
How to Sleeve Cables
As we’ve already established, cabling management is important. Sleeving cables is quite popular amongst those in the computer world and although it is usually done to make them look better, it can also improve air flow and even decrease system temperatures in poorly cooled systems. We’ve put together this guide to help you sleeve your own computing cables, with the emphasis on spliced cables consisting of two wires.
What you’ll need
- The cables you’d like to sleeve
- A wire stripping/cutting tool
- Scissors
- A heat gun or lighter
- Needle-nose pliers
- Cable sleeving
- Heat-shrink tubing
- Wire-ties
Deciding what you want to achieve
The first step in sleeving cables is to choose the tactic that you wish to follow. For example, would you like to place the sleeve over existing connectors, remove pins from connectors or sleeve a cable through splicing?The process
1. Measuring and cutting your sleeving
Sizing your sleeving is important. You will need to consider:- The size of the wire/cable as this will determine how the sleeve appears
- The size of your connector. If your connector and sleeve sizes are mismatched, you may like to remove the connector.
2. Singeing the sleeving ends
Using a heat source such as a lighter or heat gun to singe both ends of the sleeving can prevent fraying. When using your heat source, be careful not to apply too much heat to the sleeving as this could discolour it or cause it to melt too much and bubble. Although heat shrink may hide discoloration, it won’t be able to disguise imperfections or bubbles on the surface. Although manufacturers such as F6 or DuraWrap may already singe sleeving on both ends, when you make a cut you need to singe both ends of the sleeving again, just to be extra cautious. One of the most effective ways to achieve fray-resistant sleeving ends is by using either a soldering gun with a blade attachment or a hot-knife cutter. Be careful though not to overdo it, as prolonged heat could melt the ends together.3. Installing the sleeving
Once you’ve cut your sleeving to size, it’s time to put it on the cable. To this, you should:- Use one hand to grip one side of the sleeving and hold it in place
- Use your other hand to push the sleeving together
- Release your grip
- Repeat until the sleeving has been installed
4. Adding heat-shrink tubing
Now it’s time to cut your heat-shrink tubing. You’ll need two pieces of tubing in order to cover both sleeve ends and they should have a big enough diameter to clear the sleeving. Slide both of them over the cable and sleeving and make sure that they are pushed all the way to the end of the cable without pins or the end that will be completed last. You may need to pull back sleeving if it is long and one side of your cable is attached to something so that you have enough room to manoeuvre. Using wire ties can be useful for holding back the sleeving.5. Attaching wires for spliced-cable sleeving
Before rejoining the wires, the cable ends must be prepared. To do this:- Strip the wire insulation from each end
- Twist stranded wires together to avoid separation
- Add heat shrink tubing for each wire
- Connect the wires by twisting the stripped part each wire’s end together. If you have solid wires, a pair of needle-nose pliers may come in handy for twisting them together. If using your fingers, make sure you dry them first to remove oil from your skin.