These cables are damaged ?
I wasn’t aware that IQ smart cables were so prone to damage. How are these cables broken?
The clips on the end are broken. I have 100 middle school students and this collection is from over 6 years of use. Would love to clip off the ends and put on new connectors.
They are still usable if you rubberband them onto the motor and they still have a good end to use on the brain.
Ah, this is such an excellent question, @sankeydd!
And I bet my hat that the amount of time it will take you to get the official positive answer is inversely proportional to the amount of time before vex goes bust.
They are RJ 12 DEC connectors
This crimping tool, while expensive, does the job
https://www.showmecables.com/ratchet-modular-crimping-tool-for-rj22-rj11-rj12-rj45-and-dec (This will also do V5 connectors)
If we ask nice @jpearman may tell us the tool he likes.
Since I use my VEXIQ stuff for other things, I end up making weird cables (DEC to Dupont pins)
Take some care making these, the IQ motors are not amused about pin swaps.
So now you have a bin of “test cables” and when the robot is done, they can be replaced by “official VIQ cables”
These are not to be confused or used with the Lego RJ12 6P6C Modular Plugs with RIGHT Latch Offset Tab for Lego NXT EV3 (14 pack) | eBay
and need a special tool https://www.szsongmei.com/rj12-telephone-crimping-tools-for-lego-nxt-plug.html
I think the question is less about what tools are needed and more about when it will be permissible by rules. Personally, I don’t see any issue with a team replacing a connector on a wire, but the IQ game manual does not appear to have any provision marking this as an exception to R13.
Yeah, I thought about this in the past and try to be diligent about it… But I know that some would end up on competition bots unless I really went out of my way to mark them… And even then…
I’m hoping for a future where I can just fix it and throw it back in the bin… I know, I’m a dreamer!
I think they chose the connector to make it hard to “roll your own” I hadn’t seen a DEC connector in 20 years when they popped up in VIQ. More than $100 for a crimp tool makes the cost / benefit really high.
But you know the drill, send an email to Dan and Bob and ask that roll your own cables can be included in 2023-24.
You can find the crimp tool for far less than $100, how good the cheap ones are I have no idea, I have 5 different tools that can crimp V5 smart cables, I’ve found no one tool that is perfect (and most are pretty bad), it seems the combination of tool and specific connector (and I’ve tried multiple different brands of connector) is the only way to get good cables.
here is one for IQ
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803254462869.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US
The tool that I bought is a beast. I’ve owned it since 2015 and have made over a hundred cable ends with it. (Prior tool “strolled away” with someone that wanted it) While I’m under $1 per end, making a connection and being able to walk away from it without worry is a big deal. I’ve been buying from Showmecables for 30 years and have never been disappointed in their products.
Connectors, cable, tool is a tough balance.