We Tried Building Our Own Cables

[Plouffe]

Custom cables can be expensive, but parts and tools are too. Is it worth it to try to build your own? Watch Alex and Anthony try to put together their own USB A-C and 8-pin PCIe extension cables for the first time.

 

Buy USB-A Cables On Amazon

(PAID LINK): https://geni.us/jv2G

On Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/dU6k9U5

On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/8epSMAD

 

Buy USB-A Housings

On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/WM6LsfW Buy

 

USB-C Housings

On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/WivANj

 

Buy 18awg Wire On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/vSnH On

Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/8ZLNkG

On B&H (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/V6XMAOm

 

 

[MultiGamerClub]

Ehhhhhhh????? Did i read that right?

 

"Its gonna be fine"

 

PULLS OUT BLOWTORCH

Edited August 28, 2021 by MultiGamerClub

[mariushm]

Some bad advice at 6:40

Some cables have thicker wires for voltage and ground (red and black) and thinner wires for data .. and some cables twist the data wires along the cable.

So technically you're right the cable will work as long as the same order of colors on both ends but not optimal. Should stick to the proper wires it's not that hard to find the pinout online.

 

Also kinda of a basic and wrong description of flux ... it's a substance that becomes a mild acid when heated up by the soldering iron and breaks the oxides that form naturally on the contacts, helping the solder flow better and make a better chemical reaction between the solder and the metals (the contacts, the wire), therefore you get a better stronger connection.. 

 

Also instead of being lazy you could have gone to a distributor of electronic components like digikey, mouser , newark / farnell and buy usb connectors and housings instead of just using heatshrink.

Ex https://www.digikey.com/short/jv23pbq9

see picture below

 

and some of the most important is completely skipped over the crimping of the wires in the minifit jr pins ... or explaining that there's two crimping points, one for the insulation and one for actual wire...

 

[Senzelian]

Did anyone ever tell Alex that he can just buy a shorter USB C cable? 

[Nystemy]

The point of flux has little to do with air. It is actually removing the oxidization that forms on the surface. And some types of flux needs to be washed off post soldering _{(more typical for liquid fluxes)}, otherwise it will just sit there stripping away the oxidization as it forms, slowly eating away the metal over weeks or months.

 

The ratcheting mechanism on crimping tools is there to ensure that a crimp is always made correctly. Or almost always, one has to still pick the correct gauge for the crimp and position on the tool _{(since most tools can crimp a selection of gauges)} and have the right head in the tool as well _{(since different types of crimps can use different tools)}. And thanks for skipping this fairly important part....

 

Also, in regards to crimping quality and checking if it is done correctly, here is a simplified guide:

https://www.te.com/content/dam/te-com/documents/application-tooling/global/65784_Crimp Quality Poster_ENGLISH_26x13 version.pdf

And this is applicable to almost all types of crimped connection. Though, some people confuse "crimped" connections with insulation displacement connections. _{(insulation displacement connections (IDC) are common on ribbon cables and can also be fund on a lot of SATA power cables, not to mention that most 8P8C ("RJ45") connectors are also IDC. Since IDC is a very cost effective method of terminating a cable.)}

 

And then to be fair, one shouldn't use a lighter for heat shrink tubing... And if one has to, avoid putting the tube inside of the flame. It only requires between 85-120 degrees C for it to shrink. _{(depending on the tube material)}

 

Though, I myself is is a bit biased...

Working in the field and having access to the proper tools makes it easy to say, "you're doing it wrong."

[Luscious]

I've always had issues with those aftermarket SATA Y power splitters - devices would simply not get detected, randomly drop out or straight up freeze the OS. I initially thought my mobo's SATA ports were to blame, and I even swapped SATA data cables thinking they were the problem. Turns out it was those damn Y cables. They are so cheaply done and fail so frequently. WHY can they not be done right?

 

Perhaps the bigger question to ask is why don't PSU manufacturers offer these, given that these are just extensions that would universally fit??? I'm sick and tired of throwing out $5-$15 on cables that fail, but I also don't believe I should have to pay north of $20 for a 5 inch long splitter or even higher than that for custom made (that also can fail). This stuff is not rocket science, just ignorance on the part of those who know how to do it and laziness on those attempting to fill in this niche void.

[Nystemy]

40 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Some bad advice at 6:40

Some cables have thicker wires for voltage and ground (red and black) and thinner wires for data .. and some cables twist the data wires along the cable.

So technically you're right the cable will work as long as the same order of colors on both ends but not optimal. Should stick to the proper wires it's not that hard to find the pinout online.

Yes, the data wires are twisted for signal integrity reasons. Though, maybe it can fall back to USB 1.0 speeds and get by over the weird cable setup. But it depends on the cable they bought.

 

Though, normally off the shelf USB cable _{(as in just the cable without connectors)} uses red and black for power, and white and blue for data. So yes, they likely did screw up the wiring.

 

I can at least accept when people occasionally wire an Ethernet cable incorrectly, since Ethernet terminations are frankly a bit weird. _{(Why the four pairs aren't just sitting neatly one besides the other is beyond me (since one of the pairs is currently split and sitting on both sides of the middle most pair...), not to mention that only 2 out of the 384 combinations are valid on most network equipment, as far as pair ordering, one can either have a straight or a cross over, but the other 22 shuffles isn't allowed, though pair polarity correction is starting to be a thing, so some equipment can handle 32 out of the 384 different terminations. (it is only 384 terminations that are able to preserve the twisted pairs, if one just goes crazy, then one can wire an 8P8C jack in 40320 different ways, but this won't be good from a signal integrity standpoint, especially when patch cables are introduced.))}

[Nystemy]

4 minutes ago, Caroline said:

Nice guide. What kind of tool is required to install those terminals? Had to replace a couple from a space heater once (same, but bigger) and ended up bending the male terminals and twisting the wires around, couldn't use tape or heatshrink as those terminals get hot.

I should start getting tools but I'm not sure which ones are good or terrible, guys at the hardware stores usually say "any of them is good" but we all know that's a lie.

 

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

To be fair, in a pinch. One can solder the wire to the crimp. _{(This should however never be done if one sells or repairs a product! since the strain relief won't be proper for the crimp and the solder joint is likely to fail if exposed to a more vibration prone environment.)}

 

I also wouldn't worry too much about heat as far as heat shrink tubing goes. Since most heat shrink tubing can survive long term at 60-80 C.

 

In regards to quality tools, ask the manufacturer of the crimp. Or rather, look at the datasheet for the crimp, since in that datasheet the tool is specified. But don't be surprised if it costs 400+$ and isn't sold at your local hardware store.

 

But be happy you don't buy tool inserts for a crimping machine, since then the price tag usually have an extra zero...

[visitor2015]

Actually the wire gauge and colors can easily be reserached from the USB specificiations which the USB-IF offers to download. Just making any lenght of cable from off the shelf standard cable does not tell the whole story. To comply one has also to respect the voltage drop at rated current for that connection. Using the thinner data lines (white and green) for power is a bad idea.

Alex as an engineering person should have known that.

I also don't get why they don't use the heat gun also for the heat shrink tubes. Using a lighter leaves that black marks and is not controllable in temperature.

As an electroniic engineer myself who tailors many cables myself some things look not right to me.

[zanzabar]

Did the type C end you guys used have the legacy resistor preinstalled?  It seemed off to have the warning about type C to C, but A to C need a similar resistor of a different value, and your phone should never say charging quickly with an A to C unless you have a proprietary cable like Dash charging.

 

There are so many out of spec A to C cables, but I don't recall ever having an issue with C to C even if they were likely also out of spec/wrong.

[Streetguru]

Okay, for real. You guys need to bring in one of the cablemod guys or something to show you how it's done.

[DarkN3ss]

Does anyone have a link to the usb cabling they used in the video? (the 50ft one). 

I can't seem to find it anywhere... 

[mariushm]

KAB 6641 Assmann WSW Components | Cables, Wires | DigiKey

 

305 meters of usb 3.0 cable for $384 .. nice cable, with the "superspeed" pairs of usb 3.0 shielded separately

 

2725-2824-BE-01000-T CNC Tech | Cables, Wires | DigiKey

305 meters of usb 2.0 cable for $280...

 

they have them in lengths of 30m as well ...

 

2725-2828-BL-01000-A - cheap usb 2.0, all awg28 wires

2725-2824-BL-01000-A CNC Tech | Cables, Wires | DigiKey - with thicker awg24 wires for power

also digikey won't be the cheapest store out there, you can find these at other distributors.

[RipcordJack]

So i have been thinking about trying this out, just for fun.

 

I should lead in to the next bit with mentioning im from the eu (germany) 

 

I can find the usb c connectors with no issue, but they only come with those ugly bad plastic housings, cant find them with the metal housing. 

 

The Paracord is no issue as that can be found basically every. 

 

Cant find the usb a connector and housing to save my life.

 

And the usb 2 or 3 wire, also basically no where to be seen. 

 

I feel like these parts are like my dad, after saying he is going to get milk......... No where to be found. 

 

So if anyone could help me out that would be awesome

[TylerWard]

11 hours ago, zanzabar said:

Did the type C end you guys used have the legacy resistor preinstalled?  It seemed off to have the warning about type C to C, but A to C need a similar resistor of a different value, and your phone should never say charging quickly with an A to C unless you have a proprietary cable like Dash charging.

 

There are so many out of spec A to C cables, but I don't recall ever having an issue with C to C even if they were likely also out of spec/wrong.

C-C cables dont require a resistor on the CC pin (pin A5) instead a wire is connected between each end of the cable (this is used to allow the devices to negotiate which end is the host and which is the client among other things). USB-C to older usb connector cables need eiher a pull up or pull down resitor (with a specific value) to put the port on the device into the correct mode (using a wrong value for this resistor is a common reason for usb A-C cables to be out of spec). Therefore if you build a C-C cable with one host emulating connector and one cleint emulating connector you will have a type C cable that only works one way round. 

[Devins07]

On 8/28/2021 at 1:00 PM, Plouffe said:

Custom cables can be expensive, but parts and tools are too. Is it worth it to try to build your own? Watch Alex and Anthony try to put together their own USB A-C and 8-pin PCIe extension cables for the first time.

 

Buy USB-A Cables On Amazon

(PAID LINK): https://geni.us/jv2G

On Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/dU6k9U5

On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/8epSMAD

 

Buy USB-A Housings

On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/WM6LsfW Buy

 

USB-C Housings

On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/WivANj

 

Buy 18awg Wire On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/vSnH On

Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/8ZLNkG

On B&H (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/V6XMAOm

 

Can anyone help me find the link to the PCIE male female connectors on amazon? I found everything but the Male to Female PCIE connectors in the video description.

 

[Devins07]

Can anyone help me find the link to the PCIE male female connectors on amazon? I found everything but the Male to Female PCIE connectors in the video description.

[jammer2001]

Where do you source the cable itself from? I couldn't find bulk USB on Infinite Cables or Amazon. 

[tone_bender]

On 9/8/2021 at 4:09 PM, jammer2001 said:

Where do you source the cable itself from? I couldn't find bulk USB on Infinite Cables or Amazon. 

maybe you can look in electronics store so you can buy in bulk and normally they have good information on the cables/wires (number of conductors, shielding)

 

it can be quite overwhelming because there are many options on the market

https://www.arrow.com/en/categories/wire-and-cable/cables/cable-multi-conductor?page=1&promoGroupLevel=pl&perPage=25&filters=Type:USB Cable;

 

 

 

edit: aliexpress is also a good option if you dont mind the wait, you can get everything there

[KaiCodesTech]

where can i get a lightning connector and black housing? i want to do this for my iphone and ipad but i cant find any black housing for it, please help

[Rex Hite]

Did Linus test the DIY cables on his fancy testing machine?