SUMMARY:

Can CAT-5 cable be stripped and wrapped around a standard wire wrap post?

BACKGROUND:

I will be building a small wire wrap project (~10 ICs) that needs to connect to a bunch of RJ-45 jacks (~20). I have a simple 30 AWG "hand turn" manual wire wrap tool. I would like to wire directly from the wire wrap sockets to the RJ-45 jacks, stripping & straightening one end of some CAT-5 for the wire wrap side, and punch down the other end of the CAT-5 for the RJ-45 side.

I see there are 24 gauge wire wrap tools. Can I wire wrap with straightened CAT-5? This is a personal project; it does not need to be MIL-Spec or anything fancy.


Thank you in advance,
parkerea

 

Yes, but use the regular 30 gauge for all interconnects that don't require a punchdown on the other end and consider soldering over the 24 gauge wrap since it's not plated. Remember that the CAT-5 runs from the RJ-45 connectors rely on their twist to maintain their speed rating.

 

I think the answer is no. Wire wrap wire is thin for a reason...It needs to be very flexible to wrap around the post and bite into it.

You can solder it, as suggested, but that's not wire wrapping.

Here's the physics of wire wrapping: http://www.tessco.com/yts/resourcecenter/pdfs/wirewrap.pdf

 

yes it will work just fine assuming is solid and not stranded wire.

 

Thank you all for your input. I will part with about $85 to buy a 24 gauge wire wrap tool. (Odd, when I got into electronics back in the 70's, I was a poor college student, and I swear all this stuff was a lot more affordable...)


Thanks again,
parkerea