How do you protect the plugs during construction?

I’m looking at a dusty barn project with some very long (50m) cables. I bought cables with plugs pre installed to make sure they work. (I don’t have any experience fitting plugs) But I don’t want the plugs getting damaged during construction. When we’re threading the cables etc. Any advice on how to proceed them? I already bought some cheap silicone protectors but I that’s a minimum. Maybe masking tape or something?

I assume you mean Cat5e/6/6a cable with RJ45 plugs.

If so, the question to you is WHY? You should be installing infrastructure cabling and then post construction adding RJ45 sockets which then use short patch leads to equipment.

^^^ This!

What MHC says.

Infrastructure cabling [installed at first fix] has solid cores and terminates easily into RJ45 sockets with a cheap tool. You should put in extra at the ends, which you cut off to address the construction dirt issue.

I have never had to terminate a plug and probably never will. Using pre-terminated cables, you are vulnerable to damage through the life of the installation, crushing from heavy objects and losing the locking tab, which means you have to do the terminations you didn't want to do in the first place. Plus any unused cables just have to sit there, always in the way. Using patch cables, if an outlet is unused, you take the patch cable out. And if it gets damaged, you throw it away.

In reply to a post by Greyz:

I’m looking at a dusty barn project with some very long (50m) cables. I bought cables with plugs pre installed to make sure they work. (I don’t have any experience fitting plugs) But I don’t want the plugs getting damaged during construction. When we’re threading the cables etc. Any advice on how to proceed them? I already bought some cheap silicone protectors but I that’s a minimum. Maybe masking tape or something?

Wrap a small plastic bag around the RJ45 plug end and tape it up. Little sandwich bags are ideal 😂

Once you've threaded it all through, personally I’d immediately test each cable to make sure it’s not been damaged.

Then with the cables all in place, if you’ve got further construction work going on around it, I’d suggest protecting the plugs more solidly: I've successfully used short lengths of 20mm uPVC pipe, with some gaffer tape to seal around it. The pipe is sturdy enough to take the weight of someone standing on it (screwfix have some on offer at the moment for £1 for 2m).

I'd also strongly suggest testing the cables before and after any significant subsequent construction work: you really don't want to find out two months later some contractor’s cut through it accidentally … ahem….

In the past I’ve also gone full belt and braces and put spare cables in, so even if one does get damaged, there’ll still be a working cable to use.