Wire & Connector Repair

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
1

I’m sure we’ve all had connectors or pins break on wires, and it’s unfortunate to lose a motor or sensor for such a small thing.

Robosource.net now offers all the parts and tools you need to fix VEX cables and connectors starting at $0.30: Premium Rubber Bands, Size 64, 100 pack - Robosource.net You could also make your own wires, which would have to be identical length to the VEX ones if you’re using them for a competition robot, or if you’re not competing you could even make your own custom length wires.

https://www.robosource.net/460-large_default/3-male-kit.jpg

Repairs to wires are VRC legal by rule R15a (see this clarification for additional details). Please note that the keyed connectors on VEX wires seem to be custom made, and can’t be found anywhere else. Therefore, should you want to keep the keyed connector, you will have to carefully remove and reuse the one that was previously on the wire. However, non-keyed connectors are also legal.

Crimping pins isn’t too hard once you get the hang of it. We are going to release detailed information including photos and a video on the repair process soon.

A note about crimping tools: The crimping tool we offer is $24.99, which is a bit more than what we’d usually aim for pricing wise at Robosource.net. You can find other crimpers online and we’ve tried a lot of different ones, however if you’re not paying $20-$30+ chances are it’s best not to buy it. Most crimpers will deform the pins and make them hard or impossible to insert into the housing, including a very similar looking one that is quite common and often labelled SN-28B. That one has 3 crimping slots that won’t work well, while the correct sized tools generally have 2 slots, with the smaller slot being the correct one. If you’re just fixing a few wires and don’t want to buy a tool, it is also possible to use some pliers, but it is a bit trickier to get the crimp right.

2

We repair our wires all the time, and I can’t stress enough the need for a high-quality crimping tool. We paid nearly $60 for the one we use, so the robosource one is a really good deal. And it takes practice to get it right, so get a couple dozen extra pins. When we do a motor, you can actually cut off the broken pin right through the crimp, and strip the end for a new pin, so the motor wires only gets about 1/4" shorter after the repair.

3

I forgot to mention this in the first post, but we will be taking a short break over the holidays. US orders placed Dec 22 and after will ship on Jan 2, which makes today the last day to place an order that will be shipped before the holidays. Canadian orders will continue to ship as normal on days that aren’t holidays.

4

Usually we just take the bit of wire that has the 2-wire pin from a broken motor and splice the wire itself.

5

This works too, and is what I’ve done in the past. However you need another broken part or extension cable to cut the end off, and it doesn’t look as neat with the heatshrink. It is good if you only have a few connectors to repair and the extra wires, but once you get the hang of it crimping new pins on is usually faster.