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RBMODS REVIEWS |
Provider: Jab-Tech
Author: Mutt
Editor: Princess Ammie
Cable Sleeving Guide
We constantly try to make our cases better in both looks and performance. We buy rounded cables and fans and many other miscellaneous items. But then there’s the power supply, with those ugly multi color cables that always get in the way and cause a rat’s nest of wires. To solve this problem we use either split loom or sleeving. Some people prefer split loom because it is easier to install, but it looks a lot worse. Today we’ll be looking at some expandable sleeving from Jab-Tech that will be installed on my pricy Enermax power supply.
- PSU
- 1/4” sleeving
- 3/8” heat shrink
- 3/4” heat shink (optional)
- lighter or candle or some form of fire
- scissors
- safety pin or precision screwdriver
- zip-tie
- electrical tape
- patience
- bawlz
Starting Off
As mentioned above, for this mod you need a lot of patience and bawlz. Opening your power supply will void your warranty and could shock you, or possibly even kill you. If you are injured we are not to be held responsible, you have been warned!
The first time I did it, it took me about 3 hours. To start off the project you should remove any excess wires you don’t need. This is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t go into detail. Turn off your PC; take out the PSU, then wait about 10 to 20 minutes for the capacitators to discharge. Just open the PSU cover and snip any wires you don’t need, such as server connectors or just extra molex you don’t need. Apply some heat shrink over it and you’re done.
Now it’s time to remove the molex plugs. We have to begin by removing the pins (red, black, black, and yellow) from the molex plug. This part is very tricky especially if you’re doing it for the first time. Make sure your doing this in a well lit area to make life easier. On each pin in the molex plug there are two tabs that stick out from each side. Using a safety pin or your precision screwdriver you have to press in each tab to remove the connector. At first this may seem impossible, but you’ll get it after awhile. It’s not really easy to explain or show it in a picture; you have to try it for yourself. Just make sure you know where each of the wires goes in the molex, if you put them in the opposite way you can short out your power supply! If your still not sure why we’re removing the molex plugs, its because neither the heat shrink nor the sleeving will fit over the plugs.
Here are the pins that I was talking about. You have to push them in, in order to take the cables out of the molex, and then you have to pull them out in order to be able to place them back into the molex. For the sleeving process, you should leave the pins bent in so that they don’t hook the sleeving and hook it, possibly damaging it.
 
As I mentioned before, we will be using expandable sleeving. This allows the sleeving to become a bit larger to fit around the cables and a lot easier to get onto the cables. When expanded the sleeving has a diameter of about 1/2”, that’s plenty of space to work with.
The sleeving
Finally it’s time to put on the sleeving onto the PSU cables. I didn’t mention how much of it you need because it varies for different power supplies. This process may seem easy, but it is tormenting and painful work, I managed to burn myself three times and cut myself once while doing this. First you have to choose which wire you want to do first, I chose the harder one with four molex plugs just to get it over with. You have to start off with the last portion of the wire, by this I mean the one closest to the PSU box, and probably the longest one. Measure out and cut a piece of sleeving out that is just a bit smaller than the wire itself (from the molex pins), about 1cm from each side is OK.
Now that we have our piece of sleeving ready its time to slip it on to the cable. Instead of going through each pair of pins separately I chose to slip it though all of them at once. As seen in the picture below, I grouped the molex pins together and taped them with electrical tape so they don’t fall apart and so it’s easier to slip the sleeving on. This definitely saves a bit of work.
After you insert the sleeving on to the wire you have to use a push-pull or ‘inch worm’ technique to get the sleeving through. Hold one side of the sleeving, push the other and hold, then release the other side. It’s quite simple really, just needs some time. After we feed the sleeving all the way through we have to do the same for the heat shrink. Two pieces of 3cm each are pretty good.
After you slip the heat shrink on place one at each end of the sleeving. Simply use a candle or lighter or whatever to heat it up a bit so it shrinks around the wire. Be careful not to do it do much as you could burn through the sleeving or even start burning the heat shrink itself. If the heat shrink is a little black from the fire, don’t worry. You can easily remove this with a moist paper towel.
Here we have a picture of the finish product, not bad. Let’s move on to the rest of the wire.
And we continue!>>>>>>>>>
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