Got a New Case!

That is really pro quality work Jeannie, it looks like a factory cable.
How do you strip insulation mid-wire so accurately and neatly? I usually end up cutting one or more of the strands.

Here's another question in picture form, easier than writing it.



These pictures are excellent for size, lots of detail.

I had an epiphany seeing this too. I had never thought there were only 5 wires coming out of the PSU for SATA power. The PSU end is a 6-pin ATX so I just assumed 6 wires out of it. (I had to go check mine, lol.)

Britton30 said:

That is really pro quality work Jeannie, it looks like a factory cable...

Thanks!

Britton30 said:

...How do you strip insulation mid-wire so accurately and neatly? I usually end up cutting one or more of the strands...

I take a sharp knife, place it down on the insulation where I want to cut it, then roll the wire over my desk, letting the knife roll over it, until the insulation is cut to the wire. I do the same for the second cut, then carefully slice and peel away the insulation between the cuts. The trick is to use a really sharp knife so the insulation will easily cut without so much pressure, you also accidentally cut the strands. I find that technique also does a better job of stripping the ends of wire better than the stripper on my crimper because it doesn't stretch the remaining insulation over the conductor I just stripped.

Britton30 said:

...Here's another question in picture form, easier than writing it.

...

I'll answer that with another picture. The arrow points at the "missing" wire.



SATA power cables have five wires (as you mention you just discovered): one +3.3v, one +5v, one+12v, and two grounds. A four pin Molex has the same as the SATA power connector except the 3.3v is missing. Once I had the SATA and PSU connectors sorted out, it was fairly easy to sort out which was the +3.3v lead and snip the little bugger off. I didn't have any cap heat shrink sleeves handy so I just took a tiny heat shrink sleeve that was a bit longer than the remaining stub of the 3.3v lead, shrunk it to the stub, then put some Krazyglue inside the end and "squoze" it shut with a pair of pliers until the glue cured. I probably didn't need to worry about the tiny bit of conductor showing but...have I ever mentioned how anal I am?

Britton30 said:

...These pictures are excellent for size, lots of detail. ...

Thanks. I'll keep doing them that way

ZaLiTH said:

Lady Fitzgerald said:

I used one of the cute, little vise grips I recently bought on a day trip to hold the punch-down connector so it wouldn't rock on my while punching down the wire.

[snip]

That is a pretty cute little vice grip there.. Especially considering the size of the connector it's holding! Useful things hey..

This is actually pretty inspirational and very informative, I suspect I may end up doing something similar to my new build. I love the drive layout options in the 750D, but I get the feeling whichever PSU I end up with will give me too much "cable" between the series of SATA power connectors. Definitely bookmarking that post permalink.

Thanks! A friend and I recently took a day trip up to Crown King, AZ. We saw the little vise grips at the little general store up there (the whole town is tiny, nestled up in the pines) and got a good laugh out of them. Being the tool whore that I am, I just had to get one. I started to get just one and a five incher they also had (the little one is a four inch) but, by the time we went to check out, I had snagged a second four incher as well.

I certainly don't regret that impulse purchase. I'm surprised at how much use I've gotten from the four inchers already. I needed to shorten a sheet metal screw to make room for installing and removing a fan wire from a clip. I didn't have a good enough grip on the screw using needle nose pliers (old age sucks) so I could take a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to it so I tried one of the tiny vise grips. It was the perfect width and held the screw securely while I cut it off.

When using it to hold SATA punch-down connectors, I used only enough pressure to keep the vise grips closed to avoid cracking the connector.

All stock PSU SATA power cables have way too much cable between the connectors. They have to because different cases use different HDD spacing although they do get rather carried away with the amount of space they use to make sure there is enough. It just looks sloppy and tucking the extra cable out of the way is usually problematic. That's one reason why I make custom cables.

I hear you. I'm dreading dealing with the SATA data cables since there really isn't anywhere to neatly route them nor to tuck any excess length. I saw an article on how to make custom length SATA data cables using a certain brand of cable but that won't help me any with the breakout cables from my HBA card, the cable coming from the top swap bay, or the cable coming from the e-SATA port on the lower swap bay (in fact, I'll have to use a SATA cable coupler for that one since it goes to the HBA card and the only way to connect to it will be via a breakout cable).

Maybe you can mod or just use these bad boys?

SILVERSTONE CP11B-300 Ultra Thin Lateral 90 Degree Angled SATA 6G Cables with Custom Low-Profile Connectors, 300MM - Newegg.com

Silverstone CP11 11.81" Ultra Thin Lateral 90 Degree Angled SATA 6G Cables with Custom Low-Profile Connectors M-M - Newegg.com

I used the blue ones and they worked like a charm and virtually disappeared in my rig.

linnemeyerhere said:

Maybe you can mod or just use these bad boys?

SILVERSTONE CP11B-300 Ultra Thin Lateral 90 Degree Angled SATA 6G Cables with Custom Low-Profile Connectors, 300MM - Newegg.com

Silverstone CP11 11.81" Ultra Thin Lateral 90 Degree Angled SATA 6G Cables with Custom Low-Profile Connectors M-M - Newegg.com

I used the blue ones and they worked like a charm and virtually disappeared in my rig.

Thanks for the links; I have them bookmarked for future reference. The problem I'm facing with the SATA data cables isn't the diameter of the cable or the angle of the connectors but, rather, the length of the cables. I have time to figure out a solution since I won't make the swap until late this month or early next month. Even then, I can use temporary cables just to get the machine up and running.

Jeannie it's all your fault.
I just ordered a bunch of cable/harness wrapping stuff from Performance PC to do all my harness over. I will take about 10 days to get them.

Layback Bear said:

Jeannie it's all your fault.
I just ordered a bunch of cable/harness wrapping stuff from Performance PC to do all my harness over. I will take about 10 days to get them.

I’m sorry!