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Wire Management Tips Wanted


The History Kid

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Thanks! I appreciate the complements!

I get all the zip ties, latters, buddy blocks, etc from work.

I've been an avionics installer since I got out of the USAF in 9/1/2000. That's all I did for 15 years, route, tie, clamp, terminate, and continuity check. I've aquired lots of "extras" over the years. I guess that's why I do my own crossovers, speaker wires, power cables, and interconnects.

My next ET center should look better. Less "stuff" to deal with. One big change will be all my power cable connectors will be 100% EMI protected. As it stands now, some are just plastic and don't do anythingfor EMI.

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One way to make cables less noticeable is to use split wire looms.  This is flexible plastic tubing that's open on one side.  You probably have some under the hood on your car to organize its wires.

 

It's available in various sizes and colours, so I use white wire loom to run the surround speaker cables along the baseboards, because it matches the baseboards and carpet.

 

Info:  http://www.cableorganizer.com/wire-loom-tubing/

 

Who knew it came in chrome:  http://www.amazon.com/Spectre-Performance-29518-Chrome-Split/dp/B0006303QW

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  • 2 months later...

oh, i know this is a bit old, but i figured out a really cheap and easy way to use zip ties.  that is assuming you want to use zip ties.  so in my pictures you see the white "ladders" i cut down to only have 2 positions.  well, instead of those, you can staple each zip tie in a row.  i did it with my staple gun (test piece of wood) and if you set the staple gun right, it won't pinch the ties down.  that way you can zip the wires down, but not have to remove the staple if you need to cut that tie.  oh, my staple gun was bought at Harbor Freight (for reference).  i would put a staple every 3" apart, that way the weight is shared more and the staples won't be stressed as much.

anyways, just something i was messing around with.  my ET center is half done now, waiting on the new TV to be purchased and mounted before i can actually fully finish the job.  oh, maybe an Oppo player if i can convince myself to buy one!

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oh, i know this is a bit old, but i figured out a really cheap and easy way to use zip ties.  that is assuming you want to use zip ties.  so in my pictures you see the white "ladders" i cut down to only have 2 positions.  well, instead of those, you can staple each zip tie in a row.  i did it with my staple gun (test piece of wood) and if you set the staple gun right, it won't pinch the ties down.  that way you can zip the wires down, but not have to remove the staple if you need to cut that tie.  oh, my staple gun was bought at Harbor Freight (for reference).  i would put a staple every 3" apart, that way the weight is shared more and the staples won't be stressed as much.

anyways, just something i was messing around with.  my ET center is half done now, waiting on the new TV to be purchased and mounted before i can actually fully finish the job.  oh, maybe an Oppo player if i can convince myself to buy one!

 

Post a pic if possible.  People are always looking for ways to make the wires neater.

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Post a pic if possible.  People are always looking for ways to make the wires neater.

 

do you mean of how my ET looks now? if so, now way! it doesn't look good! it's close thought.  getting the Monoprice HDMI non active cables did help! i promise though, once it gets done, i'll post a ton of pics!

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If your wiring harnesses includes CAT-5/6 ethernet cable or HDMI cables and you are using zip ties, don't cinch down too hard. The performance of these cables depends upon the precise location of the inner twisted pairs with respect to each other. If you tighten the zip tie so that the outer insulation jacket is deformed, you've gone too far. Velcro is my preferred product for data-type cable bundles. 

 

If you are like me, when I finish doing a cable management job, the floor is littered with used cable ties from grouping and re-grouping cables so they look nice. BTW, use flush cutting nippers to trim the zip tie ends, non-flush cutting dykes will leave a sharp barb.

 

A possible solution is to use releasable cable ties. Once you get the hang of pinching the release tab, you'll end up wasting fewer ties.

 

 http://www.cabletiesunlimited.com/cable-ties/releasable-nylon-cable-ties.html?gclid=CJbhvLjGwsoCFYQ1aQodTUQFMQ#.VBnWUcKwJIU?keyword_session_id=kt~%2Breleasable%20%2Bties|mt~b|ta~61765769723&_vsrefdom=wordstream

 

Lee

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If your a "wood" man you might consider creating long wood wire channels with covers and no cable ties. You can make them any width and length and depth to suit your needs and if you need to re wire anything you just pull the covers.

JJK

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Panduit makes several types of wireway with covers and many sizes and colors. If one keeps the height the same a narrower wireway can be used for the branches and the covers will line up for a neat appearance. The advantage with this product is that the wires do not have to be tiewrapped together, so no worries about pinching the wire or fiber cable. Modifications are easy to make - snap the covers off, alter the wiring, snap the covers back on. Standard length cables can be used and still look neat by pulling the excess back into the wireway.

 

http://www.panduit.com/wcs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Panduit_Global%2FPG_Layout&cid=1345564328950&packedargs=classification_id%3D227%26locale%3Den_us&pagename=PG_Wrapper

 

Page 10 is a good place to start looking for useful sizes.

 

Omron and other manufacturers also make wireway that may be a little cheaper, though wireway isn't that expensive to begin with.

Edited by Don Richard
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