Making your own LocoNet cables is really easy and you can make them exactly the length you need them. There’s a definitely a point where making your own cables is more cost effective than buying cables
What you need
- Crimping tool – £23.99
- Flat 6 Core Cable – £0.84 per meter
- RJ12 Plugs 6P6C – 6 pole 6 connector – 30p per plug
I’m using RJ12 plugs here with multi-strand cable without an issue. Technically, RJ25 connectors should be used with multistrand and RJ12 with single strand cable.
What you need to do
It’s a super simple operation.
- Cut cable
- Remove outer cable
- Insert into plug
- Crimp
- Repeat for the other end
- Test
Simple.
A few things to watch out for.
Make sure you’ve removed enough of the outer cable so that the individual wires reach the back of the plug when insert. If you remove too much out cable then the crimp won’t have anywhere to grip the cable.
The colour of the wires inside don’t really matter, just as long as you reverse the plug on the other end.
