Looking for ethernet cable tester recommendation? 1

[PaulKraemer]

Hi,

I have a machine control system in which I have multiple control components connected via cat 6 cable to one of two ethernet switches (I'll call these switch #1 and switch #2). Switch #1 and Switch #2 are connected to one another by cat 6 cable as well. All control components are on the same subnet with fixed IP addresses. We have been experiencing intermittent communication failures between the main controller (PLC) that is connected to Switch #1 and two components (I'll call them components 2A and 2B) that are connected to switch #2. I suspect there might be an issue with one or more of the ethernet cables involved. I believe the problems we have observed could be caused by with (1) the cable that connects component 2A to switch #2, (2) the cable that connects component 2B to switch #2, or (3) the cable that connects switch #1 to switch #2.

I am wondering if anyone here can recommend test equipment I can use to determine if any of these cables are somehow compromised. For (1) and (2) above, I would be easily able to access both ends of the cable and plug them into the same test device. For (3) above, the cable is routed in a way that would make it very difficult (or impossible) for me to plug both ends of the cable into the same device.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[Compositepro]

I just used one that I bought on sale for $10 from:

https://www.banggood.com/FWT11-RJ11...p-1212730.html?cur_warehouse=USA&rmmds=search

It located a bad RJ45 connector in about one minute. The problem was intermittent and I could watch the status light go on and off as I wiggled the cable. It would have taken a very long time to find the problem without the tester. On Amazon these cost about $60 and up but you probably cannot wait weeks for delivery.

 

[itsmoked]

I believe you should entirely skip a tester and cut to the chase.

Get a commercial cable that's long enough to replace any one of the cables you need to check and drape the "test cable" anywhere that works for testing. Substitute it in for each cable in turn until the problem is gone.

Go from there by re-terminating one end at a time of the problem cable IF you're making the cables yourself. If after re-terminating both ends of the problem cable the problem persists confirm it goes away with the draped-on test-cable. If it definitely is gone with the test cable. Completely replace the faulty cable. If the problem persists it's the cable route not the cable. It may be too close to VFD cables or some other noise source.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com