Jump to content

Cat 6 cable. Spare pairs to pinch for leds ?


Recommended Posts

Ok, don't shout.

Cat 6 cable already installed going to a kitchen island. It feeds 1xcat5 data point. 

Would it be, setting aside perfection for a moment, possible to use the non data pairs of a cat6 data cable to power 2 short pieces of RGB LED strips? How many of the 4 pairs are actually servicing the data point? If it's 2 pairs, then are the other 2 pairs redundant? 1 pair leaving 3 redundant? 

This is with a view to cutting, splicing and hijacking the cat 6 under the island, and doing the same 1.8m away at the plinth where it reemerges, but still retaining the use of data and the cat5 outlet as normal. 

Its low voltage so no legal infringements as far as i can see? 

Ill get my tin hat polished.  

TIA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is the customer plugging into the island ports ...??

 

Quickest way is to use one of these at the router end :

 

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-1A-Wall-Plug-POE-Injector-Ethernet-Adapter-IP-Phone-Camera-Power-Supply-UK-/281559782891

 

Whack one of these on the other end and then you are doing the right thing...

 

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Power-over-Ethernet-POE-Splitter-10-100mbps-12V-2A-POE-Adapter-for-IP-Cameras-J1-/172862265154

 

Then splice the power into the LEDs direct if they are 12v

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, le-cerveau said:

but if you are using 1000Base-T Gigabit (possible over Cat 5)

Whow that must be some data hungry kitchen island, may be the fridge is actually a super computer in disguise, or the chef likes to watch half a dozen 4K streams at once while the hob needs to download all the data coming back from the Hubble telescope in real time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Lesgrandepotato said:

Why not pull the cat 6 back with a fish on it, then pull it and the LED cable back? 

Taped and tile adhesive over the top. Last minute bolt on for the customer. :(

Oh, hang on, no. The LEDS are the last minute bolt on :D

6 hours ago, ProDave said:

Check the current requirement of the LED's. Cat6 cables are tiny CSA and won't carry much current.

We're talking two 800mm long strips max. 

The RGB leds aroubd the rest of the kitchen will be powered from the controller and fed down purpose installed 4-core flex, so I want to tee off that 4 core and fire the already colour changing output down to the two remote strips. POE solution would get me dumb power there, but I need to convey the active voltage / pattern AFTER the power supply and controller has generated it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So you need 4 cores not 2 ..??

 

Buy some of the standard block splitters and hack the wires inside - will give you the 4 core you need but will leave the data cores alone. 

 

If you use one of the proper boxes it will isolate the cables correctly so you can’t put 12v down the data lines. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 23 October 2017 at 19:05, PeterW said:

So you need 4 cores not 2 ..??

 

Buy some of the standard block splitters and hack the wires inside - will give you the 4 core you need but will leave the data cores alone. 

 

If you use one of the proper boxes it will isolate the cables correctly so you can’t put 12v down the data lines. 

 

 

That seems to be the way forward. Was hoping to save on hardware by using the soldering iron and heat shrink. Any links to said do-dah please ? ?Any reason NOT to chop / splice / solder / shrink ? 

Assume I'll need plugs made to flying leads and plug into these splitters, then glean the necessary cores, solder on the 4-core and take that to the LEDs? What do I do with the open ends of the cat6? Crimp RJ45's on, or can I punch the cables down inside these splitters ?

It's a Wren kitchen with an aluminium finger tuck at the top of the doors so it's handle less. Customer saw the LEDs in the showroom ( white I hasten to add ) and liked the idea but there was no way of getting a cable to the island which has two units back to back which would have the alu strip but no lights. Would look naff but the customer accepted it. They'll be chuffed to get them in there too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you haven’t already got one, get an RJ45 plug crimp and tester from eBay or Amazon. Most come with 10 plugs so you should have spares for about £7

 

Pack of these from eBay gives you the neat box to put stuff into. Open the box and solder on your  4 core to/from the lights to 4&5 and 7&8. Do one both ends and you’ll have a pair of splitters that allow you to inject the LED signal to the cable and retain Cat5 data -  double check the wiring at the router end to make sure they have used a standard color convention with the plugs though and if not, match them all the same ...!! 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you seen his hands ...??!! Anything smaller than a 6mm cable and he can’t get the sausages round it ...! xD

 

Maplin used to do those punch down boxes but stopped a while back and they are pretty good - easier to wire up than cat6 into a plug. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...