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[essex2visuvesi]

What do you guys do when you have an excess of servo wire?


Do you cut the wire down to size or bunch it up neatly with a cable tie?

[goBulawayo]

I am going the bunch it up way, incase next model I need the extra length

Wayne

[inertia]

'Chop + resolder' makes three more potential points of failure. I'd go for bunching (unless you spend your days soldering wires together and can guarantee the joints).
DM

[eddiesolo]

Bunch and small cable tie, I can't solder for toffee so wouldn't trust my joints 
 
Si:)

[destroyer42]

Hi eddiesolo,
Personally I make sure I have the right length this saves bunching as I hate untidy wires in a boat and I keep them as short as possible looks better than a rat's nest. The benefits are that you can see what each wire goes and prevents snagging.
 
Destroyer42

[Colin Bishop]

I prefer bunching, as Dave says, cutting introduces possible failure points and the excess cable can normally be neatly tidied away where it is not readily seen.
 
Colin

[malcolmfrary]

Unless there is no room for bunching, bunch and if needs be, tie back.  I have had many occasions to curse "tidy" wiremen in my distant past.  Admitted, my interest was tracing one pair of wires out of a hundred or two without breaking anything else, but the principle applies.
Everything shortened to the exact length looks pretty, but is no more reliable, and usually requires major surgery when work needs to be done.  And it will be, because Murphys law implies that the tidiest installation will be the one to need later working on, be it for a fault or an afterthought.

[tobyker]

Well there you are - each to his (or her) own. I prefer to cut and seal with heat shrink tube  - offset the cuts so you only have to use one piece of tube, or take the base off the servo, unsolder the leads, cut to length and solder the wires back on. It will be important for the wiring to be extra neat in the next project, so I'll probably do the last option.

[RAAArtyGunner]

 
It seems to me that you can still have a 'neat' layout without chopping the leads.
 
As said, Murphy, will dictate that in the next installation the leads will be tooooooooooooooooooooo short.
 
But if you have deep pockets, then that's not a concern..

[essex2visuvesi]

Thanks for the opinions chaps, I think I'll go for bunching and cable ties

[Subculture]

If you want to 'lose' excess cable, but prefer a tidy look, consider making some miniature custom trunking from styrene sheet, and bonding that to your equipment tray (this is for the seawolf right?). Then the wiring can be run through that. Make the box of reasonable dimensions, I'd say 20mm square, and you can tuck a lot of slack away from prying eyes. The trunking will also stiffen up the tray- bonus!

[tobyker]

Now that is a good idea.

[hmsantrim]

 
 Hi essex.
     
   Why don`t you just coil the wire around the servo casing wrap a bit of insulating tape round it to keep it place instaid of all the
   faffing about "simples"
 
                          Frank. 
 

[derekwarner]

DM....[inertia].........without going from the sublime to the    .....& I understand we are talking low voltage [4.8 Vdc & milliamp currents], but is there any issue in creating a concentration of back EMF in coiling a servo lead & ending up with a spurious signal ? .....
The reason I ask this is from the manufacturers installation directives for linear displacement transducers as used in hydraulic cylinders in our OZ steel industry clearly preclude  any such coiling of the transducer cabling & we are only talking 14.8 Vdc & again low current input/outputs........Derek

[inertia]

That's a new one for me, Derek. All I can say - apart from echoing your comment about low voltage and current - is that no manufacturer's manual I've ever seen in over 40 years has mentioned this as a potential problem (unlike coiling up an aerial lead) and I've never had nor heard of any problems which might attributed to it. I have seen warnings against using long servo extension leads as these can pick up stray RF, and long power leads should be avoided as potential radiators of RF and for the drop in voltage as a consequence of their length/resistance.

If we're talking about so-called digital servos, however, then all bets are off. They are the creations of the devil.........along with BEC and Chinese amps.

Dave M

[w3bby]

If you are worried about signal interference problems then use ferrite rings to wrap the wire around. I have used clip-ons like these before to shorten wires.

[black magic racing]

what i do is wrap the servo wire around a allen key nice and tight,pull the allen key out and the wire stays wrapped,looks nice and you can then pull it to the length you may need

[derekwarner]

BMR......sorry ....but this is exactly what I am questioning  ............irrespective of the voltage or current .... you are creating a coil & field effect of back EMF  ...Derek 

[essex2visuvesi]

looks like I have opened a real can of worms 

[inertia]

what i do is wrap the servo wire around a allen key nice and tight,pull the allen key out and the wire stays wrapped,looks nice and you can then pull it to the length you may need

Aha! Someone with some practical experience! Have you detected any problems with the radio system as a consequence of this coiling exercise? If not then I think we have the answer to Derek's question.
DM

[sparkey]

  I have bunched and cable tied servo cables for years with no problems,what I say is give it a try and see what happens,a tidy boat is a lot
easier to work on,if you have servo cables strung out and crossing power cables this will cause more problems,Ray.

[RAAArtyGunner]

DM....[inertia].........without going from the sublime to the    .....& I understand we are talking low voltage [4.8 Vdc & milliamp currents], but is there any issue in creating a concentration of back EMF in coiling a servo lead & ending up with a spurious signal ? .....
The reason I ask this is from the manufacturers installation directives for linear displacement transducers as used in hydraulic cylinders in our OZ steel industry clearly preclude  any such coiling of the transducer cabling & we are only talking 14.8 Vdc & again low current input/outputs........Derek

This applies to normal 240V mains cable, but the physics may be the same with servo cable.
I was always taught, to fully unroll coiled leads, even if they were only laid out loosely, but not left in wound coils, because  the current would create a magnetic effect and heat the insulation which would finally melt.
Know of a case where excess lead was coiled and pinned near a power point. One day the owner handled the coiled lead and noticed  it was 'hot' and the insulation was sticky (melting).
I always unravel leads before use especially those on storage rolls/drums.

Back to topic,
Not a physicist but suspect the bunching would be fine so long as a circular loop was not created.
Like the idea of the clip on ferrite rings 
 
Looks like the can of worms are exported world wide 

[black magic racing]

BMR......sorry ....but this is exactly what I am questioning  ............irrespective of the voltage or current .... you are creating a coil & field effect of back EMF  ...Derek 

hi derek.having raced cars from 1/10 to 1/5,also raced battery and now petrol boats i have never had a problem with this way of coiling the cable,maybe i have been lucky over the 35 years or so so while i have never come across this problem i feel my advice is justified to be given, it is after all only advice ,each to there own

[derekwarner]

Thanks for your comment BMR..........   my question was due to my limited understanding in this area & thought we needed an experienced comment......Derek 

[black magic racing]

by wrapping it around a small allen key it then forms a spiral effect which can then be pulled to the length you need,thus preventing any cable being over lapped onto each other,looks nice and trick,and i use the little sticky cable tie holders to hold the wires in place,this was mainly used on my cars due to not wanting any excess wire hanging about,but works on all applications,hope this help