Re: Seeking cable management ideas....

On 2024-06-12, <bp@www.zefox.net> <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:

Has anybody come up with an inexpensive way of organizing cables
among groups of Raspberry Pi hosts? The problem tends to be power
supplies. Most come with a fairly long cord and coiling it results
in a sort of bird's nest. Shortening it might be possible for the
older Pi's, but probably not for the later USB-C models. Stock
length cables are better a foot long than an inch short, so in the
end they're all at least a little too long. 

A very simple habit to form is what I've always known as "BBC
method" although apparently roadies are familiar with it too: when
coiling a cable twist it a quarter turn for each loop of the cable -
in my experience simply twisting the cable induces a loop to form
by itself so work with that and adjust it to suit the rest of the
coil.

The simple act of coiling a cable induces a twist in it, which will
try to straighten itself out after you release it.  The quarter
turn compensates for that and means the cable lies straight in the
coil and lies flat once released.  Some cables work better than
others, in particular cables that have been abused in the past
(including in the packet!) may be less reluctant to co-operate.
A cable tie of some form may still be needed but eliminating the
inherent twist eliminates the structural tendency towards chaos.

--
Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.org