Combined XLR And Power Cable

[Roger T]

I've had a quick search on the net and can't find anything obvious except for in the US. Does anyone know if you can get these ready made or is it a custom job? Currently got the power and xlr cables to my speakers joined together with gaffa tape at intervals but I'd prefer a neater job really.

[katman]

CPC do them
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/home/homepage.jsp and search for "xlr + power"

Various lengths and available with IEC or Powercon

Holy Moly..... just noticed the price of them :( :(

[Dynamic Entertainment]

CPC do them
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/home/homepage.jsp and search for "xlr + power"

Various lengths and available with IEC or Powercon

Holy Moly..... just noticed the price of them :( :(

Terralec do them too...unfortunately Ive not got tome to do a search for you pal as im off to work.

[Excalibur]

Various lengths and available with IEC or Powercon

Holy Moly..... just noticed the price of them :( :(

http://cpc.farnell.com/proel/ph100-20m/xlr-iec-power-lead-20m/dp/AV09875

Think I'll stick with passives, if it's all the same to you. Two of those cables would pay for the new amp I want! :eek: :D :D :D

[Dynamic Entertainment]

If you can put the ends on yourself...

http://www.terralec.co.uk/power_cable/power_and_signal_cable/18175_p.html

[Excalibur]

If you can put the ends on yourself...

http://www.terralec.co.uk/power_cable/power_and_signal_cable/18175_p.html

Yes, but even that's £60 for a 20metre length, before you fit at least a tenner's worth of plugs!

And I'm just idly contemplating the consequences of getting a connection wrong. :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Alchemy]

I bought this cable from Thomann and put the plugs on myself.

Fairly pricey but worth it I think.

http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=30923

[WWDJ]

I can do DMX and IEC 3m extensions for about £7-8 on ebay. Speaker would cost more as I tend to use better grade cabling, but over a ton for 20m ... jeez .... :(

[Jiggles]

Some nice power cable and some nice XLR cable and some heat shrink and the jobs a good one. :)

[Corabar Entertainment]

Some nice power cable and some nice XLR cable and some heat shrink and the jobs a good one. :)

Funnily enough, Callum, I've been sitting here thinking "Can't you just use heat shrink to bind the two together?" but didn't want to say anything in case I was missing something and being daft.

[Roger T]

Has anyone any recommendations for what heat shrink to use and where to get it from? I've done a search for heat shrink and I haven't got a clue what type would be needed.

[WWDJ]

Funnily enough, Callum, I've been sitting here thinking "Can't you just use heat shrink to bind the two together?" but didn't want to say anything in case I was missing something and being daft.

Would that be practical if I wanted to do a 3m length would I need to do the full length in its entirety.

Sorry i'm a bit of :muppet: when it comes to DIY. :p

EDIT: ^^^^^ it appears i'm not the only one! :D

[Jiggles]

Would that be practical if I wanted to do a 3m length would I need to do the full length in its entirety.

Sorry i'm a bit of :muppet: when it comes to DIY. :p

EDIT: ^^^^^ it appears i'm not the only one! :D

You wouldn't do the whole thing in it. Just would be a real pain and make it really stiff! If I was going to do it I would do it in 100mm sections every 200mm. Gives flexibility to it.

[Corabar Steve]

Heat shrink is pretty rigid once shrunk. OK if you want straight lines, but not flexibility

[paulg]

Personally, I'd keep the apart - it's not best practice to put mains and PA leads tightly together.

[Excalibur]

Heat shrink is pretty rigid once shrunk. OK if you want straight lines, but not flexibility



Personally, I'd keep the apart - it's not best practice to put mains and PA leads tightly together.

So we're sacrificing performance, reliability and ease of use at the altar of tidiness. Makes me even more certain that Passive is the way for me.

[Alchemy]

In specialist cables such as the Tasker cable the audio element is twisted pair, thus eliminating any induced noise from the power feed.

[Excalibur]

In specialist cables such as the Tasker cable the audio element is twisted pair, thus eliminating any induced noise from the power feed.

Duly noted. However, I favour the simpler, cheaper, equally tidy and effective method of separating them as far as possible. :p :D :D

[katman]

I would be inclined to use a 1/2 inch length of heatshrink every foot with an inch wide piece at each of the ends where it will take the most strain.

I would avoid doing the whole length as it will be very expensive and also it will make the cable assembly a lot less pliable.

I also colour code leads with short pieces of heatshrink, one or two bands of different colours makes it a lot easier to identify which lead is which. You can also use colour coding to identify different lengths of cable as well eg Red 3m, Yellow 10m, Blue 20m

[WWDJ]

You wouldn't do the whole thing in it. Just would be a real pain and make it really stiff! If I was going to do it I would do it in 100mm sections every 200mm. Gives flexibility to it.


Heat shrink is pretty rigid once shrunk. OK if you want straight lines, but not flexibility

Hmm yes. I said I was a :muppet: lol
I'd also need a longer vehicle to carry all these rigid cable in :D :D :D

I think normal electical tape might be an easier and more practical option

[Jiggles]

Hmm yes. I said I was a :muppet: lol
I'd also need a longer vehicle to carry all these rigid cable in :D :D :D

I think normal electical tape might be an easier and more practical option

Tape is a no no. Gets warm goes sticky comes off and makes a ness of your cables. Short sections of heat shrink are what's required.

[katman]

I think normal electical tape might be an easier and more practical option

Think again.... it comes unwrapped and also oozes the adhesive after a while. Been there done that !!!

Short lengths of heatshrink is the way to go..... the only downside of the heatshrink method is that you cant do it if the cables already have connectors on both ends.

DOH!!!! That'll teach me not to read all the way to the end of the thread first.... still it confirms my view :lol:

[deltic]

for cables with the connectors already fitted self amalgamating tape might just do the trick.

[NKR]

So we're sacrificing performance, reliability and ease of use at the altar of tidiness. Makes me even more certain that Passive is the way for me.

Sparkies also get very excited about cables carrying data and power being close to each other. The problem being (I believe from my recent electrical safety course) that if you get a nick in your power cable you can get arcing to the data cable and make your item that is fed by data cable live. This tends to kill you. Aparantly the insulation on data cables is not always sufficent to prevent an arc into the cable.

This was in reference to mains power and CAT V, but I would assume the same applies with DMX and signal cables. Mains power and telephony and data via CAT V are always separated for that reason.

Worth noting before making up your own stuck together power and data cables. I would suggest the extra cost in purchased specialist cables is in the shielding and safety.

Don't know if that helps at all.

[supersound]

Watch this space for DJs with 70s style Kevin Keegan hairstyles,lol

[Excalibur]

Sparkies also get very excited about cables carrying data and power being close to each other. .
Neil, I'm no expert on the details, but I'd be inclined to think that data cables are woefully insulated comapred to power or DMX. (Yes, I know that technically DMX cables carry data, but they're different ). I'd say that unless they suffered severe damage, DMX cables lashed to mains weren't a major safety issue.

( But I still regard the whole idea of running two cables to every speaker as a big downside, and lashing the pair together as no better an idea. )

[Corabar Entertainment]

What about a cable zip? Something like this Philex - 27450R - Deluxe Cable Tidy Pack - 2 by 2: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

[Jiggles]

What about a cable zip? Something like this Philex - 27450R - Deluxe Cable Tidy Pack - 2 by 2: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-27450R-Deluxe-Meters-Sheaths/dp/B001GXQUKO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320425070&sr=8-3)

They ain't too robust and the cable can come out very easily. Perfect for fixed installs not for mobile use.

[Corabar Entertainment]

OK, fair enough. Never used one myself.

[katman]

You dont really want anything that shrouds the whole length of the cables. Even the nylon mesh sleeving causes the enclosed cables to be quite rigid and definately not amenable to being repeatedly coiled and uncoiled.

By only fixing the cables to each other at one foot intervals the individual cables stay neatly in formation but are free to assume slightly different radii when you need to route them round something or coil them up