That moment I realized I was over-tightening coax fittings all these years

Was on a job in a condo building near downtown Cleveland last Tuesday, checking a weak signal on a third floor unit. I took off the barrel connector and saw the center conductor was crushed flat on three different fittings. That's when it hit me that I'd been cranking them down with a wrench instead of just hand-tightening plus a quarter turn with a tool. Has anyone else had a similar realization about something simple you were doing wrong for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

angelamurphy14d ago

Bull, I still give my coax a full turn with the wrench after hand tightening. @patricia_hill60, I tried your way and got a loose connection that gave me nothing but grief. Been doing this 20 years and a snug wrench turn never crushed a connector for me.

patricia_hill6014d ago

Yeah same here. Hand tight plus a little extra is all it needs.

kai_ramirez3814d agoMost Upvoted

My uncle used to do that with EVERYTHING. Guy tightened a garden hose so hard the brass fitting split right in half. Never could get him to ease up.