Question Any tricks for spools of ethernet cable?

[axlrose]

Figured I'd ask in case there is some information I'm just not aware of. I have a big spool of cat6a from Monoprice, and I'm wondering if there is any way to figure out how much cable you have left on the spool? Anything marked on the spool or the cable or anything? Hoping to run two long lines, but I'm not sure how much is left on there.

Thanks!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Short of actually measuring the cable there is no way to know how much is still on the spool.

 

[Nigel Spike]

Actually, you could cut off a piece of known length and weigh it. Then weigh the remaining spool and compare/calculate.

 

[bill001g]

So is it still in the box or can you see both ends of the cable.

So almost all ethernet cable have the the EIA/TIA markings that show the cable has paid their license fees.....well unless they lie. There should be a foot marking at least on cable used in the USA. On boxes of cable I forget if it starts at zero and then goes up to say 1000 ft or what ever or if it starts at 1000 and goes down. I think it starts high and goes down so you know how much cable is left in the box.

If you can see both ends of the cable you should be able to see the markings and subtrack them to get the length. Most times they are marked every 2 feet.

If you were a pro you would have a fuke meter that will give you a pretty good estimate of the length of any cable.

 

[axlrose]

So is it still in the box or can you see both ends of the cable.

So almost all ethernet cable have the the EIA/TIA markings that show the cable has paid their license fees.....well unless they lie. There should be a foot marking at least on cable used in the USA. On boxes of cable I forget if it starts at zero and then goes up to say 1000 ft or what ever or if it starts at 1000 and goes down. I think it starts high and goes down so you know how much cable is left in the box.

If you can see both ends of the cable you should be able to see the markings and subtrack them to get the length. Most times they are marked every 2 feet.

If you were a pro you would have a fuke meter that will give you a pretty good estimate of the length of any cable.

I'll try to look at the cabling itself then. It was originally 1000ft and it's on a wooden spool.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43704&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PMax:+Smart+Shopping+-+Monoprice+-+Cables&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&hsa_acc=6614305189&hsa_cam=17490724715&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAvdCrBhBREiwAX6-6UgMDy_F5H5Fd4584BlN_WuilMsJiF2gjfnMP7HTWKyQmU328MnaKBBoCrm0QAvD_BwE

Hopefully I have enough to do at least a single run. Hoping I have enough to do two. Can't believe the price has tripled since 2019!

 

[punkncat]

Almost all spooled or boxed wire like this will actually have the feet marked on the wire casing. In some cases, the spool itself will have a sticker on it with the starting #.

 

[bill001g]

P

Can't believe the price has tripled since 2019!

I have not followed the price of ethernet cables other than to know they have gone up. The price of copper metal gets really high at times...it got to almost $5/lb about a year ago it has come down a bit, about double what it was for a while 4 or 5 yrs ago. Also cable is heavy so the cost of fuel to ship it has increased the price a lot.