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Question on sleeving!

A

aznpxdd

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
2,354
I plan on sleeving my system during the summer when I have free time, but I'm not sure which kind of sleeve I should go with. I know the traditional sleeve is a bit of a pain to work with, since I have to remove the molex to sleeve the cables.

I'm looking into something along the lines of this, where I don't have to remove the molex connectors and just straight out sleeve the cables.

http://www.frozencpu.com/slv-48.html

I'm wondering if anyone have tried this before and see if its fairly easy to do. And If anyone have done this before, I would appreciate it if you post a pic. And lastly...if there's any easier alternative to that sleeving method. Thanks in advance.
 
Well, I use that kind of sleeving (in clear/white) occassionally, but it doesn't look as nice as remove-the-molex sleeving. BUT the fact that it's in UV blue may make it look alright. Be warned though, even if it looks nifty, it's not going to look *as* good.

BUT there are some nice benefits. It's pretty much 1 size fits all, so it's easy to get a lot of this without worrying whether or not it will fit. Plus it goes on easily and very quickly. You can always change your mind later on as this stuff is easily removable and can be used for non-PSU cable organization as well.

So whereas it may not look as good, slap in a UV light and the difference can be minimized a bit. Coupled with its ease of use and its multiple uses, I say go for it.

The only easier sleeving method is with split loom, and that stuff is a bit too rigid and doesn't look as good. That, and I don't know what colors it comes it other than black. PLUS it's not 1 size fit all.

Here are some pics I took of my spare PSU. I removed most of the sleeving but for some reason left these two plugs sleeved with this stuff. Notice the black split loom that doesn't look too good. Notice that it's actually a bit too big for standard molexes, but that comes with its ease of use. Ah, plz ignore my pink post it pad. Well, ignore the fact that it's pink (hey, it was a multipack I got for free) and if you don't know what the numbers are then check out this thread here!

random0045qs.jpg

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Ah, thanks for the response and the pictures, helps a lot. I have a question on the sleeve, in the pictures, it doesn't look very secured/tight. Is it loose or is it just the pictures make it looks like its loose. Thanks.
 
Well, I hoisted everything onto my table, so everything was kind of extra-loose. But yes, since it's 1 size-fit all, looseness is going to be a side effect. A cable tie, or series of cable ties would fix everything perfectly, but is not necessary. If you use enough of the sleeving so that there is no room to slide, it should be fine. Even if you leave some slack near the PSU, it will rest on the molex if gravity so decides. BUT even one cable tie near where the wire enters the PSU will fix it so that it doesn't slide too close to the molex if you don't want it there.

In other words, yes it is loose, but you have a lot of options depending on your desires. If you want it to be fixed let's say a centimeter away from the molex, then a cable tie can be placed near the molex to assure the sleeve placement. Or you can experiment a little bit and cable tie it near the PSU so that the tie is stealthed a little bit or even entirely.

What I actually recommend more is grouping two or more molex rails together in the sleeving, and then have them branch out to the points that need it. What I would do here is use some traditional sleeving or a different color spiral sleeving (or nothing at all if the devices are in close proximity to each other). They also sell cable wraps (basically a long plastic string you wrap around your wires). I believe Antec sells some nice UV colors. So what I would do is arrange the molexes in groups of two and then wrap them when they diverge from the spiral sleeving with either cable-wrap, traditional sleeving, or a different color of this type of spiral sleeving. The spiral sleeving is very flexible, but is pretty set in terms of its curvature so decreasing the diameter would require a LOT of cable ties.

I hope this helps. I know you don't want to deal with traditional sleeving, but it might not be too much of a hassle if you mask most of the molex with the spiral sleeving.

Another option I would go for (but would require removing a few molexes) would be to sleeve most of the molexes in groups of two and when you need a power connector, it can diverge away from the spiral sleeving. But instead of traditional sleeving or spiral sleeving, you can use clear appropriately sized tubing. Or in order to use the spiral tubing with individual molexes, wrap the molexes in tubing that you've cut down the middle. This will give the molex cables additional girth, filling out the sleeving a bit better. What you would need to do is find a tubing size which can either completely or mostly wrap around a molex cable. Also make sure that it doesn't stretch the spiral sleeving too much. Cut the tubing evenly down the middle (or experiment to find a decent looking pattern) and wrap it round the cables. The beauty of this is that the tubing should be no more than a few bucks and can be cut easily.

I just toyed around with some 3/8" outer-diameter tubing and some raw spiral-sleeving and it seems to be a little too girthy. Well, that and I noticed that it may not be too difficult to get the spiral sleeving to stay fixed in a smaller diameter. If you fix it at both ends, it can retain a more condensed diameter. For this, instead of using cable ties, using small pieces of tubing (in order to fatten the spiral sleeving a bit) can be used at both ends.

You're going to have to experiment with this until you get it to suit your liking. I recommend picking up some tubing at the hardware store b/c it's pretty cheap and you may find alternative uses for it. You might also be able to find larger diameter tubing and wrap it around the ends of the spiral sleeving in order to hold them fixed so that the entire sleeve is held tighter.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pictures of whatever you end up doing!
 
When I first "sleeved" my PSU cables a couple of years back, I used this same method. While it's good for organizing the wires, I think you'll be somewhat underwhelmed by the results. It can be a real pain to get that stuff to "wrap" the way you want it to. And it works best with a bunch of wires--usually a little bigger diameter than what the spiral wrap is--otherwise it's kind of clunky.

Sleeving with something like any of these really isn't that much more painful. Sure removing the molex connector takes time, but if you get the right tools, it's quite easy. Add the sleeving and the heatshrink and you've got a much more aesthetically pleasing sleeving job. :cool:

I think you'll be much happier with it in the long run.
 
in my opinion, it is with out a doubt worth the time to take off the connectors. I have sleeved several psus now and it only gets easier and faster!
 
Oh by all means do I concur with the opinion that removing the molexes to apply regular sleeving & heatshrink will look better, but if you don't want to be hassled with that, go with what you asked about. While it won't look *as good*, it's still a LOT better than the stock cabling.
 
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