Reduce stress/strain on RCA cables?
Feb 11, 2010 at 10:13 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 21

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I just finished my first cable! I think it looks pretty good, but I'm curious to know how in the world I'm supposed to use the stress relief screw with these tiny wires.

It's an LOD cable with this wire and these RCAs. I didn't really realize how huge these RCAs are. I'm not using sleeving, just a litz braid.

I looked at the DIY Cable Gallery and saw a few people hot glueing the inside of the RCAs, but is that how everyone does it? That's a lot of glue... plus i'm not sure if I could clean that out if I ever needed to.

Thanks for your help! Oh, a picture example would be wonderful.
 
Feb 11, 2010 at 10:23 PM Post #3 of 21
Perhaps more than one layer of heatshrink. I have seen epoxy used to form a slug that the screw can engage.
 
Feb 11, 2010 at 10:28 PM Post #4 of 21
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bones13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Perhaps more than one layer of heatshrink. I have seen epoxy used to form a slug that the screw can engage.


I was thinking something along these lines. Maybe line up the wires and try to extend the screw to the other side with hot glue? Sound difficult to me.

I tried heatshrink... it took 5 layers around a 1/4" piece of tubing to fill the gap. By then it just looked awful.
 
Feb 11, 2010 at 10:30 PM Post #5 of 21
hold the wire in place and use hotglue. you will have a few seconds to make sure the wire is positioned right before it hardens.
 
Feb 12, 2010 at 2:42 AM Post #6 of 21
Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif
hold the wire in place and use hotglue. you will have a few seconds to make sure the wire is positioned right before it hardens.


So your saying try to extend the screw? Or fill the whole barrel with hot glue?

Thanks for the suggestions so far by the way.
 
Feb 12, 2010 at 8:34 PM Post #7 of 21
I think he means to fill the whole barrel with glue and you'll have a few seconds to center it
 
Feb 13, 2010 at 2:34 AM Post #9 of 21
I meant to fill in the base of the barrel with hot glue. It will be super secure plus you can get it centered so it looks nice. And as momomomomomomomo said, definitley test your cables first.
 
Feb 13, 2010 at 3:24 PM Post #10 of 21
Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I meant to fill in the base of the barrel with hot glue. It will be super secure plus you can get it centered so it looks nice. And as momomomomomomomo said, definitley test your cables first.


Alright, sounds good. I'm still waiting on the ipod connector part, so I'll have to wait until I get it before I glue. I'll be sure to post some pictures of it when I'm done if anyone is interested. Thanks for the help!
 
Feb 13, 2010 at 3:50 PM Post #11 of 21
Posting pictures is required
smily_headphones1.gif
 
May 15, 2010 at 4:52 PM Post #12 of 21
Wow, I feel SO bad right now! I totally forgot about this thread. Like me try to redeem myself, this is for your viewing pleasure (I'm not that good with pictures but I think these turned out well):
 
 












 
Edit: I used Pisca and Gmail to upload these, so I'm not sure if everyone will be able to see them if they don't have a Gmail account. And like most other things, click on them and they will get larger.
 
I used Navships 26 and 18AWG wire, Cardas silver solder and those RCAs I found on eBay. I can probably find them again if anyone is really interested. The 26 AWG is ~1ft. long, the 18 AWG is ~6-6.5ft. These are the first an only cables I've ever made, so not hate!
dt880smile.png
And sorry again for forgetting this thread!
 
Double edit: This is what I made them for BTW:
 

 
May 16, 2010 at 10:16 AM Post #13 of 21
grommets and clear tubing are your best friend in these situation, cheap and effective yet look extremely professionally done when you heat shrink it.
 
http://forums.vr-zone.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_1599.JPG
 
May 16, 2010 at 3:06 PM Post #14 of 21
Gar. Those are your strain reliefs? If you ask me, I think you should have built up a few layers of heatshrink first (that extend outside the barrel) and then hot glued it.
 
If only I could get a source on M50 style strain reliefs.
 

 
May 16, 2010 at 8:11 PM Post #15 of 21


Quote:
grommets and clear tubing are your best friend in these situation, cheap and effective yet look extremely professionally done when you heat shrink it.
 
http://forums.vr-zone.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_1599.JPG

 
Grommets huh? What type are we talking about here? I tried tubing but couldn't get it to stay.


 
Quote:
Gar. Those are your strain reliefs? If you ask me, I think you should have built up a few layers of heatshrink first (that extend outside the barrel) and then hot glued it.
 
If only I could get a source on M50 style strain reliefs.
 


That thing is beautiful!
 

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