how do i make round ide/scsi cables?

[Croton]

anyone know how i could make them?
any info would help.
thanks.

 

[Rain Man]

I don't know about the SCSI cables because I don't have SCSI, but for IDE, cut the insulation with a razor every 5 wires, making a small slit no more than an inch long and then tear the rest along by hand - this won't tear through the insulation exposing the wires (with a razor, since it slices through the insulation like butter and since the insulation is so thin, you can easily move the razor too far to the left or right and then expose the copper wires beneath). Also, at each of the ends, cut a little longer when you're cutting on the outsides and a little shorter on the insides (if this makes no sense, then ignore it). To wrap the wires, I found that using coiled phone cord works quite well. Radio shack's web site also has some wire wrap which looks like it may work, although it doesn't show how thick it is.

 

[Klosters]

I finally did it. I got a P3B-F recently, and the Floppy connector is in a "weird" spot on the mainboard. The floppy ribbon connector blocked case airflow a lot. After rounding the floppy and IDE ribbons, I got a 1.5C drop in mainboard temp, and a 1C drop in CPU temp. I'd say it is definitely worth the small hassle.

 

[wj]

Can you do the new ATA66 IDE cables. If so how many wire do you cut apart at a time.

thanks


wj

 

[Descend492]

The number of wires cut has no influence on the performance of the cable. the general number is 4 or 5 just because it makes for fairly round cables. Just pick a number and cut. This method doesn't damage the cables (unless you're bad with the razor), so it can be done on anything. I'd do it on your cheap FDD cables first, so that you can learn how to do it and not cut up your expensive ATA100 cables or anything.

 

[SniPeZ]

To answer your question, YES, you can do the same for ATA66 cables. I find it convient to cut a slit every 8 line b/c a ATA66 cable has 80 wires and you end up with 10 divisions. For ATA33 (40 wires), every 4th wire will also give you 10 divisions . Hope this helps

 

[Descend492]

ALso, instead of using telephone cord or those nifty radio shack cable holders (they are very convenient and easy to use), you can just electrical tape the wires together. It looks a little messy, but it's the tightest/smallest wrap around.

 

[helloedchen]

hope this helps:

http://www.gideontech.com/rcable01.html

 

[Descend492]

haha, isn't that funny - I was just checking out gideontech

 

[helloedchen]

heh..sorry for reading your mind...

 

[Croton]

cool..........
you guys are awesome...
i'm gonna make some now......

 

[mpitts]

Excellent article, GideonX.

 

[helloedchen]

heh, thanks...funny thing is, i wrote it cuz of threads like this one It so much easier than typing out a whole slew of instructions

 

[Descend492]

Call me stupid for creating new ways to do something when it's already been done, but I just thought that those little plastic pull-tie things would work for a quick fix, too. A little less permanent than tape, and cheaper and easier to find than the spiral cable holders

 

[HomerSapien]

Descend: Zip ties? I use those. Have about a million of them. Work just fine.

On the ata-66 cable, you have do be incredibly careful since the wires are much closer and smaller. Finding a blade that will fit in the gaps is hard and actually doing the cutting is harder. Ata-100 cables you are almost better off folding.