That cheap Klein cable tester I almost returned actually saved a job

Last month I was out at a new build in a big apartment complex near Charlotte and kept getting intermittent signal drops on one run. I was about to just re-pull the whole thing and eat the time but grabbed my $40 Klein VDV501-851 that I bought on a whim and almost took back. Threw the remote on the far end and it caught a partial short at the staple gun damage I never would have spotted otherwise. Took me about 10 minutes to patch the jacket and the line passed perfect after that. Honestly figured those little testers were junk for anything beyond basic continuity checks but this one paid for itself on that single call. Has anyone else had a tool they nearly returned that ended up being a lifesaver on a tricky install?

2 comments

2 Comments

blake4323d ago

Same thing happened to me with a cheap toner that saved my butt on a cat5 pull.

milap353d ago

That story about the staple gun damage is exactly why I keep my cheap tester in the bag. I had a similar situation where I was chasing a flaky connection on a run that looked fine from the outside. The basic continuity check passed every time but would drop out under load. My little tester caught it as an intermittent short that was barely there. Turned out to be a screw that was just barely grazing the jacket inside a wall box. Fifteen minutes with a pair of snips and some tape and it was good as new. Those cheap testers are worth keeping around just for the oddball problems they can find.