Cable braiding tutorial
- Thread starter Greboth
- Start date
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With the paracord how do you get the cable through the plastic core? Or do you cut to length and remove the core part?
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Im very intetrested in doing my own project but beein doing searches on full kits with the tools required .
Where can i buy the kits ,if there is anything ..would like to braid red/white or red/black.
thanks
Where can i buy the kits ,if there is anything ..would like to braid red/white or red/black.
thanks
Soldato
would 2.5mm braiding be a bit too snug for doing single wires for the psu ? I am going to have to braid my XFX PSU as part of the project I am kicking off because the PSU is fully wirred and the out of the box coverings from XFX are horrendous.
Soldato
one more question...........
is it possible to remove sata power connectors ? The PSU I have is fully wired. I have tools to remove molex, ATX, PCIe, Fan connectors, but the sata connectors are a diferrent beast.
I know this is going to be a very time consuming job, but I am patient geeser
I just simply have no idea how to get the stat connector off..............
is it possible to remove sata power connectors ? The PSU I have is fully wired. I have tools to remove molex, ATX, PCIe, Fan connectors, but the sata connectors are a diferrent beast.
I know this is going to be a very time consuming job, but I am patient geeser
I just simply have no idea how to get the stat connector off..............
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Good guide man!
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I have braided LOTS of cables in the past, from 24pin atx extensions through to the little motherboard speaker!
The best thing i have found to use is 550 Paracord, which can be picked up for around a fiver for 50ft of it.
The coverage it offers is unrivalled - *completely* and its very easy to work with.
It is however very snag prone but a bit of practice works wonders.
Sleeving a 24pin ATX extension can be time consuming but there are tricks i picked up along my way.
Paracord does not stretch, at all lol.
*Cut the cord longer than required, possibly to the point where you think its a touch too long.
*Remove the pins from the female end only (on the 24 pin)
*Slide on your pre cut heat shrink, then your cord.
*Slide the cord half way along the cable, position your heatshrink in place, and heat it - Yes, the process does seem odd, but bear with me.
*Once its sealed and cooled, firmly hold the un corded cable and the heat shrink, and twist in one hand, as if you are spinning the cord around the cable. this will break the heat seal between the heat shrink and cables protective covering, once done, push the shrunk heat shrink down as far as possible, now you have one side sorted.
so, we move the the other end:
*Push the rest of the cord onto the cable - fully, then add your heat shrink. position it in the required spot, heat it, job done - cable sleeved.
Doing this method allowed me to sleeve a 24pin in less than 30 minutes - start to finish.
I also used 2 straightened staples, with the top 1/4 bent over to form an L shape, and a pair of needle nosed pliers.
tools i used.
Female connector end
Male connector end
Was this one perfect? not exactly, it does take some getting used to but its easy enough to pick up.
Another thing i would heavily recommend is to strecth the end of the heat shrink
The best thing i have found to use is 550 Paracord, which can be picked up for around a fiver for 50ft of it.
The coverage it offers is unrivalled - *completely* and its very easy to work with.
It is however very snag prone but a bit of practice works wonders.
Sleeving a 24pin ATX extension can be time consuming but there are tricks i picked up along my way.
Paracord does not stretch, at all lol.
*Cut the cord longer than required, possibly to the point where you think its a touch too long.
*Remove the pins from the female end only (on the 24 pin)
*Slide on your pre cut heat shrink, then your cord.
*Slide the cord half way along the cable, position your heatshrink in place, and heat it - Yes, the process does seem odd, but bear with me.
*Once its sealed and cooled, firmly hold the un corded cable and the heat shrink, and twist in one hand, as if you are spinning the cord around the cable. this will break the heat seal between the heat shrink and cables protective covering, once done, push the shrunk heat shrink down as far as possible, now you have one side sorted.
so, we move the the other end:
*Push the rest of the cord onto the cable - fully, then add your heat shrink. position it in the required spot, heat it, job done - cable sleeved.
Doing this method allowed me to sleeve a 24pin in less than 30 minutes - start to finish.
I also used 2 straightened staples, with the top 1/4 bent over to form an L shape, and a pair of needle nosed pliers.
tools i used.
Female connector end
Male connector end
Was this one perfect? not exactly, it does take some getting used to but its easy enough to pick up.
Another thing i would heavily recommend is to strecth the end of the heat shrink
Last edited:
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Its worth adding:
*As long as you dont split the heat shrink when stretching it, you can effectively stretch it as much as you like, it will still shrink properly hassle free.
*Paracord - practice cutting lengths, as once you cut a length and remove the inner fibres, the cord is no longer stretched and seems to almost shrink a little, so over measure the length.
*DONT use a sharp knife to cut the cord, i used a solid pair of cable snips ('borrowed' from the old fella) as the ends of cord fray like mad until they are sealed, the snips cut fast and very clean, i would also stay away from scissors (unless they are silly sharp!)
*Use a rig to cut heat shrink (similar to an image above with masking tape) allows you to get continuous consistency.
*Over measuring the cord also helps with my method of only removing one end of the cable from the connectors, as there is more cable it is pusing away from itself to get to its normal length, so will always be pushing towards the loose end of the cable.
*And finally - colour choice is everything, how will the braid react with the current lighting set up in your case?
Luckily, my case has blue lighting and i used neon yellow cord,
(iPhone pic, sry)
*As long as you dont split the heat shrink when stretching it, you can effectively stretch it as much as you like, it will still shrink properly hassle free.
*Paracord - practice cutting lengths, as once you cut a length and remove the inner fibres, the cord is no longer stretched and seems to almost shrink a little, so over measure the length.
*DONT use a sharp knife to cut the cord, i used a solid pair of cable snips ('borrowed' from the old fella) as the ends of cord fray like mad until they are sealed, the snips cut fast and very clean, i would also stay away from scissors (unless they are silly sharp!)
*Use a rig to cut heat shrink (similar to an image above with masking tape) allows you to get continuous consistency.
*Over measuring the cord also helps with my method of only removing one end of the cable from the connectors, as there is more cable it is pusing away from itself to get to its normal length, so will always be pushing towards the loose end of the cable.
*And finally - colour choice is everything, how will the braid react with the current lighting set up in your case?
Luckily, my case has blue lighting and i used neon yellow cord,
(iPhone pic, sry)
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Hi, with Paracord, you cut the length slightly longer than needed and then remove the inner core fibres.
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Legend. Thanks
Soldato
How much braiding do you need to do a full PSU?
MDCP have 10meters per item and I was wondering if that would be enough for 24pin/8pin/2x6pins ?
MDCP have 10meters per item and I was wondering if that would be enough for 24pin/8pin/2x6pins ?
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To be fair, i think it depends on the PSU in question
If you can, measure each cable, multiply it by the amount of cables, dont be shy with the measurements, more is better.
(24 pin - for example, 1 of the 24 is 10cm, so total would be 240cm, in my view i would order close to 300cm)
Best bang for buck is 550 Paracord, you can get around 50ft for less than £5, and the coverage & end result is insane compared to taditional cord.
If you can, measure each cable, multiply it by the amount of cables, dont be shy with the measurements, more is better.
(24 pin - for example, 1 of the 24 is 10cm, so total would be 240cm, in my view i would order close to 300cm)
Best bang for buck is 550 Paracord, you can get around 50ft for less than £5, and the coverage & end result is insane compared to taditional cord.
Soldato
Its a Corsair HX750w, the 24pins is just so darn ugly and so hard to ben/flex 
Also, what do I do with cables that are hard wired such as the 24pin and 8pin?
Also, what do I do with cables that are hard wired such as the 24pin and 8pin?
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Have a look here - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18280993&page=5 at post #147
Soldato
Thanks, but thats for sleeving an extension?
I want to sleeve all the way to the root of the PSU.
Also, whats a good "blade" to use for cutting the paracord?
I want to sleeve all the way to the root of the PSU.
Also, whats a good "blade" to use for cutting the paracord?
Associate
Sleeving all the way to the root on your PSU may prove a little challenging
Coming out of your psu casing, the current hole is wide enough to allow the current cables & outer sleeve, with very little room for movement.
If you have a work-around for this then its all good.
Yes, the post explains how to sleeve an extension, but the principle is the same, with the exception that you cant remove the female ends as there are none
But essentially, remove the male end and sleeve over - Yes it is a little more fiddly.
A good blade?
I tried a new stanley blade, scissors (hairdressing ones so flipping sharp) and a handful of other things, but the one i liked more? a sturdy pair of electricians cables cutters. all other things just seemed to make the cutting too messy.
As for cutting the heatshrink - stanley balde & a jig to measure it.
Coming out of your psu casing, the current hole is wide enough to allow the current cables & outer sleeve, with very little room for movement.
If you have a work-around for this then its all good.
Yes, the post explains how to sleeve an extension, but the principle is the same, with the exception that you cant remove the female ends as there are none
But essentially, remove the male end and sleeve over - Yes it is a little more fiddly.
A good blade?
I tried a new stanley blade, scissors (hairdressing ones so flipping sharp) and a handful of other things, but the one i liked more? a sturdy pair of electricians cables cutters. all other things just seemed to make the cutting too messy.
As for cutting the heatshrink - stanley balde & a jig to measure it.
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BIG thankyou for this, was looking at some builds and wondering how they did it!
Associate
Thanks, but thats for sleeving an extension?
I want to sleeve all the way to the root of the PSU.
Also, whats a good "blade" to use for cutting the paracord?
Dont know why i didn't mention it earlier (sorry) you could always sleeve as far as you can up to the PSU, tie it all off and fabricate a shroud to fit over it all leaving a very nice clean & tidy finish to it!