Cable Management To Defeat Clutter?

igny writes "I have just recently cleaned up my home office, reducing the clutter, but I could not come up with a neat solution to my cable problem. I believe my cable usage is even below average for a slashdotter, but still I have three computers with a bunch of ethernet and power cables, two cellphones, video and photo cables, with several proprietary chargers/AC adapters, printer, two NASes with a couple of external drives, phone, audio system, routers/switches, modem ... Everything requires cables of different kinds. I believe that AC adapters still draw some power even with no device hooked to it. So I organized my power cables by usage with several power strips to turn off adapters which I use less frequently. I am asking for advice from experienced slashdotters. How do you cope with your cable problem? Do you use dedicated tables, shelves, armoire for the cables? I am still looking for a neat, efficient, and safe (I have small kids) solution."

Comments

idea

[anglico]

I used to deliver to a company in santa cruz county that made a lightweight plastic hose with a slit down the middle to insert all the cables into. So instead of a bunch of different cables you just had one big 'hose' running through your room. It was a more organized look, sorry I can't remember the name of the company but you can probably modify something to do the same thing.

Re:idea

[redphive]

split loom tubing is what you are talking about. You can buy (albeit more expensive) from automotive supply stores in a variety of colours and sizes, or from telecom suppliers.

Re:idea

[Avidiax]

Ikea has something like this called Rabalder (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20097954). I used it for my media center and it looks alot nicer having one thick silver cable going to the Plasma TV on the wall than a mess of smaller cables. The zip ties included are reversible.

Re:idea

[virtualXTC]

Split loom sucks, especially for ethernet wires, you still need to tie it down to make things look nice and it doesn't deal with extra wire very well. I only use it to protect against rodent chewing (I have pet rabbits) when I have a single wire running to the wall.

Instead, consider cable raceways. I find it's the easiest to add or subtract cable to, many come with an adhesive side, and they run in nice straight lines unlike loom.

Stick to single sided power strips where adapters run perpendicular to the stip and things will stay neat. With respect to adapters, don't worry about their power draw, it's quite negligible. The only things that you should worry about draw, are devices that have a "sleep mode" like TVs, DVD players, and receivers, but they probably should have their own surge protected strip anyway.

Re:idea

[JuzzFunky]

Ikea have a whole section of their catalogue dedicated to Cable Managment. I have one of their horizontal SIGNUM cable management thingos attached to the under side of my desk. I've used cable ties to keep everything neatly in place. My workstation runs off a single power strip and has wireless network. It also has castor wheels, so on a nice day I roll it outside and work on the back lawn.

Velcro strips

[kmahan]

Velcro strips to bundle the cables work quite well (IMHO). The desk furniture I use (ikea) has room between the desk frame and the surface to thread the velcro strips through to hold it close under the desk.

I've used velcro in racks too -- very convenient when you are constantly changing cabling.

Re:Velcro strips

[Jim Hall]

I use velcro strips in our house, too. Very handy for cable neatness!

One thing I'll mention here: my wife is an avid gardener, so one day when I ran out of velcro strips (brazenly taken from work years ago, when we retired a bunch of servers) my wife gave me her velcro spool that she uses to tie back the roses.

It's cheap: only $4 from most garden centers. Just cut the length you need, depending on the size of the cable bundle, or what you're attaching it to. Compare that $4 for 45 feet of green velcro to buying "custom" pre-cut velcro strips from most PC suppliers, which would run about $20 for the equivalent length.

Just as Alton Brown often recommends shopping at the hardware store for many cooking supplies, I might recommend stopping by the garden store to get velcro strips.

Re:Do it yourself!

[SoupGuru]

I've always wanted to try the "pegboard under your desk" arrangement. It sounds like a functional solution to keep the clutter under the desk, not on top of it.

http://lifehacker.com/237789/diy-under+desk-gadget-mount

Of course, I'd have to get off my lazy ass to give it a shot so I'm not holding out hope of it happening any time soon...

pegboard mounted under desk

[chappel]

They occasionally post clutter-busting suggestions over at www.lifehacker.com. The original links from this one no longer seem to work, but I thought it was brilliant:
http://lifehacker.com/237789/diy-under+desk-gadget-mount
Basically, mount a peg board on hinged stand-offs with hasps to lock it in the 'up' position, and then mount all the small peripherals and cabling to the bottom of the desk. May not be completely child proof, depending on the size of your children and the extent of the cable fasteners you use.

Re:Do it yourself!

[zzzz7777]

I think this is a nice DIY example as well: http://lifehacker.com/software/workspaces/hack-attack-the-cordless-workspace-sort-of-179911.php

velcro, grrommets, custom cable lengths

[davebarnes]

1. http://cableorganizer.com/ This site is good for hours of fun.

2. Velcro cable ties are great.

3. Build your own custom-length Ethernet cables.

4. Label all your cables and transformers. See http://www.brother-usa.com/Ptouch/Ptouch_HandHeld/

Re:Don't make coils

[unitron]

I was going to parcel out some mod points in this thread, but I can't let this go unchallenged.

Don't make coils (Score:0)
by Anonymous Coward on Wed Jul 22, '09 06:41 PM (#28789059)

Don't make coils out of excess cable. Loops of cable act as an inductance. When you switch on a device which is connected via a long power cable in loops, the extra load from the inductance can be enough to blow the fuse of the circuit.

Electrical load goes up as resistance and/or reactance goes down. Coiling a wire increases inductance. This increases inductive reactance. This delays direct current from reaching maximum and reduces alternating current. In other words, less load, not more.

That doesn't mean that I'm recommending loops in long power cords, just that the loops will not increase current draw.

Belink Conceal or the like

[RajivSLK]

Seriously a good idea. I got a bunch of these http://www.belkin.com/surgeprotection/concealed/

They are great, I have just one box on the floor under my desk, easy to sweep around, doesn't collect dust and looks tidy.

Re:Hooks under the desk and velcro ties

[Nefarious Wheel]

Power supplies are a problem. Far too many companies use power bricks that plug directly into the socket, and block everything else. For such foolish designes, one-foot power extenders are very useful. Short extenders also useful for USB devices that are supposed to fit directly into the slot, but block other devices. (Wireless USB devices are particularly bad about this.)

I've had good luck with the folks from Amtex . They make a range of modular power supplies. Australian firm, but they can do 100VAC@60 inputs if you need them. If your phone chargers etc. are mostly the same power in / similar power out, a modular power supply with multiple output leads would be safer than a rank of bricks on a power strip. In one contract I worked we experienced some issues with individual power bricks at a large grocery chain. The bricks can be a problem at the retail lane where space is crowded and occupational safety is a concern.

Oh, and all the grocers use velcro ties at the POS too. They're magic. Use cable ties inside a box when you're manufacturing a consumer gizmo, but velcro if you ever intend to move things around. Spiral nylon cable organisers are good, reusable ways to gather cables in groups too.