Overheard a guy at the supply house say something about coax prep that flipped my whole approach

I was grabbing some RG6 yesterday and this older installer told a new guy 'you strip too much jacket off, leave a quarter inch max'. Been doing it my way for like 5 years. Always left about half an inch. Tried his method on a job this morning. Connection held way tighter, no signal bleed. Anyone else get told something so simple that fixed a dumb habit?

1 comments

1 Comment

wyatt5136d ago

Hold up. Quarter inch is too short. I strip coax all the time and half inch gives you room to work. If you cut it that tight you risk nicking the dielectric when you trim the center conductor. I've seen guys do that and get intermittent signal later. Plus different connectors have different specs. Some compression fittings want 5/16 or 3/8. One size fits all advice is lazy. You got lucky on one job but try that on a 50 foot outdoor run with an F81 barrel in a box. Hand tight on a quarter inch strip and that connector can wiggle loose over time. Test that setup in a year and come back.