Changing a snake from stage box to fan

[rePete]

Hi all,

OK, so long ago the Youth Group trashed the stage box with plastic xlr mounting plates. Another generous soul privided a new sound system including snake. So now I have this extra proco 20 ch snake with a fan on one end. I would like to make the other end a fan too.

Here is what I would like: since the individual channels in the multicore are foil jacketed I would like to insulate them with some type of material BUT NOT HEAT SHRINK! More like what would come on a thin mic cable, still flexible. See out of focus pic below.



Does such a thing exist?

Thanks
Pete

[Brad Weber]

So you basically want the unjacketed cable to be more like the jacketed cable on the other end of the snake also in that picture? Is the purpose to electrically isolate them, provide abrasion resistance, make it look nice or some other reason? You can get heavy wall heat shrink but if you absolutely don't want to use heat shrink for some reason then it may be a challenge to find some tubing that slides on easily but also doesn't move around so much as to be awkward to handle.

A detail but "foil jacketed" seems a misnomer, the foil is the shield and they would probably be referred to as unjacketed, shielded, twisted pairs.

[rePete]

What I have thought about is to find a trashed mic cable and just pull the wire out. Since I only need 12" lengths it shouldn't be that hard. Some big heat shrink to look like the other end and that should do it.

The youth group MUST have a bad cable somewhere.

BTW the foil shield has a drain wire ....bonus.

Pete

[cmchamp]

I've done this, but just used heat-shrink on each strand with added layers at the connector end under a larger restraining heat shrink at the gathering end.

[waynehoskins]

The easiest way to do that would be to put a quick-disconnect connector there, like a Whirlwind MASS, LK/Veam, etc. Terminate the snake to one, and then put actual mic cable on the other. I did that recently for a homebrew Drumdrop.

Any reason why not heat-shrink? It's used all the time. What about heat-shrink plus Snakeskin?

[prochlea]

I'd use heatshrink, and then put Techflex over it.

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by rePete

What I have thought about is to find a trashed mic cable and just pull the wire out. Since I only need 12" lengths it shouldn't be that hard. Some big heat shrink to look like the other end and that should do it.

You could pull the conductors and shield out to create a 'sleeve', but you'll probably need a 'sleeve' with larger inside diameter than the outside diameter of paired cable you have in order to then slide the 'sleeve' over the cable. And while the overall heat shrink may help hold the outer 'sleeves' in place, what is holding the inner 'sleeves'? If they slide on they can probably slide off, and for me it would be right as I went to terminate them.

Originally Posted by rePete

BTW the foil shield has a drain wire ....bonus.

Most do as the aluminized film they often use for the shield is difficult to terminate, especially for solder connectors.

[Frank DeWitt]

You said you want a fan out on each end, but how about a box at one end. It would be less work for you and they are convenient to use on stage. You can buy them new and sometimes buy a used one on Ebay.

Frank

[bobbycito]

i would second the heatshrink with techflex

[Josh Scott]

snakeskin?

http://whirlwindusa.com/catalog/misc...ault/snakeskin

[rePete]

Thanks for all the responses.

I found a bad mic cable and cut it into 16" lengths and pulled the wire and shield out of it. The hollow cable jacket slipped right over the foil wrapped conductors and I left about 3"length of conductor past the insulation for termination.

I cinched up a couple of tyraps pretty tight near the wire end of the additional cable jackets. I don't think it crimped any of the conductors and seems to pass the tug test pretty well. With the addition of some heat shrink should be good to go.

I'll get some pix up soon. Looks like this will work just fine.

Thanks,
Pete

[Les]

Hey Pete,

Glad you found something that worked for you.

Just out of curiosity why did you not want to use heatshrink? There are many different types of heatshrink, some are more flexible than others, some are more abrasion resistant than others, etc.

Just curious since I've always used heatshrink, sometimes with tecflex, other times not.