Can you reuse ethernet keystone jacks?

Keystone Jack Reuse Practical Guide

I. Prerequisites for Reusability

• Complete Physical Structure

Plastic clips are intact (elastic rebound when pressed)
IDC wire slot metal pieces are flat (no warping or deformation)
RJ45 contact plating is not worn (uniform gold color, no black spots)

• Compliant Historical Use

Only connected to standard PoE devices (≤30W)
Not exposed to water/oil corrosion
Wiring attempts ≤ 2 times (IDC blade lifespan limit)

II. Scenarios Where Reuse is Absolutely Prohibited

• Discard immediately in these cases:

Used with PoE++ power supply exceeding 60W (contacts yellowed and carbonized)
Used for outdoor surveillance (UV aging makes plastic brittle)
Plugged in and out more than 50 times (metal fatigue leading to poor contact)
Shielding Jack grounding tab broken (compromising anti-interference)

III. Safe Disassembly Steps

• Removing from the panel:

Use a small screwdriver to push the bottom tab (stop when you hear a "click")
Do not use pliers to pull forcefully (will break the cable)

• Separating the old network cable:

Remove residual wire ends from the wiring slot with a needle
Avoid scratching the IDC metal pieces with the blade

IV. Refurbishment Operation Three Key Elements

V. Reuse Risk Control

• Marking Management:

Attach an orange label to the casing (indicating "Reused 1 time")
Mandatory disposal after more than 3 uses

• Scenario Restrictions:

Only used for non-critical equipment (such as conference room IP phones)
Not allowed for servers/security backbone networks

• Emergency Plan:

Reuse Jacks have a 30% higher failure rate
Keep spare new parts of the same model readily available for quick replacement