Running multiple CAT6 cables - many spools at once? How to manage spool lengths efficiently

taschenmesser

taschenmesser

Getting the hang of it
Jul 19, 2016
34
28
Bay Area CA
So I want to run 4 CAT6 cables from the basement of my uncle's large old house to his garage on the first (upper) floor for 3 camera installs there. This is a meandering run through multiple basement rooms, running alongside pipes, and through some cramped crawlspaces at times. Currently there is a run of 3 coaxial cables there already, so the CAT6 would replace that. I would estimate the run somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-180 ft.

I was thinking the most efficient way to do this would be to put 4 spools on a dowel across a couple of chairs in the garage, and feed the lines together from the garage down into the basement room below it. Then I could tape the 4 lines together and pull all 4 together the length of the run. However, this brings up the question of what size spools I would buy. Since I don't know precisely how long the run will be, I won't know exactly how much cable will be left over on the spools for the remainder of the install work. I could buy 4 250ft spools, and probably be left with somewhere around 4x70ft left over.

Since the general advice here is to run N+1 to any locations, for the remainder of the CAT6 installs in the house I will run a minimum of 2 lines per run. Obviously I don't want to start a run and then have the cable run out 2/3 of the way through. However I don't want an (extreme) excess of CAT6 left over from the install.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks for keeping track of how much cable is left on the spools, or how much has been run? Or a good way to estimate how long a run is, particularly if it is a long, meandering run like in this case? Or just general management tips of buying the right amount of cable? I see that the Cable Matters CAT6 lets you know how many feet are left in the box:

However, I was planning on using Monoprice CAT6+ as it is 1/3 less expensive:

Monoprice Cat6 1000ft Blue CMR UL Bulk Cable, Solid (w/spine), UTP, 23AWG, 550MHz, Pure Bare Copper, Reelex II Pull Box, Bulk Ethernet Cable - Monoprice.com

Monoprice™ brings you high quality bulk rolls of Ethernet cables at unparalleled value. This high performance bulk cabling is perfect for your custom network installation projects. You can cut l
www.monoprice.com

Thanks.
 
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Almost all cable has footage marks printed every two or three feet. It's easy to know how much is left. When I was installing networks we'd pull ten, or more, from the LAN closet and drop them off as needed, starting with the longest runs first.

I'd say either cable is fine for home use as long as it's CMR rated.
 
sebastiantombs said:
Almost all cable has footage marks printed every two or three feet. It's easy to know how much is left. When I was installing networks we'd pull ten, or more, from the LAN closet and drop them off as needed, starting with the longest runs first.

I'd say either cable is fine for home use as long as it's CMR rated.
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Ah, fantastic - thank you. I am planning on using riser rated, since it will go between floors.

The basement is a graveyard of old/defunct cable runs going back decades. Whoever my uncle hired to run the old coaxial lines seems to have done a really lazy job of it. This is how they ran them through the furnace room:
 

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That's really nice, resting on the furnace chimney pipe like that. I admit that I'm lazier when installing my own stuff at home, still in code, but on a job everything has to be letter perfect and to code. That, to me, is inexcusable.
 
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sebastiantombs said:
That's really nice, resting on the furnace chimney pipe like that. I admit that I'm lazier when installing my own stuff at home, still in code, but on a job everything has to be letter perfect and to code. That, to me, is inexcusable.
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Yes, I totally agree. I keep muttering to myself, "have some self respect" when looking at the coaxial install job. It was done with the absolute minimal effort.
 
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taschenmesser said:
I was thinking the most efficient way to do this would be to put 4 spools on a dowel across a couple of chairs in the garage, and feed the lines together from the garage down into the basement room below it. Then I could tape the 4 lines together and pull all 4 together the length of the run.
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I did exactly that a few years ago with 250' spools from Monoprice, although the last time I bought one it had switched to a pull box. My main purpose in that case was to have different wire colors. I've also unwound a 250' box and re-wound on 2 spools to pull 2 lines at once.
 
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I've done the single roll, multiple pulls, thing by pre-measuring and adding a swag (standard wild assed guess) factor. I always pre-label every cable I pull so colors aren't necessary.
 
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When the guy did my cabling I only had purchased 2 300m reels so he worked out roughly how much he would need, then added a bit more, then another bit more then doubled over the length and did this on both reels. Then he bound the 4 cables with electrical tape every 1.5m then ran them from the house to the garage.
 
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I may pick up a laser measurement tool so I can get in the correct ballpark. There are a lot of awkward spots where measuring wouldn't be easy. I also have a wire pulling tool with rollers that I will likely mount somewhere in order to feed the cables better.

Madison Electric Products 104 Pull-It: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Madison Electric Products 104 Pull-It: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
www.amazon.com

Interesting idea about re-rolling the cables to another spool. This might make it easier feeding it room to room. Again, this is probably where keeping track of all the distances will be very helpful.

I plan on snipping the old coaxial run on either side of the holes between rooms/floors and using it to pull the CAT6 through at those points.
 
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If you had access to a TDR you could "shoot" one of the coax lines for length. That would eliminate a lot of measuring.
 
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sebastiantombs said:
If you had access to a TDR you could "shoot" one of the coax lines for length. That would eliminate a lot of measuring.
Click to expand...
I suppose I could look into renting a TDR, if that were possible. I will probably just use a laser and measure as best I can.

The 1000 ft rolls of Monoprice CAT6 23AWG seem to have distance marks on the jacket, according to the Q+A:

Monoprice Cat6 1000ft Blue CMR UL Bulk Cable, Solid (w/spine), UTP, 23AWG, 550MHz, Pure Bare Copper, Reelex II Pull Box, Bulk Ethernet Cable - Monoprice.com

Monoprice™ brings you high quality bulk rolls of Ethernet cables at unparalleled value. This high performance bulk cabling is perfect for your custom network installation projects. You can cut l
www.monoprice.com

I would probably use 4 250 ft boxes though. Not clear if they are marked.

Either way I like the idea of also including some kind of pull line/string with the run, so if I ever need to pull another line I can use that.
 
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Given that all the cable, no matter what the put up length, comes off the same machines I'd bet dollars to donuts the 250' spools have foot markers, too.
 
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Holbs said:
if you really need nearly exact measurement of the total run from start to finish....
or such. Conduit measuring tape.
I prefer the heavier duty mule tape with measurements. Lasts a long time for future jobs and is ok to use as a quickie distant measurement for something other than just conduit.
View attachment 55352
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Interesting. I suppose I could get this and run it first while replacing the coaxial runs. Then I could use it as a pull line, and would know the exact length of the run before buying cable.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
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hi @taschenmesser

The monoprice cable from the 1000' boxes are marked so you know how many feet / meters are left.

So a lot really depends on how much your time is worth. If you have more money than time, then getting several pull boxes / reels imho is the best use of your time - you can sell or keep the remaining cable. Likewise I have seen some good deals on partial pull boxes of cable on craigslist ( for local pickup ) - just be more careful when getting from craigslist and only get premium cable imho. ( too many people buy the crap CCA stuff )
 
mat200 said:
So a lot really depends on how much your time is worth. If you have more money than time, then getting several pull boxes / reels imho is the best use of your time - you can sell or keep the remaining cable. Likewise I have seen some good deals on partial pull boxes of cable on craigslist ( for local pickup ) - just be more careful when getting from craigslist and only get premium cable imho. ( too many people buy the crap CCA stuff )
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Yes, this is a good point. I will be running other cameras after the garage, so I will need more cable. I figure every run I do in the house will be pulling at least 2 lines at a time, so I will want at least 2 boxes for efficiency. I'd love to run 4 lines in a single go from the garage since it is such an unpleasant/tight basement in certain areas. Lots of dust, and a bit of a rodent problem. My uncle has about a dozen mouse traps set up.

I may get 1 1000' box and 3 250ft boxes. Then I could get 4 lines going at once on the garage run (~150ft) and do that in one go (for 3 cameras and 1 extra line). For the remainder of the camera runs in the house, I would be left with ~3 boxes that have 100ft left on them, and 1 box that has ~850ft left.

By the end of the install, I would probably be left with the remainder of the 1000' box.
 
I've purchased about 8 250' chunks from Monoprice and all of them have had foot markers. Normal disclaimers apply.
 
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Aren’t you over thinking this? Get some rough measurements then add a bit more as a comfort factor. One reel or many, make sure you bundle 4 lengths together to prevent them wrapping around each other and kinking, then pull the 4 through together.

Whether you buy one, two or four reels I’d still take the time to unreel the 4 lengths off and tie them together before pulling. You do end up possible wasting cable as you are guessing the lengths but in my case I left the extra in the roof space in the garage.
 
I never taped or bundled cables together. You never know if you might need to relocate one and need a little extra at one end, for one thing, and if their taped together you can't use one as a "pull string" to get a few more into place. Granted, this is on really big installs with hundreds of drops for networks, but it worked quite well. Snags, coming off a reel or when laid out neatly on the floor, are pretty rare.
 
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