Wall of shame

I learned the "right angle" wiring technique from a union electrician that used a long blade screwdriver to "correct" the errors in my ways. I learned how to bundle cable installing IBM Type2, token ring with a four pair telco wire in the same jacket. If that can be made into a neat, clean, easy to follow installation there's just no excuse for messes with CATx and serial cables. Haven't these idiots ever heard of RJ45s and a crimp tool? Pros, NOT!
 
bababouy said:
This is a customer's storage / network room. And we straightened alot of this out 2 years ago when we put our camera system in.
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One thing that has not changed much since 1973 when I first sat foot in any kind of a facility: seldom do the designers/builders provide a room for the janitorial staff (deep sink, mop, bucket, brooms, cleaning supplies, cart, etc.) or for office expendables (file boxes, copy paper, tractor-fed printer paper, staples, toner, etc.) They always wind up piling and stacking that crap (albeit necessary crap) in the electrical/telco communication room. They'd have mop handles leaning against 66-blocks and mop buckets inside the NEC-mandated 3 foot line painted on the floor at electrical panels, etc.

One time in a county bus maintenance facility I went in an electrical closet to go up the built-in ladder that led to a roof hatch to access a big roof exhaust fan which was squealing and grinding mercilessly. I left the door open, the light on and ascended the ladder. The janitor (er... sanitation technician?) came in, parked his mop bucket under the ladder, turned out the light and closed the door (the latter 2 items were a first).
I came off the roof, got onto the ladder 3 rungs down in order to close the hatch and started descending the ladder in total darkness. One foot went into 6" of dirty mop water.

Less that 15 seconds later, several bus mechanics saw a bucket, mop and a half gallon of water flying across the garage and land in the middle of the floor. The facility supervisor called MY boss and bitched, my boss told him the next time ANY of that crap wound up in that electrical room that he'd call CAL-OSHA and that HIS section would pay the $1,000 fine.

No more problem at that facility. But I'm sure it's still a struggle at most places today.
 
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Xicaque said:
Here is my little spaghetti bowl :)
The patch panel and the backboard were no there when I bought the house. Slowly making progress and labeling everything!!! :headbang:
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Looking good... Did some contractor cut off all the extra length for you like they did for me?
One day near the end of construction, I had a good 6ft extra on all the cat 6 & RG6. A few days later, some do-good'er had snipped them all off to end about 4ft off the floor. :angry::screwy:
 
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khx73 said:
Looking good... Did some contractor cut off all the extra length for you like they did for me?
One day near the end of construction, I had a good 6ft extra on all the cat 6 & RG6. A few days later, some do-good'er had snipped them all off to end about 4ft off the floor. :angry::screwy:
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Oooooohhhhhh that's bad. And they thought they were "helping" Hard to get mad..... but... c'mon now! Seriously!?!
 
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khx73 said:
Looking good... Did some contractor cut off all the extra length for you like they did for me?
One day near the end of construction, I had a good 6ft extra on all the cat 6 & RG6. A few days later, some do-good'er had snipped them all off to end about 4ft off the floor. :angry:
:screwy:
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I guess I am sort of lucky as all the tails are about 5-6 ft long. I think they are kind of short but with the patch panel mounted that high, I can make it work. It was an untagged/unlabeled messed as most of them had some labels but they did not match. Had to trace them with a tone generator. All good now.
 
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Found this spaghetti... Luckily I recently returned to find the new IT team overhauling the entire room. So much so that the wall will be turned into a window showing off the businesses server room.

mNCfwzk.jpg
 
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JeffW said:
I've been t:highfive:o this place a few times in the past.
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Amazing how this would be allowed to progress to this point, as this just didn't happen overnight, I think.

But then again... we see this in the low-tech, rural areas of the south where I live: it manifests itself here in the form of a dozen rusted washing machine drums, car hoods and old truck camper shells displayed in the front yard like some sort of trophies...as if someone won a junk-collecting competition. Or it's a status symbol.

If there were a prize for sending in the most incredible 'wall of shame' entry, I think you'd be in the running for first place with this one! Thanks for this; you made my 'office/workshop' look soooo much better. I must show this picture to the wife and tell her "See? It's not so bad, is it?" :wow:
 
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I, for one, will NEVER be posting pictures of my network patch area, but that one is epic Jeff! Even I couldn't do something that disastrous.
 
That's a shot of the Detroit MGM Grand Casino after the move to the new location. The only difference probably is all the cut lines from its original state. A lot of the machines fed this closet.
 
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Class act!
 
58chev said:
How about a camera that can be relocated by just unwrapping the coil of CAT5?
This is in an entrance way at work.
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Yeah, parts of the coil look faded, like it was laying in water or exposed to sun, etc.

Don't you just love uncoiling wire or cable that's had black electrical tape on it a long time and get the black goo on your hands and all over the cable? It's a gift that keeps on giving.

The $1 rolls of Chinese tape will do it sooner but even 3M 33+ will do it after several months and attic heat. I used tape ONLY when I planned to uncoil it within a couple of days, otherwise I'd find me some nylon wire ties, tighten the tie with its buckle inside the coil and melt the sharp point at the buckle with my BIC lighter where I had trimmed the wire tie. I made a habit of rotating the tied wire tie around a wire bundle, putting the buckle behind the bundle and away from someone's wrist after I sliced myself there early in my career. If used in such a way that someone could still grab with their hand, like inside a coil, I melt down the sharp edge of the trimmed wire tie just enough to render it safe to fingers.
 
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I learned, early one, with wire ties to use a flush cutter. No sharp edges at all that way. Radio Shack used to sell a pair for about five bucks. Still have a few hanging around.
 
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