Cable Sleeving/Braid Guide (*56K Warning*)

[moogle]

Hi guys, had alot of sleeving and braiding to do today so I decided to make a sort of guide for anyone that wants to try as well.

WARNING: Take care when putting the connectors back as if you do it wrongly you could risk your PSU, Components, Fans getting damaged by SHORTING IT OUT and it could cause a fire. Please note that you do this at your own risk, I take no responsibility if anything goes wrong, this is just a guide.

It's not a big risk if you know what you're doing but I must give a warning.

Braiding simple things like fans or molex cables it's just a simple job of remembering where which cable goes. For 3 pin fans if you're facing the fan plug from above (where you can see the metal pins, orientate it so that the cables are at the bottom) there should be a Number 1 stamped onto it on the leftmost pin (stamped like a VIN number is etc). That #1 is the Ground (Negative -) pin or where the black cable goes. The middle is the +12 (Positive +) pin and the last one on the right is the Sensor (RPM) pin.

Here's a diagram I made just for the 3 pin fan and a male pinned molex cable (The main ones I sleeve/braid)

Diagram 1:




Also here's a little PSU cable pinout diagram from http://pinouts.ru/





If you're going to be doing PSU cable sleeving you'll be needing some numbered stickers (so you can label each cable with reference to the diagram above) or you can make your own with some clear tape and some paper. Once those wires are out it'll be pretty hard to manage them and you don't want to get this one messed up

Anyway heres the tools I used



But you can also use flathead screwdrivers like these instead of the Molex Toolkit I have. The small one is a 1.4mm one which can be used to press down on the fan pins, the larger one can be used to push the molex hooks in one at a time.



Pin Extractor Tools or Jewellers Screwdrivers and you can even use Bent staples (If they're long enough) for removing your 24-Pin ATX motherboard power cable pins.
Scalpel
Heavy Duty Scissors (Braid is tough to cut as it's all bundled up)
Heat gun, Hairdryer or Lighter*
Braid/Sleeving (Using 5mm - Expands to 8mm)
Heatshrink (Using 6mm 2:1 heatshrink - Contracts to 3mm past temperatures of 70c)


*Only use a lighter if you're doing black braiding/sleeving and heatshrinking as using it on anything else will turn it dark also.


Basically what I did was stretch out my cables that were going to be braided over a tape measure and took measurements of how long it was. For example my DDC's cables were 50cm long but I know that the cables aren't exactly straight so I added 1-2cm onto the cut length. I then proceeded cut 51cm of sleeving off my roll.

When they're cut they'll fray easily so I used the lighter again to melt the ends which keeps the strands of braid together when I push the cables through.

Here's how it looks before.



After the melting




I melt both ends so that neither side frays as much as it would if you didn't melt it.

Now you take off the pins so you can slip the sleeving on

For 3 pin fans you just need to press on the little hook on top to release a pin. I got the special tool which does all 3 at once but you can use the screwdriver or something like a fork or anything that has a blunt sort of end and fits in between the holes.

Here's a pic of it in action



After pushing down you just slip the pin out.

Here's another one of my diagrams to help you guys visualise it if you still don't understand how it's locked in.



1) Push the locking hook down (actually compresses the pin so don't worry about pulling it up after)
2) Slide the pin out.

Here's how it looks when it's out




I also had to remove 2 molex pins from my DDC so what I did was use my molex extractor too and push on it so it squeezed the hooks in to let the pin slip out. If you're using the screwdriver just press in each hook (don't push it too inside or it'll go inside the molex pin as it's hollow). More pics and diagrams below!




Here's the tool in action



Another one of my Laymans Diagrams if you still didn't understand how it's locked in




Now we got the connectors/plugs off lets do some sleeving!

When putting the sleeving on just pulling it over the cables can get it snagged. What I do is, once the cable is inside, I pinch the sleeving with my right hand and pinch the sleeving and cable (futher fromt the pin so you're holding more of the cable, 2-3" should be fine) in my left hand and slide my left hand until the pin is in between my right fingers. I then pinch the pin and let my left hand go and it slides onto the cable. I repeat this until the pin comes out the other side. You can do this with many pins too as when you compress the braid horizontally it expands in diameter (vertically) allowing large pins to pass through. Check the picture below, if you look closely you can see the pin and cable inside the braid.



My sleeving is on and it's looking sort of short right? (Bare wires showing) Well I left a few cm's of bare wire for the heatshrink to cover. Also the braid might still be compressed so what I do is pull in opposite directions on each end to straighten the braid out and tighten it around the cables





Now to put the heatshrink on. I usually cut about 2-3cm but it could be shorter or longer depending on how you want yours to look or how bad you've cut your sleeving
In my picture below you can see some stray strands of braid not wanting to fit in. This is only because I've got real tight heatshrink and braid. If you buy 3:1 ratio heatshrink (9mm diameter sized heatshrink would shrink 3 times smaller to 3mm) then you won't have this problem. My braid is 5mm in diameter and the heatshrink is like 6mm. The way I get around this is by pinching the heatshrink so it opens up like your mouth would and it can gobble those extra strands. If it doesn't I prod them in with my finger and it's not really hard to do

Stray strand piccy below




Check the next post for the rest of the guide as I'm limited to the amount of pictures I can post.

[moogle]

Continued....

Once the heatshrink is over if you're having a tough time like me pulling it onto the sleeving try twirling it and pushing it on. It helps me get it on the braid. Once you're done it'll be looking something like this. Now it's time for the shrinking.




I only shrink one end by putting my lighter on low and hovering it below the heatshrink. Sometimes I also hover it past the heatshink swiftly so it doesn't get too hot. Once that's done it'll look like the heatshrink in the background of the next picture.




Now that's done I won't shrink the other end yet. I'm gonna put the molex plug back on. But the hooks aren't sticking out anymore so the pins wont stay in the molex connector. This is where the scalpel comes in (sharp jewellers screwdriver can be used for this too). I use the scalpel to get underneath the hook then slightly lever it upwards. Repeat on all of the hooks but don't bend them too far out. Pictures below.



Here's how it looks when done. It's all ready to be connected to the molex connector. They look like rockets/missiles or even a plane sort of. It reminds me of a Super Banana Bomb from Worms World Party

Anyhow once in you should hear a click so tug on the cable to make sure it's in and fitted properly. Do the same for the fan plug. In my case the blue fan plug cable goes in slot #3 (RPM)



Now before shrinking the other end, I stretch out the braid by holding the braid at the shrunk end and stretching it out. This should shorten the distance or length of visible cable and should give you enough room to shrink the last heatshrink.

After all that is done you should end up with something like this




It really does look better in real life as quite frankly my DSLR camera skills are ****

Now if you wish to do PSU sleeving and achieve an effect like this (see picture below) or use a single large sleeve to sleeve your unsleeved cables then you can use the same methods. Just note when PSU sleeving make sure you don't forget those stickers! It's the same principle but longer



Picture courtesy of Dangals @ XS

Have any ugly sata cables? They can be sleeved too! I've got the ASUS standard red ones and I'll be sleeving them soon so I'll put some more pictures up They look really neat in black.

Hope this guide helps you better understand how to braid/sleeve your cables should you want to or if you were unsure of trying it. I've been sitting here for a few hours in my freezing room doing this and Firefox crashed and left me from square one so I may have rushed it but if you spot any mistakes (wrong hyperlinked pics or confusing wording) then let me know I'll edit it for the better of the readers

[jackvdbuk]

nice nice guide, well done

them tools you need though are quite the expensive items... i mean last time ichecked abotu a year ago it was like 15 quid for one extracter of some sort!

could tottally be off the mark however!

[moogle]

Originally Posted by jackvdbuk

nice nice guide, well done

them tools you need though are quite the expensive items... i mean last time ichecked abotu a year ago it was like 15 quid for one extracter of some sort!

could tottally be off the mark however!

Yeah it's £10 for my tool set, I'll add more info on the tools when I get back, you don't really need them to take the pins out. Gotta go hospital now I'll add the bits in when I get back
Oh and thanks


EDIT: I'm back and I've added 1 extra pic of the other tools you can use instead of getting a kit.

[PeterStoba]

Originally Posted by moogle

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Those were once mine!

Nice job and guide, I might try it soon, but most of my PSU cables were pre sleeved

[moogle]

Originally Posted by PeterStoba

Those were once mine!

Nice job and guide, I might try it soon, but most of my PSU cables were pre sleeved

Thanks

Yeah I had them sitting on my desk since they arrived, the cables started piling up so I decided let me do them all at once

If your PSU cables are pre-sleeved you can always cut the sleeving and still braid them. I'm guessing you'd want to do the individual cables right? Well that can also be done too. I'll go find some more info on that and add it to the guide

[Funkstar]

Great guide moogle.

I do like the look of that motherboard power cable with them all individually braided, much nicer than all the different colours.

[SiM]

Great guide! You have tooo much spare time. One thing it taught me is that its worth getting pre-braided PSUs

[moogle]

Originally Posted by Funkstar

Great guide moogle.

I do like the look of that motherboard power cable with them all individually braided, much nicer than all the different colours.

Originally Posted by SiM

Great guide! You have tooo much spare time. One thing it taught me is that its worth getting pre-braided PSUs

Thanks guys!

The praises makes it all worthwhile

It only took a few hours SiM I left it until I had a free day for myself so instead of playing a bit of games I went and done it

[MSIC]

Originally Posted by moogle

Gotta go hospital now I'll add the bits in when I get back

Nice guide, well done, i'm impressed. Not sure if i'll ever be quite so adventorous, but i know where to look now.
BTW - you ok?

[moogle]

Originally Posted by MSIC

Nice guide, well done, i'm impressed. Not sure if i'll ever be quite so adventorous, but i know where to look now.
BTW - you ok?

Thanks alot, Glad you all like it
I'm fine I just had to take my Mum to the hospital. We're back now and shes feeling better. I appreciate your concern though mate

[GoNz0]

nice work

[piggin23]

Excellent guide. Just wish I had read this before I did mine.
It may have cut down on the bloodshed.

[vinnyT]

Great guide, I'm just about to do this myself.

[spoon_]

Great guide, I wouldn't sleeve PSU cable way too much work, way too much

[EnglishLion]

Great guide - I think I'd have used some wider sleeving and done the 24pin all in one. Neater and far far far easier.