If you are familiar with me or a former student you hear me give out pro tips. Here is a list of those tips. If you would like to add to this collection email me for it to be included!
- Document, ,Document, Document
- Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
- Knowledge is power!
- You can’t listen if you are talking
- Pay it forward…teach, mentor, inspire
- Learn one new thing every day
- Icky Pic is called Icky for a reason, clean it off your tools!
- Attach pull string to kevlar (aramid yarn) when pulling ISP fiber
- Use velcro on category rated cable
- Baby power is for more than babies….use them for break out kits!
- Set your punch tool to low while terminating jacks and patch panels
- Store the blade in your punch tool to protect the cutting edge
- If you borrow it return it (and clean it)
- Verify the color code before you punch the jack/patch panel
- Put a trash can or paper under the hole you will cut for your faceplate
- You don’t leave knowledge in the ceiling!
- Use same wiring scheme on both sides of the cable (T568A/T568B)
- Color Code Browns Over Green Bay on Sunday
- Explain to customers how their decision will cost them money!
- Use 1/4 rule to set up ladders
- Don’t use drywall screws to mount plywood to a wall
- Never talk bad about other installations or installers, they might be from your company!
- Use a level to mount your faceplates straight
- Check both sides of a wall before drilling through it
- Wash hands frequently when installing ceiling speakers, don’t leave finger prints
- Don’t leave finger prints on the wall while mounting face plates
- Know who manufactures the modular furniture before you buy face plates
- Don’t attach cable to grid wire, install your own independent wire
- Marking holes: Use a pencil not a sharpie
- Mount your MUTOA so its not blocked by a file cabinet!
- Secure your work area (caution tape, cones, ladders, apprentices)
- Tywraps: Cinch it don’t crimp it
- Never have more than 6 floor tiles open in a data center when its used as air distribution
- Place racks so that there is 36 inches of clearance from wall to back of equipment
- Label both sides of a patch cord for MUTOAs!
- Scratch paint on the rack when attaching bonding connectors
- Never mount termination blocks (110, BIX, etc) closer than 12 inches to a corner
- Always allow for growth (cable pathways, wire managers, etc)
- Every fiber connector, patch cord, and bulk head is dirty..clean it
- Use flooded cable for wet locations
- Don’t leave tools on top of a ladder!
- Don’t mount MUTOAs in modular furniture (unless 1st piece is permanently attached to wall)
- Never velcro/tywrap a patch cord to an electrical cable
- A F150 is not a cable pulling device, neither is a forklift
- Never tywrap/velcro a cable to an electrical conduit
- Always choose the clearest path possible when installing cables
- Don’t use a lift if you are not trained (better yet certified)
- Always check in-slab conduits, under slab conduits, and floor boxes for water prior to installing cable
- Use antioxidant when attaching bonding conductors to busbars
- Use construction adhesive (liquid nails) with galvanized screws/toggle bolts to mount plywood
- If you have to cross electrical cable, cross at a 90
- Match your patch cord rating to your horizontal cabling (i.e. cat 5e,6,6A)
- Never leave cables laying on ceiling tiles or grid
- Never drill directly over your head
- Don’t let your cables touch any fire sprinkler pipes
- Maintain minimum of 3 inches clearance above ceiling tiles!
- Never look into a live fiber strand!
- When installing independent wire to support cable, attach both sides
- Use a carpenters square (or long level min 3 feet) to verify your rack is plum
- Don’t over fill J-hooks (see rule 68)
- Installing cavity box (MPLS): Always cut horizontally first
- Always put end closing kits or rubber boots on ladder rack that is not butted into a wall
- When installing a WAO, match other faceplates height
- Conduit installed by Electrician? Don’t install your cable until they install the bushing
- Ladder Rack: Use drop outs to ensure cables are not crushed (see rule 68)
- Place rubber grommets around any hole in metal you drill to pass cable
- Never use a sharpie as a finish label
- Bonding/Grounding Inspection: Check connectors for looseness, corrosion, and labels
- Never allow your cables to get crushed, kinked, bent, stepped on, burnt, or torn
- Always follow the UL drawing while installing firestop systems
- Never mount a bonding conductor to the backside of a busbar
- Color Code: Big Ole Gorilla Breath Stinks
- Make sure your ladder rack/cable tray is level!
- Never splice a horizontal cable
- Buy factory patch cords, your time is valuable
- Always maintain the bend radius on your cabling
- Electricians are your friend not your enemy
- Always try to mount a fiber enclosure above eye level
- Never mix firestop materials from different manufactures, follow UL drawing/instructions
- Mount stamp outwards on fire rated plywood
- Don’t use a torpedo level to ensure your rack is plum
- Bring the cable jacket to back of jack to ensure you dont exceed utwist recommendations
- Never argue with the AHJ, you will loose even if your are right
- Never use plastic anchors to mount wire mesh protectors for firestop systems
- Put a label on the MUTOA telling maximum patch cords length
- Removing Abandoned Cable: You will knock someones phone or computer down, be prepared.
- Mount busbars where it will keep your conductors as short as possible
- Always leave pull string
- Labels shall be machine generated
- Color Code: While Running Backward You Vomit
- Mount paint piercing washers between rack and connector
- Codes are for safety, standards are for performance
- Don’t use cold water pipe as primary grounding/bonding attachment
- Don’t pull cable that is still frozen!
- Never paint over a stamp on fire rated plywood
- Use an approved scraps container for fiber (don’t use tape, bottles, cups, etc)
- Don’t use soap from the bathroom as pulling lubricant!
- Sunglasses are not PPE (unless rated as such)
- Always put protective caps (dust caps) on when you are done
- Color Code: Winchester Rifles Bring You Venison
- Stay minimum of 5 inches away from fluorescent lights!, (if you can’t use shielded cable)
- Clean up after yourself, even if there are night janitors
- Take digital pictures of your firestops and include in as built package (see rule 1)
- Maintain 3 points of contact while climbing ladders
- Get firestop installation training
- MUTOA and CPs should be 50 cable feet away from HC!
- Label both sides of bonding conductors
- Dont push hard on the drywall saw, you will poke through the other side
- Keep your bonding conductors as short and straight as possible (min 8X times diameter of conductor)
- Never drill through a busbar to add additional connectors (unless allowed by manufacture)
- Protect your cable from getting painted
- Use pulling lubricant designed for high performance cable
- Plenum ceiling: installed plenum fiber in plenum innerduct
- If you suspect issues with your OLTS – recalibrate
- Have a kick off meeting with your PM/Estimator to discuss a project before you start
- Praise in public, criticize in private
- Clean your fiber and inspect before you connect it! (avoid cross contamination)
- Terminate fiber over a dark (preferably black) mat. (find scraps easier)
- Paint all surfaces of plywood, including edges and any cut outs and follow rule 94
- Cable Tray: Measure twice, cut once
- Check both sides of a wall before drilling through it
- Cut tywraps flush! (use velrco on category rated cable)
- Label backbone cables within 12 inches each side
- Use a kellems grip with rated break away head for OSP fiber
- Monitor the confined space prior to, and during, entry
- Never daisy chain your bonding conductors for relay racks
- If it is to be it is up me
- Color Code: Washington Redskins Bring You Victory
- Its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it
- Label horizontal cables within 6 inches each side
- Pulling lubricant: A little dab will do ya!
- Keep your batteries fresh. A dead toner or VFL can be a show-stopper
- When doing a service loop for a camera or AP bring the cable down to the floor and back up to chest height so you can test and terminate from the ground at a comfortable level
- Always take a good look above ceiling tiles, the tools up there are cheaper than at the store!
- When pulling through under ground or outside conduit make sure you cap or plug the ends with foam or tape to keep debris from falling in
- Avoid small loops when storing slack (figure 8, extended loops)
- OSP Conduit: blow the pipe make sure the other end is open
- Always leave a drip loop (and silicone when done) when penetrating from outside of a building to inside
- Save bags of the plenum cable tywraps and velcro to prove to AHJ you used correct materials
- Ceiling Speaker Installation: Put tile on top of trash can, let debris fall into can
- Don’t use Isopropyl Alcohol from CVS/Walgreens (must be above 90 percent)
- Use cable strain relieve bars on back of patch panels when possible (especially Cat 6A)
- Always terminate fiber in a well lit area (bring light if necessary)
- Wash your hands after terminating fiber before you do anything else
- Inspect your cable certifier for all parts and defects if you are picking up from warehouse/other crew
- Protect your fiber termination area from curious on lookers
- Back up your tester! Daily if testing.
Don’t forget if you would like to add to this collection email me for it to be included!