After 8 years I finally learned how to properly strip coax

I was out on a job last month in a old apartment building downtown and the senior guy watched me strip a line. He shook his head and showed me how I was leaving too much braid exposed. Turns out I've been doing it wrong since day one and probably causing signal issues on half my installs. I had to ask him what gave it away and he just pointed at my crimp. Has anyone else had that moment where a 30 year vet showed you something basic you missed?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenaf516d agoTop Commenter

Oh man, that's exactly the kind of thing that keeps me up at night (not really, but you know what I mean). The braid exposure thing is so subtle but it's huge for signal loss - especially on those older apartment runs where the cable's already fighting through concrete and old wiring. I swear half the time the "mystery interference" in my early jobs was probably just my bad crimps letting RF leak everywhere. The real kicker is that most of us never get that firsthand correction from a vet, so we just keep doing it wrong for years. It's like a secret handshake that nobody tells you about until someone finally takes pity on you. Makes me wonder what other basic stuff I'm still messing up without realizing it.

lunaf676d ago

@xenaf51 I actually disagree, most vets I know will call you out real quick if you're doing it wrong.