Sleeving PSU cables with Black tape = bad idea?

[Guest]

is it a bad idea to sleeve my PSU cable with black tape?

my air flow is messed up after I rewired my PC and all...

Thanks!

 

[Ubrales]

No problem if you use black tape, but it will look messy! Try re-arranging the cables and use black cable mini ties to make it tidier. Re-route behind the motherboard mounting panel if there is room there. This will make it look neat, reduce air flow resistance, and improve the air flow.

 

[Guest]

messy?

 

[hunter315]

I wouldnt to it, if you ever change your mind your wires will be covered in goo from the adhesive on the tape, the tape will also create a much tighter and less flexible bundle than normal sleeving would which will make things harder to route

 

[Ubrales]

messy?

If you are referring to wrapping black electrical (vinyl) tape around these wires, it is extremely difficult to wrap in a neat spiral. Try doing this on some scrap wires and you will see what I mean. The finished product will not look good.

 

[Guest]

It's called electrical tape for a reason...

 

[Guest]

Well, I saw a guide on some website that required me to use hot glue and some other stuff I do not have available right now and do not want to mess up my PSU anyways, any alternative you guys might suggest?

 

[Guest]

Heat shrink sleeves!

Hard but looks awesome when finished!

 

[Ubrales]

I use normal sleeving (some black, some blue) with red or black heat shrink tubing (about 1" long) at the ends. Before heat shrinking the ends, I stretch the sleeve so that it is a snug fit.

 

[Guest]

link to a guide would help

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I've used electrical tape a few times with varying degrees of success,
Blue looks crap, black is more forgiving, check my siglinks to see what I mean,
http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=1402X558040&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi136.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fq172%2FMotopsychojdn%2Fpc%2520of%2520doom%2520build%2Ffinished.jpg&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.co.uk%2Fforum%2F279226-13-build-looking
wrapping them can make them stiffer to bend, but I still made my cables disappear but the key is patience tbh,
Moto

 

[Guest]

Problem is I have an old Antec PerformancePlus 1080 which doesnt have a motherboard tray that I can hide the wires in, the only good thing about it is that I can fit a 5970/6990 in there :|

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Looking at that link, I dont see any problems
My Gf's case is similar, http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=1402X558040&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.com%2Fforum%2F287494-31-again&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.co.uk%2Fforum%2F302740-10-sleeving-cables-black-tape-idea
not the most cable-management friendly of cases but if you look on the right hand side under the sidepanel, i'm sure youll have about 3-5mm gap,
any drilling/cutting is hidden by the mobo once its in place and you can route cables to where you want them.
Her cables aren't 100% hidden, but they're tidy enough and if I wanted to/had time/permission, I'd be re-doing it again hehe
Dont see a problem, see a challenge and find a way to overcome it
Moto

 

[Guest]

Okay, drilled holes and the GFX PCIE cables and mobo cables look clean, I actually had some space behind the mobo after I removed the right side panel of the case...

Anyways back to topic, how about Duct tape? would it do any better or worse?

 

[Ubrales]

Duct tape? 247th use of duct tape! Nooooo....

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I wouldn't personally,
I love duct tape to the point that I made my wallet from it,
but its too wide to get a decent wrap on small cables imo,
maybe if you cut the strips down to 10mm maybe it'd work but I dont have that kind of patience hehe, wouldn't be any problems from a practical point of view though
G.J. on the drilling/hiding tho, any chance of pics?
Moto

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't personally,
I love duct tape to the point that I made my wallet from it,
but its too wide to get a decent wrap on small cables imo,
maybe if you cut the strips down to 10mm maybe it'd work but I dont have that kind of patience hehe, wouldn't be any problems from a practical point of view though
G.J. on the drilling/hiding tho, any chance of pics?
Moto

me neither, and if I had access to a camera I would totally show it,

What I did was drill 4 holes in the motherboard plate, then get the cables to the 2 hard drives, 24pin mobo connector and PCI E connector, I think I will drill one more for the 4 Pin CPU, but I think hiding it is okay for now...

the 24 pin mobo connector was really hard to get it through, I didnt want to make a hole that big so I made it enough so I can fit it through, it took me 1/2 and hour just do that others took 3-4 minutes.

And lastly, a wallet out of duct tape?? I NEED TO SEE THAT.

 

[cj528]

Has anyone ever tried to use the plastic spiral cable wrap armor like they use in autos?

 

[Ubrales]

Has anyone ever tried to use the plastic spiral cable wrap armor like they use in autos?

Yes, I did. It looked like crap, so I abandoned the idea. The spiral wrap was too large. I even tried the flex tubing with the split running along the length. Same result. Didn't look good. And autos gave me the original idea.

 

[a4rocks]

Do I require sleeving in a case with no front intake, a side intake and a rear exhaust to cool down my PC a bit more? I know it's a crazy cabinet and I intend on upgrading to a newer much better PC in the next few months.

 

[cj528]

Short answer, no, you dont "need" to. Sleeving is mostly done for looks. the most important thing in your situation, try to bundle or tuck the wires in such a way that allows the maximum airflow in and out of the case. Wires in the "airstream" slow down the flow of air in and out of the case. the less you have in the airstream the better the case will move air thru it. Generaly the more air a case can can move thru it, the cooler it can be temp wise.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Sleeving per se wont help cool your rig,
its the tidying up of the cables that improves the airflow, sleeving is mostly (imo) a pretty way to manage your cables, if they have to be seen they may as well look nice
I'll post a pic of the wallet when I can for you hehe
/get off lazy ass and do it...
Sudo get off fat lazy ass and do it..

there you go, one duct tape wallet, complete with my last fiver hehe
Moto