Had a weird issue with RG6 cable this morning that stumped me for an hour

I was running a new line for a customer in a finished basement, and my signal kept dropping randomly. I checked every connector, swapped out splitters, even tested the ground block. After 45 minutes I finally found the problem - a tiny staple from a previous install had pinched the cable just enough to cause intermittent shorts. Never thought a single little staple could mess up a whole install like that. Have any of you ever run into something tiny like this that took forever to find?

2 comments

2 Comments

simon_davis27d ago

Had you tried running your hand along the whole cable length to feel for any flat spots or kinks? I've found that's the fastest way to catch those hidden pinches before they drive you crazy.

grace56527d agoMost Upvoted

Wait wait wait, you actually RAN your hand along the whole cable? Like every inch of it? @simon_davis that's kind of genius but also sounds like pure tedium, I can't lie. I get so impatient that I'd probably miss the pinch anyway because I'm just yanking the cable around looking for a quick fix. Last time I had a hidden kink it was behind my desk in a spot I never would have found unless I literally crawled under there with a flashlight. Now I'm wondering how many times I swapped out a perfectly good cable when the issue was just a stupid bend in the wrong place the whole time.