Shorting the sense lines to GND and +5V respectively puts the sense lines into what is called "local" sensing. The way the thing was designed originally was for "remote" sensing. I would look up "remote sensing" and "local sensing" just to familiarize yourself with what they mean so you can understand how to use them.
Make sure you test your voltages. If you are doing local sensing you should get a +5V output without the connector to the board connected. I would just double check you are getting +5.5v or LESS before you power down and reconnect your connector.