Easier way to work with shielded cable

[fdesalvo]

After several failed attempts, I finallly dicsovered an easy way to make shielded cable runs- this may be old hat for some of you.

1. Strip outer jacket
2. Pull braid down half the length and cut around circumference with scissors. Remove any stragglers.
3. Take small length of bus wire and wrap a few turns over the remaining braid.  Carefully solder.  The jacket of the inner core is very fragile and if you apply too much heat, you will cause the shield to contact the core.
4. Heat shrink the shield lead first and then the wire up to the middle of the ground lead.

On a side note- I hate working with this stuff- the gage of the core is so thin I don't really trust it, but what can you do?  I was thinking of making my own with 22ga wire.  You know, wrap the bus wire around the jacket of some some nice 22 ga wire and heatshrink it. 

[tubesornothing]

Coax is almost as much pain as wiring heaters.  Two of my least favorite jobs.

[RicharD]

Strip off outer jacket.
Push the braided wires back away from the end.  It's a "Chinese finger" braid and this will loosen it up.
Now using either a tiny screw driver or a meter probe, carefully open a hole in the braid at the base of the outer jacket.
Once the hole is open, pick at it from both sides until you can get your tool between the braid and the inner conductor.
Now roll the end of the wire back making a U and carefully pull the inner conductor out.
Now pull away on the end of the braided wire making it closed and tight.

This is how I does it and I can usually do it w/o breaking more than a strand or 2.  1 additional tip is to NOT tin the shield until it's hooked in place.  Completely unbraiding the wire is not only a PITA, but it usually fatigues the wire to where it want's to break and I often lose as much as 1/2 the strands.  Cutting some of the outer strands is a NONO in my book.
If you like I'll shoot pix of the steps.

-Richard

[LooseChange]

I use the shielded cable with a drain.  Much easier to deal with.

[fdesalvo]

That's awesome, B.

Strip off outer jacket.
Push the braided wires back away from the end.  It's a "Chinese finger" braid and this will loosen it up.
Now using either a tiny screw driver or a meter probe, carefully open a hole in the braid at the base of the outer jacket.
Once the hole is open, pick at it from both sides until you can get your tool between the braid and the inner conductor.
Now roll the end of the wire back making a U and carefully pull the inner conductor out.
Now pull away on the end of the braided wire making it closed and tight.

This is how I does it and I can usually do it w/o breaking more than a strand or 2.  1 additional tip is to NOT tin the shield until it's hooked in place.  Completely unbraiding the wire is not only a PITA, but it usually fatigues the wire to where it want's to break and I often lose as much as 1/2 the strands.  Cutting some of the outer strands is a NONO in my book.
If you like I'll shoot pix of the steps.

-Richard

[RicharD]

Strip off outer jacket.  Push the braided wires back away from the end.

carefully open a hole in the braid at the base of the outer jacket

pick at it from both sides until you can get your tool between the braid and the inner conductor

roll the end of the wire back making a U and carefully pull the inner conductor out

pull away on the end of the braided wire making it closed and tight

Not a single strand broken.  This is very small Teflon wire.

-Richard

[bnchwrmr]

Wow! Thanks for the reminder...
I'd forgotten about this technique.

[jjasilli]

That's awesome, B.

Ditto!!!

[fdesalvo]

Awesome!

Do they make larger gage shielded cable?  The cable I have is very thin and it makes me nervous. 

[tubesornothing]

Sure, every kind you can imagine - see belden, mouser, allied, digikey - caveat emptor:  Doug's coax is one of the lowest capacitance - a good thing.

[gar13]

Thanks Buttery, for these great pictures.

I've been trying to figure out and easier way to work with shielded cable for a while, meant to post the question at some point. It was explained to me in a forum somewhere, but a few pictures are worth a thousand words.

Cheers!

[tubesornothing]

Here is another option

[tubesornothing]

voila

[jjasilli]

Here is another option  Very cool too  8)

[Justa]

Great pictures guys, thanks for taking the time to post them.  I hate to admit this but I was unbraiding the outer conductor lately and had forgotten the pull through method that I had used years ago.

[Greasehorse]

A person could shove a piece of thick heat shrink under the loosened braid before you soldered a wire wrapped to it and get more protection for the core...