Re: CAT5e cable

On Sun, 20 Apr 2025 10:53:25 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:

Les,
>

1)    The Durometer of the plastic coating on the wire and the sheath.
     Range is 0 -100 and the higher the number the harder the
     material.  I doubt that you will find that in the specs, but.

>
This (the "more desirable") seems to be *thicker* than the other.
The inferior product almost looks/feels like "shrink wrap over 4 pairs".
I.e., you can FEEL the pairs under the jacket.
>
The nicer (in terms of routing) cable has a more substantial
feel to it (though not as if the jacket was a *tube* with loose
conductors within).
>

2)    CCA  Copper Coated or Clad Aluminum  I was always careful
     when buying CAT-5 or CAT-6 cable.  Always wanted Solid Copper!
     Look for that on the cable box or on the cable itself.

>
Yes.  I am also wondering if stranded would have been a better
choice (too late now) despite being "premises wiring" (not
patch cables).
>

3)    Cable Gauge. 22 AWG vs 24 AWG vs 26 AWG vs 28 AWG  The higher
     the number the thinner the wire.

>
I've always used #24AWG.
>

Hope that help with your challenge!!

>
My concern is mainly to know how to specify the type of cable
that should be used in future installations (in which I won't
likely be involved).  Other than naming a specific vendor
and model number (whose manufacture could also change, over
time)
>
Both (all?) cables seem electrically similar and have the same
stated pull strength.  But, I noticed feeding several cables
through the EMT, conduit bodies, els, etc. there was a definite
difference in how the "flimsier" one handled the bends that
you encounter in those situations.
>
As I suspect "paid help" would be less meticulous than I, it
would be wise to specify materials that they would be less
likely to abuse.  <frown>

The simplest way I know of is to get samples and cut them open for
detail inspection.

Without destructive inspection, there are a few tests.   First, mass
per length - heavier is better.  Second is DC resistance of each
conductor per length - smaller is better.  For shielded twisted pair,
the shield quality can be measured, but this requires special tools.

Joe Gwinn