Cable Wraps: What does everyone use? Split loom? Heatshrink?

[RaiderJ]

I'm going to be cleaning up my case here in a bit, and I was looking for a neat way to clean up all my cables, which are mostly power cables.

I'm going for a very clean look, something that will look good throught the window in my case. Please post any suggestions, along with links if you have them to a good place to buy stuff.

Thanks!

 

[BZeto]

I use spiral cable wrap and split loom. Both I got from Radio Shack. I also use electrical tape to tape the loose wires to certain parts of the case so they stay out of the way. My case still isn't the prettiest to look at though. I'm going to pick up some hearshrink tubing though. Bu I'm still not sure on how the stuff works.

 

[xXgambitXx]

I use Velcro wraps.
you can find them at any office supply store. anything else that i can't see or doesn't effect airflow is just tucked up on top of the power supply.

 

[ChefJoe]

Spiral wrap from radioshack... one package and you're done. You could buy from somewhere else. It takes some patience to put it on, but it retains all the flexibility (which cannot be said for a lot of the heatshrink or split loom).

 

[Civic2oo1x]

I used this. Sucks cause I ended up paying $40 for about 20 ft of sleeving.

Looks like there's a cheaper alternative at SVC. At SVC I could've gotten that much for $10.

Here

 

[Vivi]

Originally posted by: Civic2oo1x
I used this. Sucks cause I ended up paying $40 for about 20 ft of sleeving.

Wow, you spent 40 bucks just to make the inside of your case more tidy? Feels a bit excessive to me
I just wrap my power cables along the side of my hd/floppy cages and along the top of that horizonal beam on side of the PSU. Since I don't have a window on the side of my case anyway I'm just more concerned with airflow then looks.

 

[Lizardman]

I used so split loom. Mostly just used electrical tape to put fan cables out of the way.

 

[deerslayer]

I used the expandable tubing stuff SVC has now. Got it somewhere else though, but I can't remember where. Worked out pretty nicely

 

[RalfHutter]

Unused PSU wiring is rolled up behind the PSU and secured with cable ties, or is hidden behind the MoBo tray. Used wiring runs behind the MoBo tray and then behing the drive cages. It's also held in place with cable ties. IDE and FDD ribbon cable is folded flat out of the airflow.

I don't use that spiral loom or other kinds of split loom. My personal opinion is that it looks silly, kind of like a bunch of worms in your case. I also don't use electrial tape or any other type of tape to hold things together because the glue eventually turns to mush and gets sticky stuff all over your wiring.

Pic #1

Pic #2

Pic #3

 

[sep]

Originally posted by: BZeto
I use spiral cable wrap and split loom. Both I got from Radio Shack. I also use electrical tape to tape the loose wires to certain parts of the case so they stay out of the way. My case still isn't the prettiest to look at though. I'm going to pick up some hearshrink tubing though. Bu I'm still not sure on how the stuff works.

Same here...don't have pics yet, but looks close enough to shrink wrapped ends (used black wire loom 1/4 & 3/8 with yellow electrical tape to match Maximum PC's 2002 PC).

 

[BAMAVOO]

RalfHutter


That looks great but most people have at least 2 cds (DVD,Rom, or Burner) 2 Hard drives and 4 or more fans..My case looks like shiat at the moment..I am gonna try doing what you did..Just don't think I can make all that stuff fit around corners like you have done though.

Give ya props though..Sweet job..

 

[LED]

Well Damn I can take care inside of the Case but just dunno what to do with the Cables outside the Case

 

[amcdonald]

When in doubt, use duct tape.
I just tape the cables together to tidy up and tape them down to the sides of the case...
I'm more worried about airflow than looks though.
But I guess you could use red duct tape if it turns on the ladies.

 

[Lars]

Originally posted by: RalfHutter
Unused PSU wiring is rolled up behind the PSU and secured with cable ties, or is hidden behind the MoBo tray. Used wiring runs behind the MoBo tray and then behing the drive cages. It's also held in place with cable ties. IDE and FDD ribbon cable is folded flat out of the airflow.

I don't use that spiral loom or other kinds of split loom. My personal opinion is that it looks silly, kind of like a bunch of worms in your case. I also don't use electrial tape or any other type of tape to hold things together because the glue eventually turns to mush and gets sticky stuff all over your wiring.

Pic #1

Pic #2

Pic #3

I got the same case, just a little bit more modified and lot of more stuff in it, and love it.

I use split loom (black) from the car store to make the cables look nicer. Looks really good through the window with 2 Green CC in the case (or 2 Red Lazer LEDs, depending on what is switched on).

 

[dxkj]

As for spending money to make the inside of your case look "pretty"


If youve gone to the point to mod your case with a window, or get a case with a window mod, you might as well make the inside of your case worth looking at. I bought a few pieces of UV neon flex tubing to use in my case, cost me about 9 dollars but I also spent 10 dollars on a light i suppose I could have gotten another vantec tornado for that amount and increased my airflow =)

 

[Dan]

I use split loom (from the local auto parts store) and electrical tape. You can see some photos here. (Look at Systems #1 & #3 under "the latest.")

 

[jimmyhaha]

where do u guys find split loom cheap (auto parts store like pepboys ?)

btw, does Home depot, Ace carry split loom and how much / foot ?

pls advice, thanks in advance.

 

[Lars]

Originally posted by: jimmyhaha
where do u guys find split loom cheap (auto parts store like pepboys ?)

btw, does Home depot, Ace carry split loom and how much / foot ?

pls advice, thanks in advance.

I paid $4.xx for split loom at Checkers Auto Parts. Don't know how many feet, but it was long enough for all the cables in my case.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: Vivi
Wow, you spent 40 bucks just to make the inside of your case more tidy? Feels a bit excessive to me

Then I don't want to tell you what I spent on mine. It's even MORE excessive.

Originally posted by: BAMAVOO
That looks great but most people have at least 2 cds (DVD,Rom, or Burner) 2 Hard drives and 4 or more fans.

Yeah, I've got a SCSI drive, 5 IDE drives, a CDRW and a DVD-ROM drive. I cannot bend enough flat IDE cables to clean THAT up. I HAD to go with rounded cables, wire sleeves and heat shrink.

Originally posted by: LED
Well Damn I can take care inside of the Case but just dunno what to do with the Cables outside the Case

Use split loom (get it from Radio Shack or whatever), heat shrink (get BIG heat shrink), and cable ties.

 

[SharkyTM]

split loom from Lowes! Cheaper than RatShack. spiral wrap is ok, but you cant get a cable out if you need to.

 

[ILuvFlight]

I rounded my own cables with zipties at the end and colored electrical tape. I also used the colored electrical tape for the molex wires. Matches my paint scheme, makes the ide cables smaller than pre-modded rounded cables, it's a lot easier to do than expandable sleeving (no removing molex connectors), and it's cheap. Like 3 bucks for a pack of 5 colors at home depot

 

[LED]

Zipties...RiteAide...gotem for $1.99 in colors for 50 in colors ...thanks for this Thread!

 

[Ilmater]

Alright. Last night I wrapped some wires with mesh sleeving and heat shrink, and it looks great! I'm getting parts for a new computer now, and next weekend I'll be getting my new case. When the case comes in, I'll be taking my PS out of my current rig (a 435W Dark Blue Enermax) and sleeving all the ends. The problem is finding a Molex pin remover that works AND doesn't cost an armand a leg. They're not easy to work with, I can tell you that. I found that on 3-pin fan connectors, you can bunch up the weave in the mesh sleeving, kind of like Chinese handcuffs (don't take that personally, I don't know any other names for them), and get even 1/4" wrap around them. It's quite nice. You can see an example of what I'm talking about on this page.

It looks EXTREMELY nice! However, a word of warning. I almost messed up some of my work, but realized my folly in time. I have a 3-pin connector on my Panaflo that is custom made to plug right into the fan and the header on the morhterboard without having to splice into the bare ends that the Panaflo comes with. I was putting sleeve wrap on it when I realized that if I put it too close to the side that connected to the fan, I wouldn't be able to get the wires into the guide that fans have. You know, the groove on the side of all fans that kind of hold the wire in place? Anyway, I plugged the wire in and secured it in the groove before cutting the mesh sleeving and using the heatsink.

When all was said and done, this looks REALLY nice compared to bare wires. I only use split loom when it's completely out of site (behind my OTHER god box, for example) because it doesn't look as good, and I think that the spiral wrap doesn't look as good as this either. IMO, it's worth the time.

EDIT: Don't want to spend $40 to clean up your case? You might want to look here for sleeving. Prices are:
1/4" _ _______ $0.41 / foot
3/8" _ _______ $0.55 / foot <------- This is available in Black, Grey, and Blue
1/2" _ _______ $0.58 / foot
3/4" _ _______ $0.65 / foot
1 1/4" _______ $0.89 / foot

And to think, Civic2oo1x spent $2 / ft and I paid $1 / ft before. This is a little more in my range. Just in case I sound like a commercial, I don't have any idea who these people are, I just did a Google search for cable sleeve and they came up.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: Ilmater


EDIT: Don't want to spend $40 to clean up your case? You might want to look here for sleeving. Prices are:
1/4" _ _______ $0.41 / foot
3/8" _ _______ $0.55 / foot <------- This is available in Black, Grey, and Blue
1/2" _ _______ $0.58 / foot
3/4" _ _______ $0.65 / foot
1 1/4" _______ $0.89 / foot

And to think, Civic2oo1x spent $2 / ft and I paid $1 / ft before. This is a little more in my range. Just in case I sound like a commercial, I don't have any idea who these people are, I just did a Google search for cable sleeve and they came up.

I just looked at this website and noticed that it's Canadian and that these prices are in Canadian Dollars which means that if you convert them to US Dollars (by moving the decimal point to the left about three places, IIRC ) this sleeving is even cheaper than listed above. Ka-ching.....save even more money!

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: dxkj
As for spending money to make the inside of your case look "pretty"


I bought a few pieces of UV neon flex tubing to use in my case, cost me about 9 dollars but I also spent 10 dollars on a light

where did you find the uv tubing???