Sleeving help

[silkstone]

Hi guys, i'm wondering if anyone has any advice on sleeving a 6-pin pcie power connector? ive done a couple of molex connectors and my fan cables, but i am really unsure how to go about doing my 6-pin power one.
I don't have one of those magic tools, just some jewelers screwdrivers which work well for molex and fan headers. Will they work for pcie?

I'll probably buy a little extension cable to practice on first, but barring cutting the wires and re-connecting them is ther another way?

Thx for any help, i just spent 6 hrs sleeving a few cables and learning about it all by trial and error, great fun, but real tiring.

 

[mlee49]

Heres a nice guide:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202639

As well here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115492

 

[TheGrapist]

Heres a nice guide:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202639

As well here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115492

OP,use either guide.....i use safety pins and it works but takes some time.what kind of sleeving and heatshrink are you using?I'm using paracord and 3:1 3mm heatshrink but it doesn't quite fit over the para cord so i'm getting some 3:1 6mm heatshrink from parts express

 

[silkstone]

Thanks, The extreme systems guide is exactly what i am looking for

The only sleeving i can get a hold of is the smallest type, 1/8"?? it's big enough to just sleeve individual wires, or it actually fits 2 wires down with a little patience, which is what i have been doing. The only heatshrink i can get a hold of comes with the sleeving and is about 2wice the diameter, but it's meant to shrink to a 3:1 ratio. It's not ideal, but it's all i have got.

So far i have shortened and sleeved a mouse cable (for my laptop) That was practice and i messed up a little bit with one end when i applied the sleeving. I didn't cut the frayed end, but wrapped it around and then applied the heatshrink so now there is an ugly bulge, but that was with a cheap mouse and i wanted to do it for practice. i can't re-do it as there are no screws to remove the mouse cover, i had to cut the cable and solder it back together .

I also changed a 2x molex > 6 pin pcie + molex splitter cable into a single molex > 6 pin pcie.
The heatshrink does not go all they way up into the plug, but sits a few mm outside. I think it looks ok, but i may re-heatshrink this to make it sit all the way in (once i get the hang of taking the pins out).

I also did a couple of fans which, i think, look good.

I'll post some pics this evening after i buy some more sleeving and go at it again

 

[silkstone]

Update.

I managed to sleeve another pci-e cable. but i'll be damned if i can take the pins out of the pci-e end. My batteries on my digicam are drained, so i couldn't take any pics, although i'll try and upload some pics of the finished cable tomorrow. I used a larger peice of shrink tube to go around the adaptor + cables and i think it looks ok.

I tried a flat (very small) jewelers screwdriver and also staples, but i could only get 1 pin out

This is going to be a problem as i want to fully sleeve my atx connector and my on psu 6-pin pci-e cable. i'm actually thinking of destroying the pci-e power header to get to the pins as i have a spare one i could just put the pins into.

I also realized that i wasted about 2 meters of sleeving, as the stuff i bought yesterday wasn't the smallest, 2 cables could fit down each sleeve! i got some smaller stuff today which only fit 1 cable and it looks much better. it looks like i will have to undo all my work yesterday and re-sleeve the original cable if i can't sleeve the psu one. Not ideal, but it should look nice.

I have 2 fans which i want to link together and put on a single connector. I'm thinking (if 6 wires don't fit down the sleeve) of either using a piece of remaining larger sleeve to hold the 6 wires, connect them to 3 wires, shrink tube, then use some of the smaller sleeving on the 3 wires + fan header. Or i could just buy a bit more larger sleeving and do the whole thing like that... what do you thin would look better?

I really need to up some pics so i can illustrate what i am trying to do.

 

[TheGrapist]

here are some crappy pics of an 80mm fan i sleeved with paracord,ignore the ziptie...it's only there until i get bigger heatshrink

 

[silkstone]

yea, that looks like the size sleeving i originally used, it should be able to fit 2 full fan cables down.

i am going to join 2 cables + extend them so i'll be using the same size. do you think i should buy another couple of meters anyway so i can sleeve all my jumper cables in 1 go or do the jumper cables look better in groups of 2?

I have enough stuff to sleeve for the time being anyway, so i guess i can figure it out as i go along.

instead of smaller shrink cord, how do you think using electrical tape + bigger size works?

 

[TheGrapist]

yea, that looks like the size sleeving i originally used, it should be able to fit 2 full fan cables down.

i am going to join 2 cables + extend them so i'll be using the same size. do you think i should buy another couple of meters anyway so i can sleeve all my jumper cables in 1 go or do the jumper cables look better in groups of 2?

I have enough stuff to sleeve for the time being anyway, so i guess i can figure it out as i go along.

instead of smaller shrink cord, how do you think using electrical tape + bigger size works?

i wouldn't use electrical tape,it's not nearly as reliable

 

[silkstone]

i wouldn't use electrical tape,it's not nearly as reliable

yes, but how about a little tape over the wire to thicken it out, and then some heat shrink?

I'll experiment later on when i join + extend some fans

 

[TheGrapist]

yes, but how about a little tape over the wire to thicken it out, and then some heat shrink?

I'll experiment later on when i join + extend some fans

sounds like it'd work,but i'd still worry about the sleeving not having a tight grip or the wires