[chych]

I recently made a few cables and tweaks here and there in my system(s) and thought I'd share with the rest of the world...

1) I built two DIY power cords out of Belden 83802 and Marinco connectors:
-DVD Player cord
-Amplifier cord

2) Upgraded the wall outlet to ACME Silver plated Pass & Seymour outlet
-Link

Since it looks the same as a regular outlet, I thought I'd make it look nicer

3) Headphone extension out of Neurtrik and Teflon Cat5, in a double kimber-pbj style (1 for each channel)
-Link

4) Portable mini->RCA cable out of teflon Cat5, in a double kimber pbj style with Neutrik miniplug and Dayton RCA
-Link

5) Attenuating cables for my ART DI/O to amplifier, made out of a twisted pair Belden 89259 and terminated to Neutrik jack and Cardas SRCA
-Link


Now the only bottleneck in my system can be seen here

Hmm I also made a subwoofer interconnect out of 89259 and Dayton RCAs...

Lessons to be learned: Heatshrink sucks, if you do not have a heat gun at least. Hair dryer's do not work at all, I had to use a ceramic room heater to shrink the heat shrink (and this is the more expensive easier shrink kind too!).

Neutrik connectors suck, they do not use teflon but something else that melts easily - when I am using my 45 watt iron to solder the connections, the jack starts falling apart... teflon melts at quite a high temperature and soldering irons cannot melt teflon easily (though my iron still can eat through teflon).

Locking RCAs are a pain, I've been having quite the troubles with these Dayton locking ones...

Cardas SRCAs are the best RCAs I've ever seen/used - nice large opening, teflon insulation, rhodium/gold/silver plating, easy soldering, wrap around/compression ground, and a "death grip" via it's spring loaded tip on the rca jack.

 

[dcg]

very cool chych. How long did it take you to make them? Also, where did you buy your supplies?

Dave

 

[chych]

It took hours, really, per cable. Especially for the Cat5, braiding takes forever... and figuring out how to solder takes a while too. I'm probably more experienced at this now so I can whip up cables much faster than I was when I was making these.

Most of the parts were bougth from www.partsexpress.com ... I got some wire and flexible sleeving from www.action-electronics.com ; resistors (For attenuating cable) and plenum grade cat5 (Belden 1585A) at www.radioshack.com ; Belden 89259 from head-fi member morphsci as well as www.diycable.com - where I also got my silver plated outlet and Cardas SRCA plugs.

 

[KR...]

cool stuff!

Thanks for sharing

 

[morphsci]

What problems are you having with the Dayton connectors? They work just fine for me.

 

[chych]

My problem with the Daytons was that the teflon insulation was starting to melt with my soldering iron so the center pin was getting skewed. Also the locking mechanism was getting stuck to the heatshrink so I had some diffuculty there. I finally have it working now so it is fine... Also, what is the point of the screw and the plastic tube, I just removed them as I did not know why they were needed..?

 

[morphsci]

I guess I have been lucky since I have not had any melting problems with the insulation. A heat gun makes the heat shrinking a much less onerous task. I actually picked mine up at a yard sale for a few bucks. Works just fine.

The screw provides for some strain relief on the connections by securing the cable. The tubing is for thinner cables and can be removed for thicker cables. At least that is how I used them. So I guess they are not really necessary.

BTW the cables look really good.

 

[Possum]

Quote:

My problem with the Daytons was that the teflon insulation was starting to melt with my soldering iron so the center pin was getting skewed.

How hot is your iron? I didn't have any problems with melting teflon using my 25W iron.

Quote:

Also the locking mechanism was getting stuck to the heatshrink so I had some diffuculty there.

The trick to putting heatshrink on the Dayton locking RCA plugs is to have the heatshrink cover the backend hump, but just _barely_ go over the hump and not cover the area where the locking portion moves. I wish I had a camera to show what I am talking about with my cables.

Quote:

Lessons to be learned: Heatshrink sucks, if you do not have a heat gun at least. Hair dryer's do not work at all, I had to use a ceramic room heater to shrink the heat shrink (and this is the more expensive easier shrink kind too!).

After a bit of practice, you can use a mini-torch (like this http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...ID=10646&DID=7, once available from Radio Shack online for $2) without burning the heatshrink. Or if you can't find them for $2, might as well buy a real heatshrink gun if you plan on making many more cables.

 

[chych]

Quote:

How hot is your iron? I didn't have any problems with melting teflon using my 25W iron.

It's a 45 watt iron, my 15 watt iron won't do so this is what I use for cable soldering.

Quote:

The trick to putting heatshrink on the Dayton locking RCA plugs is to have the heatshrink cover the backend hump, but just _barely_ go over the hump and not cover the area where the locking portion moves. I wish I had a camera to show what I am talking about with my cables.

Yep, I figured that out (see mini-rca cable)


As for the heatshrink, I think my ceramic heater is acceptable, I do not think it is worth investing in a real heater as I do not think I will be making too many more cables in the future. I think I have a better hair dryer somewhere too, couldn't find it...

 

[Possum]

Make sure you stick to low temperature heatshrink if you're going to use a hair dryer. The heatshrink tubing I chose for my DIY Clou clone only shrunk about 70% with a very hot hair dryer almost touching the heatshrink, held for a few minutes. I had to use that torch method to fully thrink the tubing.

 

[bootman]

Nice work!
Your DVD power cable is just what I've been looking for.
(hint: are you planning to make any for sale?)
Where did you tie in the ground on it?
(three prong on one end two on the other)\

Was it like this?

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Now the only bottleneck in my system can be seen here

You need this:


PS Audio
The Juice Bar

or this:

Wireworld
Electrifier Power Strip

 

[bootman]

Quote:

1) I built two DIY power cords out of Belden 83802 and Marinco connectors:

Are both ends Marinco for the dvd power cord?

 

[chych]

Possum - Yep, I'm using some low temperature ultra shrink heat shrink that shrinks 3:1. My ceramic heater is just passing it as a shrinker so I can skip the heat gun.

Bootman -

No, the DVD player cord isn't marinco on the female side... in fact, I just cannabalized the old cord to get it, as those connectors are not easy to find. A few people have requested some cords from me so I am out of Belden 83802, which is fairly diffucult to get... I need to find some more though... if you can find such a connector and if I can get more 83802, I suppose I could make a cord for you.

There is no ground for the DVD player cord, the 83802 is a twisted pair 12 guage wire with a shield... simply, the shield is connected at the male plug end. On the other power cord with a ground, a 12 guage cable is wrapped around the 83802 and that acts as the ground.

As for the power strip, I think I am going for the BPT Jr... balanced power seems more logical to me

Though I think I will need a surge protector too as that is not a surge protector...

 

[chych]

Hmm I take that back, I have found a source for 83802 ($2.95/ft)...