Not sure if this is the right sub but wanted to ask. I thought there are no sharp bends to stress the cables but last thing i want to do is create a weird coil that heats up or something. Im just curious if this is a valid way to reduce cable mess or is not recommended, its just a usb cable for a mic. Cheers 😊
46 Comments
My ethernet cable its just like this right now.
I like to imagine that my data screams “weeeeeeeeeee” every time it gets to my pc.
yes as long as it’s not too tight. You don’t want to damage the coating
How the hell did you do that? Looks cool tbh
It all depends on the cables and it’s intended us eg, if its a hight draw power cable for something running for 24/7 it will heat up and potentially melt the cable but if its just a low power draw or a data cable it should be fine etc.
It depends what that cable is for but in most cases yes it’s fine. If it were a power feed providing more than a standard outlet can provide I would advise not to as it can heat up under high load.
If it is a power cable, you shouldn’t do that. That will create resistance, making the cable heat up, and depending on the cable quality, it can melt the isolation and possibly create a shortcut.
Edit: I just read your description. If it is just a usb cable, there isn’t any problem, then!
While it is an an absolute nono for long high power (1600 watts +) cables to coil them up like this (coils with alternating current are technically resistors, wich turn electricity to heat..) it is okay to do so for low power appliances like minotors and/or even PC’s. It is also okay to coil up **shielded** signal cables like HDMI or displayport but it **can** disturb signal integrity! Especially in integrity critical applications like networking. So if you find your devices having strange behavior and/or no signal at all, try uncoil the cables first and see if it fixes issues.
No it will make your data dizzy
My cable management looks like trash next to this
No problem for power cords and for data cords with shielding like generic Ethernet ones.
It is. Just not too tight, wires have finite durability.
Besides the increased internal thermal load and the electromagnetic forcefield you’re creating, not much bad about it.. Just make sure it’s not a high power cable (as others have pointed out). Risk of thermals rising so high you damage the cable is unlikely, but you may see lower efficiency and higher power consumption as a result.
The scale of the effect nobody can tell just from an image, and most likely you won’t see the effect of it either.
According to the NEC data cables can be bundled up to 24 cables.
It’ll make your data all curved. You gotta make sure you wrap it equally left and right so the data is straight when it gets to the other side.
how to wrap cables like this
Congrats you have an electromagnet
Typically it can’t roll tighter than the diameter of the cable itself. This looks fine to me.
Edit: For low voltage anyways
I wouldn’t do it as tight as that but it should be fine
That’s like an electromagnetic or induction coil. My gut says don’t do it. Looks pretty.
Data cables – yes
Power cables – no
Aperture science cables
I wouldn’t. Like a mini particle collider there. Could make a black hole.
No it just makes your data happy
Totally my dude! I wrap my guitar cables like this.
Aperture science cable fold
I have a tech-bug-bug-out-bag that I use that has spare cables in it and such and to keep them from looking like a snake orgy, I will wrap them like that but won’t use them like that because I was told it was a bad idea a long time ago with electrical wires (like in the 70’s). . so good or not, I just don’t do it now.
r/portal is gunna love this
Yes
Bro is building a stellerator with his cables
Ok in terms of what?
Data integrity? Fine.
Safety? Fine.
Coil memory? No.
The cable will want to retain that shape when unwound. Not sure if you care about that or not.
Roadies have a certain way they wind cables to prevent this from happening. Called the roadie wrap. I do this to all my cables.
yup, perfectly fine. the only concern you’d really ever need to be concerned about is heat. if it’s a lower gauge cable and you’re running a higher power device with it like a space heater, and the wire is tightly wound together, the inner parts won’t get enough air to cool with and it could result in melting cables and possible a fire. but that’s a pretty extreme example. 99% of the time it’s not a problem at all
​
and if the concern is thinking it could be a problem since coils of wire create magnetic fields, power cables and ethernet cables have wires inside them in pairs, so they cancel each other’s fields out, as the current in each side of the pairs flow in the opposite directions, so the fields they generate are opposite, so basically nothing happens
I do this with coaxial cables. Doesn’t negatively impact anything. Quite satisfying wrapping them up too.
No there’s too many loops. You’ll make the bits dizzy.
If you wrap ac cables you may have an inductance. Generally it should be avoided.
Data cable yes, that’s fine. Power cable no.
Not with power cables and not with audio cables. Ethernet is probably fine if it’s shielded properly
No the electrons will get dizzy
Yes, this is fine, no sharp edges.
As long as you see no evidence of a black hole forming in the middle, it should be fine.
How did you even do that
It might get too hot, as it is wrapped in 360 degrees!
I’ll see myself out
If it’s power it’s a bad idea as it will behave like a coil.
If it is earthnet cable, i think there will be no big truble. But NEVER donit with audio/sound cables.
Just don’t put a magnet in the middle.
For a USB, it’s probably fine. Electric cables carrying AC? My entire childhood, my mother said absolutely not. I don’t know if it was a trip hazard or a fear of Fleming’s Left Hand rule.
Edit: I forgot the first sentence. I speak halfway through a thought today, apparently.
Add magnet in the middle you have a generator