Thread: Clean Apperence Trade Secrets

What do you guys do to make the insides of your computer look neat and organized?
Wire? Electrical tape?
For those wrappers out there:
How do you guys do cable wrapping? Do you remove the cable heads before slipping over the netting? How do you do it? Do you use some trade secret and temporarily enlarge the wrap?

Zip-Ties are golden.  I use zip ties left and right.

Also.  I use a hot glue gun and secure some wires UNDER the Mobo on the chassis.

For wrapping cables the wraps open really wide if you squish them down, and then tighten up when you extend them.  Kinda like a finger trap.  At least that is how the mesh wraps work.

If you are using a heat activated shrink wrap, you have to remove the molex (the "head") if it does not easily fit over it. 

Selecting modular cable system based power supplies helps to get rid of excess cables also.



But really, the Zip-Tie is the best.

Stay away from electrical/duct tape.  Unless you spliced and soldered wiring, in which case you should electrical tape it.  My preference here is to use a heat activated shrink wrap though.



The Zip-Tie




Take your mesh wrap, cut it to the correct length. I like to sear th eends with a lighter so it does not fray. Now squish it so it is short and opens up wide and slide it over the cable to be wrapped. Now pull it to length again and zip tie each end so it is tight against the cable that it is wrapping.

And dont forget to nip the ends of the zip-ties off.

But for cables like the main mobo connector or the standard power plugs (not sure of the proper terminology ) what then?

This is the kind i have (pic i found off google)

Originally Posted by Bunni

But for cables like the main mobo connector or the standard power plugs (not sure of the proper terminology ) what then?

This is the kind i have (pic i found off google)

Yeah, thats the mesh wrap and they used electrical tape on the ends.
My power cables are that mesh wrap (which opens really wide when you squish it) secured at the ends with zip ties, and then shrink wrapped over the molex. You can slide the larger shrink wrap over the ATX power molex by turning it sideways and pushing it through. The shrink wrap is considerably larger before you shrink it. I used a lighter to shrink mine, but they actually make a heat gun type tool for it. If you use a lighter/open flame be careful not to scorch it.

There should usually be no need to cut the molex off and then splice it back on. The mesh wrap will easily slide over, and the shrink wrap may take some caoxing, but it will do it also.

Also, most modular cable PS's have already wrapped cables.

It's not the inside of a computer, but if we need to keep the wires nice and organized at the station, it's zip ties all the way. We buy the really big bins of them since radio stations have lots of wires.

Between Modular power supplies and SATA cables instead of IDE. It's a lot easier these days to have a neat looking case. My power supply cables came pre-mesh wrapped and the couple of IDE drives I have left (that I need to get around to replacing have the round IDE cables that are mesh wrapped. I took a drill to my case to put some holes to run cable ties through to properly fasten stuff down.