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Twisting Wires

Started by Micpoc, February 16, 2013, 03:38:32 AM

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Micpoc

I'm working on a project with six pots, with all 18 lugs connected by wires to the PCB, and for neatness reasons I want to twist the wires together (i.e., each three pot wires will be twisted into one, creating six braided strands)... but is this ever a BAD idea? It's only a fuzz, so things like clock noise won't be an issue.

pedalman

i do it with some of my builds. other times i get that wire at rat shack that has 3 bound together
that works good too
I mod cheap guitars because my local music store said not to.

Guitar Master

you can twist wires with a drill, I found that that works the best and you get a nice tight twist. Just put one end of the wires in the chuck and have something hold the other end and turn the drill on slowly and then slowly run a pencil or some straight object in between the wires while the drill is going

ch1naski

Quote from: Guitar Master on February 16, 2013, 04:46:37 PMyou can twist wires with a drill, I found that that works the best and you get a nice tight twist. Just put one end of the wires in the chuck and have something hold the other end and turn the drill on slowly and then slowly run a pencil or some straight object in between the wires while the drill is going
Was going to say the same. Drill works perfectly , and looks tidy.

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one louder.

pedalman

a nice tight braid looks really cool too. srink wrap the ends so it dont come undone. get some crazy bright contrasting colors
I mod cheap guitars because my local music store said not to.

Micpoc

Thanks for the posts, guys. My main concern is sonic, though; will twisting pot wires result in any unwanted oscillations? I'm thinking that it won't, but I don't want to create any problems.

nzCdog

It shouldn't have an effect, it may create a tiny bit of extra capacitance but nothing audibly different I should think.

Micpoc


AllenM

I use the technique in a few builds works great....

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6938.0

makes organizing a complex build easier.. as others have noted I usually take a couple feet of the colors I want to use and put on end in the chuck and the other end I hold on to.. take it a little slow as it starts to wind up and you can basically make the twist as tight or loose as you need.. the tighter the twist the more length you use basically. I then cut the lenght I need for each run.

AllenM

stecykmi

on a side note, wire carrying AC power signals should always be twisted as it will reduce 60Hz noise. the electric field generated by the hot and cold wires will largely cancel itself out if properly twisted, that's why the heater wires in tube amps are always twisted.

since this doesn't apply with DC, this doesn't really come into play with any madbean builds, except for the warhead if one used the AC power supply option.