years and didn't know it

I was working on a tough drop in Portland last week, and my signal levels were all over the place. The homeowner, an old broadcast engineer, watched me for a minute and said, 'You're not compressing the connector enough before you crimp, are you?' He was right. I was just pushing the tool until it clicked once. He showed me to compress it fully, wait a second, then give it a second, firmer squeeze. My next three terminations tested perfect. How many of you do that double-squeeze, or is there a better trick?

3 comments

3 Comments

piper_lopez1mo ago

Guess that explains my spotty connections last year.

robert_craig1mo ago

Man, I feel that. I spent a whole weekend re-running cable in my attic because my internet kept dropping. Signal looked terrible. Turns out I was doing the same thing, just one wimpy crimp. My neighbor, who used to install satellite, finally came over and saw me. He just shook his head. Showed me the proper squeeze. Felt like a real idiot. That second, harder press makes all the difference.

grant_cooper10d ago

and the thing nobody talks about is how much the crimper itself matters. i bought a cheap one from amazon for like 15 bucks and it worked fine for a few months but then started getting loose. ended up with bad crimps even when i was squeezing twice. borrowed my buddies $40 one and holy crap what a difference. the dies actually lined up perfect and gave a clean squeeze every time. sometimes it really is the tool not just the technique.