Seeking cable management ideas....

Spirothene.

First googlewhack I've seen in ages, nowadays everything seems to match an amazon 'brandname' ...

We made a cluster of 50 Pi4s in a 4U server chassis. To avoid a cabling nightmare much of the interconnect was via boards plugged into the GPIO. They provided power and USB-serial for the UART - it also allowed power switching the Pi for hard resets. Power was daisy chained from a big PC PSU:

That was a custom build, but companies have similar solutions:

Theo

What is it? Both Google search and DuckduckGo find nothing.

I started out looking for spiral cable wrap, but was surprised to discover it usually not in stock at local retail. IIRC it was a commonplace thing, but it's been years since I looked for it.

Here's an example, note that it's $2/foot:

Either one is better than nothing, but I was hoping for a more clever approach.

Thanks for writing,

bob prohaska

All are elegant, but I'm trying hard to stick with commonplace off-the-shelf components that are individually replaceable without disturbing anything else.

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

Old name - now generally known as Spiral Wrap.

Aha, thanks. I'm surprised the old name doesn't turn up in a web search --- I got information about spirochetes (bacteria).

google groups search catches two previous times you've mentioned it, and that's all; and of course quoting it here no longer adds to that history ...

Hi Bob,

Ziploc sandwich bags. Cut a small hole on each bottom corner for either end of the cable - then seal it up.

This is an idea I just came up with. It may not solve your problem, per se. The bundles, though, would be separated by a bag and may prove easier to handle.

Daniel

Not just Google.

I didn't get any meaningful search results on:

- Google - DuckDuckGo - Yandex - Mojeek - Baidu

- Bing linked to a Narkive post where someone mentioned their preference for it.

Spirothene may be lost to contemporary Internet.

I hadn't considered creating a hole to allow cables to sneak out of a baggie.

I wonder if a traditional non-sealing / fold up sandwich baggie that folds over itself might work as well without the need to make any holes.

I used off brand zip-lock bags for cables during my last move. It made the boxes of cables a LOT less messy. I could grab a baggie and pull it out without worrying about things getting tangled. It worked fairly well. The only thing keeping it from working great is the need to acquire and dispose of the baggies.

Grant. . . .

Thank you, that's the best idea so far!

bob prohaska

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.

I'm so glad you feel that way. Do let me know how you get along.

It might, let me know how it works for you.

I typically use velcro strips purchased off amazon and take time to nicely fold in half and fold in half and fold in half until it's a nice bundle and zip it together.

Now that I'm considering a next chapter of computing life by adding rpi's to the mix, this is an important thread as things I can now consider since it never entered my mind.

Glad I stuck with usenet and IRC.

You should use "the over under method", to induce a twist in opposite directions with each loop. Overall, the twists cancel out.

You probably meant "less willing"?

In fact, the cables I'm dealing with are the worst of the worst. Stiff insulation, badly kinked in the package and unwilling to coil anywhere close to flat.

One approach that sort-of works is to plug two walwarts (one for the Pi, one for the hub) into a single 3-outlet extension cord, then coil the excess wire (both mains and 5-volt) around the cleat- like object which results and hold it in place by a cable tie or split conduit. I've done a couple like this and it's ugly but better than loose wires. One can at least see where each Pi plugs in.

A few wallwarts have extra connectors spliced on, such as a USB type C together with a micro-USB or a cylinder jack. I think those might be candidates for the plastic bag treatment, but the wallwarts shouldn't go in the bag; they run warm and need air circulation.

I've still not figured out how to clean up the serial console and USB cables, but that may not be so necessary as they're less voluminous.

Supporting the hubs, disks and Pis is still a problem. Broom clips sprung open to hold the plastic Raspberry Pi cases edgewise seems to work OK, but at this point the disks and hubs are just tucked in between, loose.

Thanks to everyone for writing!

bob prohaska

I would be careful -> avoid coiling low voltage with high voltage mains. My concern is that you would end up with something akin to a (poor) transformer of sorts. Wherein the high voltage mains would couple onto the low voltage lines. At a 1:1 ratio, you'd end up with the same high voltage on the low voltage secondary side.

I don't know how many loops on a coil would be needed for this to be noticeable.

The mains cable has the live and return together all the way, twisted, so the field cancels out. The transformer effect will never become noticeable, no matter how many turns.

David