Cable management, can you help?!

[HunterScott]

I can't seem to locate the best sub-thread to put this into, so I'm hoping peripherals works just fine!

 

I'm having a really big issue with cable management behind my desk, and whilst I realise that I do need some longer wires for various devices, I was wondering what bits of kit you guys use to clean up those trailing wires?

I've attached a couple of images to highlight the terror that is living under my desk!

 

Thanks in advance!

[deXxterlab97]

I personally tie them in velcro strap or similar straps.

[manikyath]

cable management is an art.

 

the best way to get things started is to buy a big ol' roll of velcro and start strapping together wires that travel symmetrical.

past that, moving around stuff to more sensible positions does help too. if your desktop is to the left of your desk, your printer has no reason to be on the right, for example.

 

i've managed to slim down the complex loom of cabling on my desk (3 monitors, 2 speaker systems, two full sets of peripherals, phone dock, two computers, a grand total of 7 speakers, headphones, soldering equipment, and an endless list of misc bits and pieces) into essentially one "bundle" that runs from the right of my desk, to the left. stuff hops in and out of that  bundle at a lot of spots, but it is primarily one bundle.

[geo3]

$5 gets you a fifty pack of Velcro cable ties.

[manikyath]

Just now, geo3 said:

$5 gets you a fifty pack of Velcro cable ties.

or just buy a roll and cut to size. got a giant roll for like a tenner.

[HunterScott]

9 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

I personally tie them in velcro strap or similar straps.

 

6 minutes ago, manikyath said:

cable management is an art.

 

the best way to get things started is to buy a big ol' roll of velcro and start strapping together wires that travel symmetrical.

past that, moving around stuff to more sensible positions does help too. if your desktop is to the left of your desk, your printer has no reason to be on the right, for example.

 

i've managed to slim down the complex loom of cabling on my desk (3 monitors, 2 speaker systems, two full sets of peripherals, phone dock, two computers, a grand total of 7 speakers, headphones, soldering equipment, and an endless list of misc bits and pieces) into essentially one "bundle" that runs from the right of my desk, to the left. stuff hops in and out of that  bundle at a lot of spots, but it is primarily one bundle.

 

3 minutes ago, geo3 said:

$5 gets you a fifty pack of Velcro cable ties.

So the general consensus agree's on velcro cable ties!

That does make a lot of sense @manikyath, I really haven't approached the organisation of my desk in that way. I now know how I'm going to spend my day off!

[lookpuppy]

So first of all what i do when i do some cable management is unplug everything. Then i pu them all back in gently and let all the cables sit behind the desk (unplugged) the. I either grab zipties or velcroe straps (sold locally and online) and tape them to the desk and hide the cables as good as possible.

[Revamp]

@HunterScott

My suggestion is this. Velcro zip ties as mentioned, j runners, and cable tracks.

 

Mouse, keyboard, and orbweaver gamepad

Spoiler

I like to tie my mouse, keyboard, and orb Weaver game pad together. With my keyboard being in the center I loop my mouse and orbweaver slack under the keyboard legs so they come up from the center. I put a Velcro zip tie right at the start of my keyboard cable. I then put another Midway from the edge of the keyboard to the edge of my desk. Then I put a third about 2 inches over my desk.

This keeps my peripherals nice and streamline.

 

Some people also cut a "x" in an extended mouse pad or desk Matt and drill a hole in their desk to feed everything down.

 

Monitors and anything where the cables go to the wall.

Spoiler

Buy a slim/flat cable track. Run it a little behind your monitor. You'll then run the cables from your monitors through this.

Do the same for any entertainment stand.

 

Run the track just like an inch below your desk for cleanliness.

 

Desk management

Spoiler

Buy j runners. I usually place one horizontal width ways along the back edge of my desk, about 1-2 inches in. Run EVERYTHING through this. I also use a USB extension and a 4port angled Anker hub.

I run the up to the front of my desk to the right. I also have a j runner on the right side of my desk going short ways. The USB hub allows me to quickly plug in things like a SD card reader, headphones, etc.

 

Lastly you can always buy a 20 pack of those square zip tie anchors and buy bulk zip ties.

[HunterScott]

15 minutes ago, Revamp said:

@HunterScott

My suggestion is this. Velcro zip ties as mentioned, j runners, and cable tracks.

 

Mouse, keyboard, and orbweaver gamepad

  Hide contents

I like to tie my mouse, keyboard, and orb Weaver game pad together. With my keyboard being in the center I loop my mouse and orbweaver slack under the keyboard legs so they come up from the center. I put a Velcro zip tie right at the start of my keyboard cable. I then put another Midway from the edge of the keyboard to the edge of my desk. Then I put a third about 2 inches over my desk.

This keeps my peripherals nice and streamline.

 

Some people also cut a "x" in an extended mouse pad or desk Matt and drill a hole in their desk to feed everything down.

 

Monitors and anything where the cables go to the wall.

  Hide contents

Buy a slim/flat cable track. Run it a little behind your monitor. You'll then run the cables from your monitors through this.

Do the same for any entertainment stand.

 

Run the track just like an inch below your desk for cleanliness.

 

Desk management

  Hide contents

Buy j runners. I usually place one horizontal width ways along the back edge of my desk, about 1-2 inches in. Run EVERYTHING through this. I also use a USB extension and a 4port angled Anker hub.

I run the up to the front of my desk to the right. I also have a j runner on the right side of my desk going short ways. The USB hub allows me to quickly plug in things like a SD card reader, headphones, etc.

 

Lastly you can always buy a 20 pack of those square zip tie anchors and buy bulk zip ties.

Thank you for your tips, I am literally just about to get started! I have thought about cable tying my or weaver; keyboard and mouse together, I do need to change the orientation of my keyboard so this would work wonderfully once I've adapted by 'play-style'. I am currently in the corner of my L desk.

 

Maybe you could help with some Feng Shui?

I am firstly going to rearrange my set up to try and get everything as close to the power outlets as possible. Would you say my PC is fine where it is, or should I move it to the other side of my desk?

The number 1 in the under desk image signifies where my extension lead is, its currently behind my Corsair sub woofer and UPS. I do have a other extension cord at the other end of my desk where I am potentially going to move my PC to.

Lastly, my monitors are on extendable arm mounts so can be moved across a horizontal plane.

[HunterScott]

On 31/01/2018 at 11:16 PM, Pangea2017 said:

ikea set is a good point to start if you have nothing: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/cable-management-accessories/fixa-114-piece-cable-management-set-art-60169251/

 

you can try perforated plates and label each cable:

I may utilise this for extension cords and my UPS leads! That's a cracking idea, thank you.

[Revamp]

It's going to be tedious, but I would start by pulling everything out and starting fresh.

You can make the PC work from either side.

If you have everything plugged into the UPS what I did was order a bunch of extensions of different lengths that are 3 prong male to 3 prong female. Depending on each cable that was going to the UPS or surge protector and the slack needed to properly tie it into my cable management, I used 1ft, 3ft, and 4ft most commonly (I measured before ordering). I purchased these off amazon in multi packs since I have several cables as well and paid $1-$3 a cable depending on length. For peripherals, you can do the same with high speed USB3.0 extensions.

Once I got all my extensions in, Then I started hiding everything properly.

 

For your monitors, since they are on arms, you can zip tie the cables to the monitor arm and run it down to where it mounts to the desk/wall. If wall mounted, use a small cable track to hide it.

 

If you do need that extension cord on the left side, I would replace it with a quality surge protector before considering plugging my PC into it. You can also do like I did in the past, and use the wall mounting slots on the back if it has them and put 2 short screws under the desk to mount it to. Another method is I believe the 3M red double sided tape as it's supposed to have incredible holding properties without leaving behind adhesive residue or pulling off paint and such.

Final method of adhering an extension cord/surge protector would be to buy those square zip tie anchors I spoke about and put a couple under the desk and zip tie the extension/surge block.

[HunterScott]

7 minutes ago, Revamp said:

It's going to be tedious, but I would start by pulling everything out and starting fresh.

You can make the PC work from either side.

If you have everything plugged into the UPS what I did was order a bunch of extensions of different lengths that are 3 prong male to 3 prong female. Depending on each cable that was going to the UPS or surge protector and the slack needed to properly tie it into my cable management, I used 1ft, 3ft, and 4ft most commonly (I measured before ordering). I purchased these off amazon in multi packs since I have several cables as well and paid $1-$3 a cable depending on length. For peripherals, you can do the same with high speed USB3.0 extensions.

Once I got all my extensions in, Then I started hiding everything properly.

 

For your monitors, since they are on arms, you can zip tie the cables to the monitor arm and run it down to where it mounts to the desk/wall. If wall mounted, use a small cable track to hide it.

 

If you do need that extension cord on the left side, I would replace it with a quality surge protector before considering plugging my PC into it. You can also do like I did in the past, and use the wall mounting slots on the back if it has them and put 2 short screws under the desk to mount it to. Another method is I believe the 3M red double sided tape as it's supposed to have incredible holding properties without leaving behind adhesive residue or pulling off paint and such.

Final method of adhering an extension cord/surge protector would be to buy those square zip tie anchors I spoke about and put a couple under the desk and zip tie the extension/surge block.

I use the extension cords for my UPS; x1 monitor and my Mac Mini - everything else is plugged into my UPS (PC; x1 monitor and ext. HDD).

The extension cord on the left is usually used to charge phone's that I've repaired or need to test, hence why it's just a run-of-the-mill extension cord. The cord behind my subwoofer is a surge protected block.

I'll have a play and report back in a short while. I'll also look at ordering some extensions, as I've already firmly established that I definitely need those!

[Revamp]

1 minute ago, HunterScott said:

I use the extension cords for my UPS; x1 monitor and my Mac Mini - everything else is plugged into my UPS (PC; x1 monitor and ext. HDD).

The extension cord on the left is usually used to charge phone's that I've repaired or need to test, hence why it's just a run-of-the-mill extension cord. The cord behind my subwoofer is a surge protected block.

I'll have a play and report back in a short while. I'll also look at ordering some extensions, as I've already firmly established that I definitely need those!

If you use it a lot for phone repair (standard extension) you could mount it in the front of the desk for ease of access. could even mount it facing you for ease of access to prevent crawling on the floor. If you mount it sideways, I would definitely consider a like 2x1 or 2x2 fur/trim strip to mount behind it (like 3$ for 8ft at lumber stores). That way when you push a cable into it, you don't break it from it's mount and gives some rigidity to it.

[HunterScott]

1 hour ago, Revamp said:

If you use it a lot for phone repair (standard extension) you could mount it in the front of the desk for ease of access. could even mount it facing you for ease of access to prevent crawling on the floor. If you mount it sideways, I would definitely consider a like 2x1 or 2x2 fur/trim strip to mount behind it (like 3$ for 8ft at lumber stores). That way when you push a cable into it, you don't break it from it's mount and gives some rigidity to it.

That's a pretty cracking idea! I may have to do that in all honesty, I could even incorporate some hooks into the trim strip to coil the cables around when not in use.

 

I've made progress! I've not tackled the underneath of my desk just yet as I am awaiting a longer AUX cable. It wouldn't make sense to organize the underside to then tear it all apart!

 

What are your thoughts so far? (Dang, I really need to calibrate that left monitor!)

 

 

[Revamp]

Looks TREMENDOUSLY better already @HunterScott!

Yeah I agree as far as working on the underside too early. What I did was use an extension cord, unplug cables 1 by 1 and plug them into the extension cord and hold/tape it to where I roughly thought I would route it then measured from the extension cord female, to where I would be plugging it in, add about a foot or so for safety and write it down. Once I got through all my cables, I ordered the extensions and kept my notes so I knew which extension was for what.

 

Also another trick I used in the past for small accessory cables since you mentioned wrapping them up to keep them out of the way is cheap and effective. Buy 2x command strip hook brackets (offbrand at dollar stores you get 5-10 depending on size for 1$). You would face 2 hooks away from each other and can wrap cables around them. Then buy those little silicone cable holders (also can find 5-10 packs for 1$) and secure the end. The cable holder im talking about are those round rubbery ones with a slit in the middle. Usually have adhesive on the back to secure them to a desk/nightstand, generally marketed for cell phone chargers to keep it from falling off your desk.