A technician needs to remove the outer jacket of a twisted-pair cable without nicking the conductors, before a plug is crimped. Which tool does that?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
You need to peel the coat off without cutting the wires inside, and then someone else can put the plug on. That peel is a cable stripper. The crimp tool, the punchdown blade, and the tone box do not take the jacket off cleanly.
Full Explanation
A cable stripper scores and removes the outer jacket while leaving the conductors intact, which is the step before the plug is crimped. A crimper fastens the plug after the jacket is already off. Using it to strip the jacket nicks conductors or does not strip them at all. A punchdown tool seats wires into a jack. It is not the tool that prepares a modular plug by stripping the jacket. A tone generator puts a signal on a pair so you can find the cable. It does not cut a jacket to length. Exam caveat: set the stripper for the cable's jacket thickness. A deep bite nicks the conductors and causes a flaky link later. Operational check: strip a short length, inspect the conductors for cuts, and only then order the pairs and crimp. Inspect the conductors for nicks before you order the pairs. Set the stripper depth on a scrap before you strip the cable you will install. Discard a stripped end that shows a nicked conductor and strip again.