atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Cable pulling-to mark or not to mark

I used to be a toner which is not a bad way to go if you can fit & label the outlets first and then move on to the rack.

The other advantage if a cable box is too short you can use it for a shorter run without re labelling etc.
Or if some one decides to add extras and its going to mess up your labelling scheme.

It is always a good idea to keep track of your groups i.e. 1-24 25-48 so you’re not toning all the cables just the group you want.

Also it makes it easy to trim all the cables at the rack to the same length making them easier to manage. I always use a comb so when toning the cables are placed through the comb not needing to mark the cables when sorting.

Toning out is always the best way when you have inherited a mess form someone else.

However I have turned into a cable labeller of late
Because we never seem to get the time anymore we always have guys fitting off the field when the rack is been fit off.

The Panduit laser labels aren’t a bad idea saves you from those nines that are really sixes.

And often construction programs don’t suit your program you are always waiting on joinery to go in so you can fit the outlets makes it harder to tone out and adds double handling.

I think the most important thing is do what is easiest some jobs may be easier to label the cables and others may be easier to bell out the cables later.

And most importantly don’t make things too hard for yourself. I.e. having different coloured cables for voice and data after all the whole idea of having a SCS to make things easy after all it is just cable that supports both voice and data who cares what colour the cable jacket is. The same goes for having telephone outlets terminated in different spots for telephone and data.

Welcome to the board jettech!

marking the cable start is the only way to do it whether or not you work alone or not and you dont have to run back and forth.And not with a sharpie!
I use rite-on lables (part #514ref hellermann-tyton)and use standerd 1-whatever.Doing this I can spot where my number is quickly and there is no rub-off.Less mistakes and saves time.and never cut back cables.you are asking for dubs and waste more time.
after terminating(panal end) you put on panduit lables.I also put the panduit lables on the jack end while I jack.
The goal for me is to make it easier for the IT's to make patches.(to use what you sold them)

I tone with a voice tagger that I made an adapter for network jacks. I can tone 8 wires at a time by the time I get those 8 done I give my fingers a break while a move toner to next 8 jacks. The job I just did had 11,000' wire 98 drops total I did complete job alone in 43 hours
https://www.sundance-communications.com/forum/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/19/t/000947.html

why tone it if you can already have it labled for pull#'s. the time it takes to tone you could be putting the cable on the panal.

Jamey

Precisely.

I work alone also. But for big jobs it is easier and cheaper less stress and I have found quicker to get a hand for the terminations because you don't have to run back and forth plugging in the tester. Also having a hand you get three times as much done than if you where alone. Cable ID is easier terminations and other things are done quicker.
As to marking cable I only mark on jobs greater than 10 cables

K.I.S.S.---> always label with Sharpie both ends, punchdown in order, label jacks V1/D1, map floor plan in numerical order.

If cables are added later ..say additional cable to V3/D3 it will become labeled as V3b/D3b, V3c/D3c...etc. Use a seperate punch block for added cables, I never used open area on an already established punch block for adds unless they are a new area completely then I increment to the next number.

I also have done multiple floors by starting with 100+, 200+ 300+ for floors 1 2 3. ie.. cable on second floor is V2XX/D2XX.

Hello everyone!

This topic was the first one that grabbed my attention as I browsed the forums. At first I was a bit surprised that it was even asked. Then as I poured over the posts and other areas in the forums I realized that we have every size and type of business represented here.

I work for a company that does mainly State and Federal Government and Schools/Colleges. We do everything from new construction to remodels to simple "adds".

In 90% of our work, we "MUST" label each cable with a sharpie for our pulls, since we are following prints in which we provide the customer (not to be confused with the client) gets a final print showing all locations by designated address location.

For example, the latest state building I am on we Label each wire for the correct location with a sharpie. For example 1-20 this would represent Panel 1, Location 20. The Print would read as 1W-1-20 for that location on the first floor (1st floor 'west') and would be designated as such in the IDF/MDF as well as the location plate itself.

We would in no way be efficient in pulling cable if we had to tone. For example, in this particular building we has a new Lead Tech who had never done such a large job (3000 jacks) and he thought that by "toning" he would be ok. Instead, he caused two extra days of work because we had to tone over 150 lines to get them correctly identified to match the print!

We are talking about 64 man-hours of time for us to have two teams to tone out what should have been correctly marked then pulled! Lots of lost dollars in man-hours for that mistake!

But on the other hand I can see where if you are doing simple 'adds' you could very well pull then tone, but I still see lost time in toning. Why not simply just label, pull, and punch? Anytime you add in an extra step, it is extra man-hours, which means more money expended to do the job. Personally, I think it makes more since to tag your pulls and go.

I would say that marking the cable both ends is the extra step resulting in more man hours .

as you point out it is a size of job issue .

we mostly do less than 50 drops at a time