Broken ethernet port

[eyeguychicago]

I have broken off about 6 RJ 45 (ethernet ports) on the board of the controllers.  The reason is because I am trying to take the plug in and out when its 20deg outside and my fat fingers have a tough time putting enough pressure on the Cat 5 boot and unfortunately I am torquing the port in a way that when I go to reuse it I do not have any connectivity.    I have also tried getting extensions with female adapter but its tough to find one that will not do the same thing once I close the box.  Thoughts of a work around would be much appreciated

[dibblejr]

3 minutes ago, eyeguychicago said:

I have broken off about 6 RJ 45 (ethernet ports) on the board of the controllers.  The reason is because I am trying to take the plug in and out when its 20deg outside and my fat fingers have a tough time putting enough pressure on the Cat 5 boot and unfortunately I am torquing the port in a way that when I go to reuse it I do not have any connectivity.    I have also tried getting extensions with female adapter but its tough to find one that will not do the same thing once I close the box.  Thoughts of a work around would be much appreciated

To late this year but a work around is to add extensions that will save the board data ports. They plug in to the board and some you drill a hole and the can secure to the enclosure while others will hang down . Just zip tie to the enclosure.

Either way they save the data ports on the pcb.

JR

[TheDucks]

And cut the boots.  Besides they wont fit in watertite part of a LOR dongle. Many of us just make our own CAT5 cables (bootless)

[k6ccc]

51 minutes ago, eyeguychicago said:

I have broken off about 6 RJ 45 (ethernet ports) on the board of the controllers. 

You're new, so I am going to break of a bad habit.  It is NOT Ethernet.  It is RS-485 serial data.  Mixing up RS-485 serial data and Ethernet CAN under the right situation let the magic blue smoke out of something.  Avoid the habit of calling it Ethernet  Yes, it uses the same connection as is normally used for Ethernet.

 

[eyeguychicago]

Thanks Jim for setting me straight.  Your post is extremely useful and I will benefit I am sure on gaining this type of knowledge in the future... If I made a grammar or sentence structure mistake please feel free to bring it to my attention.  Following up the other two replies thanks this is what I was thinking I had to do I wasn't sure if I was missing something that would be easier.  

[LaughsBrightly]

30ish degrees in Ohio today so I get it. Don't use Cat5/6 cable with boots. Wowlights and Lightorama and probably every other decent decorating supplier sell cable without boots. Amazon sells a Monoprice bootless cable in multiple colors (black is pretty cheap) and sizes that works well. 

You also may want to look into getting these for the controllers so you can carry them outdoors and hook up your data cables without having to open the doors: RJ45 Waterproof Dangle (lightorama.com)  I was just turned on to them this year by someone on these forums (JR I think). I have them zip stripped to the ground stakes of my controller stands. I also bought a stack for my Dad as the Cat6 I used on his show (in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) was too stiff and hard to close the controller doors (I actually did take out one of the data ports on a controller).

Welcome to the hobby and all of fun learning you get to do over the next few years!

 

[TheDucks]

9 hours ago, LaughsBrightly said:

30ish degrees in Ohio today so I get it. Don't use Cat5/6 cable with boots. Wowlights and Lightorama and probably every other decent decorating supplier sell cable without boots. Amazon sells a Monoprice bootless cable in multiple colors (black is pretty cheap) and sizes that works well. 

You also may want to look into getting these for the controllers so you can carry them outdoors and hook up your data cables without having to open the doors: RJ45 Waterproof Dangle (lightorama.com)  I was just turned on to them this year by someone on these forums (JR I think). I have them zip stripped to the ground stakes of my controller stands. I also bought a stack for my Dad as the Cat6 I used on his show (in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) was too stiff and hard to close the controller doors (I actually did take out one of the data ports on a controller).

Welcome to the hobby and all of fun learning you get to do over the next few years!

 

LOR changed vendors on their RJ45 dongles. I LOVE this years model. 1)slightly smaller hole needed (for those who case mount 👍 ). 2)The now have a NUT so you do not need the bulky inside shell 👍👍 to case mount.

A simple hole saw (drill) and you are sealed (gasket is included)