silly cable storing questions

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

1. When looping my XLR cables for storage, is there an harm to plugging the connectors together? For me it helps keep them organized and from coming apart. I have been avoiding it thinking it might hurt it in somewhere

2. Once I loop my cables in a circle I was then twisting it into a figure-8 to pack them down and make them neater. Again, I stopped thinking I might be putting too much pressure on them. Is it okay?

 

[Alan H. Chang]

1. No, there wouldn't be any damages to your cable. I also plug my connectors together to keep them tidy.

2. What do you mean twisting them into figure 8? I'm guessing your cables are short. Take a picture of it.

 

[moonlitnite]

Hi Shawneous,

I'd guess if you have decent cables and connectors, this shouldn't be a worry. I've seen specialized application dealing with radio frequencies where preventing cable oxidization (even using a special lubrication for gold-plated pins), etc, is a big deal but at audio frequencies it's certainly not an issue. Second, the XLR cable connectors are industrial strength, so with any level of care the connectors won't get damaged when not connected. As far as coiling the cable, I think you'd be fine just using a double over and under coil :

1. Open your hand outward as if you're going to shake their hand
2. Make 2 counter-clockwise coils around your four fingers
3. Make 2 clockwise coils around your thumb
4. Repeast steps 2 and 3
(Perhaps others have a better way of describing the technique)

And the beauty of this approach is a long cable can be tossed out for instant use without snagging a bunch of knots. At any rate, the only caution I'd worry about would be bending the cable too much near the connector (although good XLRs have a 3" stress relief)

Regards, Micahel

 

[shawnmaddock]

Dean Mile's book has a good description with pictures of how to properly wrap a cable on pages 59–60. You can get it at Trew.

 

[Michael Carter]

Home Depot and Lowe's also sell coils of velcro ties; they're about 1/4" wide, 5" long, with a little pull-though tab as well. Just handy as heck for lighting, audio, and power cable storage. I think there's 50 or so of them on a "roll".