I just tried using the v5 wire crimping tool for the first time (also my first time using any wire clipping/stripping tool) and I have not achieved any effective results. I have some how done one end correctly, but then when cutting/stripping the end, every time I try to strip the wire, A. wire doesn’t strip at all, I just have the color-coded ends, B. I use too much force and somehow cut the wires instead of stripping them (I am using the area marked “stripper”) or C. the wire strips, but not entirely and I’m not sure if it would provide conductivity. Are there any pointers to using this tool?
You only need to strip the outer black insulation off. These are what is known as IDC or Insulation Displacement Contact - you don’t strip the inner coloured insulation, the connector effectively does that job for you when you crimp it.
Have you read the guide on the VEX product page?
That you don’t have to strip off? It looked to me that the little bit of exposed copper wire at the tip of each cable wouldn’t be enough to contact the metal pads in the connector.
Otherwise thanks. If that’s the case then most likely I can see why the first one didn’t work out at all.
When you crimp the connector onto the cable, you are driving metal ‘blades’ through the colored insulation and into the copper of each conductor. These metal ‘blades’ are what carry signals between the cables and devices in which they are plugged in.
Yeah, don’t strip the coloured bit. The forked blades inside the connector do that job for you.