Yes, but I have generally fixed it with contingency planning - in this case - draw wires, larger holes than required, extra wiring (spares for future use or mistakes), planning cable runs for accessibility if needed in future (more cables or repairs).
There has been occasion where I have made mistakes that couldn't be fixed to 100% (none recently as planning and thinking ahead improves with experience) but I have admitted the shortcoming to the clients and provided a fix (at my own cost) such as the phone/data splitters mentioned above.
I'm not having a go at you, well not specifically. I personally don't think people/companies should be doing this sort of work as professionals when they don't really know what they are doing; in regard to best practice and industry guidelines etc.
My main issue is new houses being built and getting 'future proofed' by electricians. I came across one recently 'future proofed' new home, the phone cable was cat5e - great, but it was looped from one outlet to the next!
I'm not perfect, nobody is, we are all constantly learning - but giving customers the idea that the 'professionals' they are hiring know what they are doing, when they don't have the knowledge to provide the professional service that is required is very wrong professionally and morally in my opinion.
Again, I'm not having a go at you but I think you should consider getting some decent training - for the benefit of everyone, you'll thank yourself for it.
I also believe that there should be a certification/registration required for this type of work, but thats another discussion entirely.
If you haven't read it yet, the TCF guidelines are a good place to start.
I should add that I underwent a similar course to that described above, in Tyco's Auckland offices, several years ago. I also learned how to terminate Multimode Fibre to SC or ST connectors (something i've never had to do since).
Coupled with doing it regularly enough to remain in practise, that'd be a start...
BlakJak: I should add that I underwent a similar course to that described above, in Tyco's Auckland offices, several years ago. I also learned how to terminate Multimode Fibre to SC or ST connectors (something i've never had to do since).
Coupled with doing it regularly enough to remain in practise, that'd be a start...
Oh gutted its multimode, if you could do single mode there may be quite a bit of work available for you with the UFB ;)
meehan: Thanks for your reply. Is it possible to do it manually though? i.e. use the blue & white pair for the phone on one RJ45 or BT jack, and 2 other pairs on a seperate RJ45 for the data outlet. I want to avoid using one of data spliters as it's at a customers house and it would look like a cock up (which it is). Thanks
You can't run an extra cable for the phone line? eventually the customer will want to plug in something else to get 2 ethernet lines or have some ethernet equipment that needs all 4 pairs. I came across some older modems (I think they were the blue puretec ones) that seemed to use 100baseT4 instead of 100baseTX. And one generally expects Cat5e cable to be Gigabit-capable in new homes as a bare minimum, and your client might demand it to be fixed anyway so why not fix it while you can still charge the time.
Also note that the adapter pictured is not the correct one. You need splitters that separate pairs 2 and 3 from pair 1 and 4 and are probably labeled "phone" and "ethernet" on the outlets. If you really need to split the cable and the customer is happy with this, use a RJ11 jack for the phone so nobody gets them confused. Better to explain to the customer that they need the splitter because you did the job wrong and it will cost them heaps of money to run through another cable. Or just buy a push-rod and try to push an extra cable into the wall. Yup, its a big deal.
If you are a sparky and expected to do data stuff that you aren't familiar with, why not hire a data guy? Most sparkies I've talked to say "we can do data" and won't let data people do any subby work for them. Data standards aren't enforced unless the customer demands it, but there is no excuse for a sparkie to accept jobs they aren't trained for. I admit there aren't any really comprehensive training programmes around — just the manufacturer certs — so do a structured cabling course and work alongside some data guys. I think Clipsal courses are the easiest to get into although mostly concentrating on their own products.
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