What do you use as a USB cable strain relief?

What do you use as a USB cable strain relief?

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I have been recently wrapping the ends with the tie wire that comes with the cable but I would like to know what you use as a USB cable strain relief that works better.

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Reply to
Erholt Rhein
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There should not be strain on a USB cable. It's considered a temporary, free-standing connection.

Reply to
Terry Schwartz

Terry Schwartz wrote in :

I hear you. I wish it were true that the cables don't break on the small end. I really do.

But I can't count the number of broken microUSB & AppleUSB cables I have. Maybe twenty? Thirty?

They all break at the same point because they go slowly so you know it by the wiggle test.

The wiggle test proves it is the thin microUSB or AppleUSB end that plugs into the mobile device.

It's never the fat rectangular USB end that plugs into the computer or power supply.

I just want to know what you use as a strain relief? Some people tell me heat shrink tubing works.

What do you use?

Reply to
Erholt Rhein

Heat shrink works very well, you may want to use a couple of different diameters of HS so you get a stepped strain relief on the cable/plug.

John :-#)#

Reply to
John Robertson

Ok, for me, strain relief is typically a term used to describe a method of securing a cable or other device into a connection so it does not separate or put undo strain on the connection itself.

You are describing something more akin to a reinforcement. Yes USB cables fatigue and break. No doubt.

I have used heat shrink, but it really just moves the problem "down stream" if you will.

You can also reinforce by over-molding with a material such as "sugru".... please google that. It works for stuff like this, in fact it typically exceeds my expectations.

Reply to
Terry Schwartz

There's only little problem with that. How do you get the shrink tubing over the connector?

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"I am a river to my people." 
Jeff-1.0 
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Reply to
Fox's Mercantile

you've never used shrink tubing, have you?

Reply to
nospam

Eye roll.....

There is a ratio concerning original vs shrink size. If the tubing is large enough to fit over the connector it may not shrink down full around the cable.

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"I am a river to my people." 
Jeff-1.0 
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Reply to
Fox's Mercantile

since the micro usb connector is only slightly wider than the cable, that's not an issue.

better yet, buy quality cables that don't fall apart and don't need aftermarket reinforcements.

Reply to
nospam

Would flexible/stretchable tape work?

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

My friend uses that expensive clay-like stuff and is happy with it. She gave us a small lump of it, but it's too good to use :-)

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Cheers, Bev 
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Reply to
The Real Bev

We still have paper towels used to wipe car windows without smearing that a gas station gave my mother in 1962, They are too good to use.

Reply to
micky

On Mon, 26 Mar 2018 23:27:35 +0000 (UTC), Erholt Rhein wrote as underneath :

Hot glue, the very flexible type is best, sticks to anything and you can taper it away from the plug so it provides progressive relief. C+

Reply to
Charlie+

Yes, well specify 3:1 or 4:1 heatshrink then, 3:1 is very easy to find and 4:1 is certainly available.

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Chris Green
Reply to
Chris Green

Nothing. I simply handle them with care.

None of my cables broke in that part. Two failed at the pins.

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Cheers, Carlos.
Reply to
Carlos E.R.

I don't use anything since I always use quality braided cables when there is a great chance of excess strain but I understand that some people use a blob of Sugru for the purpose. I have used that product to reinforce/repair the inbuilt USB cable on the auto power adapter from my old Magellan GPS and, while it was a pretty ugly mess, it did the job quite well and also allowed me to make the cord into a 90-degree rather than straight feed so it kept the cord away from the shift lever.

Reply to
John McGaw

You sum kinda idiot?

Reply to
Colonel Edmund J. Burke

Just buy/use cables with built-in strain relief, i.e. a flexible part at the cable sides of the connectors. The cables you showed don't have such a flexible part. They're probably cheap crap.

FWIW, the only cheap-crap [1] cable I (know I) have, indeed does not have flexible strain relief. Duh!

[1] Yes, I have a valid excuse for this one! :-)
Reply to
Frank Slootweg

Don't feed the troll... He (cross)posted this to other newsgroups as well.

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s|b
Reply to
s|b

I too use Sugru, especially where the connector/wire ratio is very large and many different sizes of heat shrink would otherwise be necessary to build up a strain relief. I've not been able to make Sugru reinforcements look good but the stuff works like a charm.

Reply to
Bennett

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