DIY DC power cables

[Daudio]

5 minutes ago, Cornan said:

I am a strong beleiver of a 100% unshielded wire approach (ie. ALL cables without shield or drain wires)!

 

That sounds like running naked in public

 

[Cornan]

Just now, Daudio said:

 

That sounds like running naked in public

 

 I´m just keeping my distance!

[R1200CL]

On 27.5.2017 at 8:47 PM, austinpop said:

@R1200CL

 

I lost track. Can Ghent build Y-cables with Canare 4S6? I don't see it listed on his site. Of course, I could just email him.

 

Just being lazy - hoping you'll know.

 

It's there now;

http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/dc11.html

[Speedskater]

Belden 1804A cable  would make a nice Star-Quad  XLR balanced interconnect cable for harsh EMI/RFI environments (like near theater lighting systems). Not something most hi-fi systems need.

But it's not a good choice for RCA unbalanced interconnects. Belden makes many good coax cables with heavy braided shields.

With it's small conductors it's a bad choice for a DC supply cable.

[Albrecht]

On 5/28/2017 at 10:27 AM, Superdad said:

 

It was the traditional, tie the shield at just one end.  

Hi Alex,

My apologies in advance if this is a little off-topic: but I was wondering if one could power two LPS-1s with one 9v 2a feeder supply and one of these DC splitter cables?

 

Most of the conversations that I've seen are centered around powering 2 devices with 1 LPS-1.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[Tone Deaf]

8 minutes ago, Albrecht said:

My apologies in advance if this is a little off-topic: but I was wondering if one could power two LPS-1s with one 9v 2a feeder supply and one of these DC splitter cables?

That supply can power one LPS-1.  

 

From the UpTone website:  "Since many buyers--especially REGEN owners--already have an energizing supply of the right voltage/current (12V/1.5A, 9V/2A, or 7.5V/2.5A)"

 

You can use a splitter to power two LPS-1's, but the energizer in that case would need to be able to provide double the current needed to power one LPS-1.

[Albrecht]

Just now, Tone Deaf said:

That supply can power one LPS-1.  

 

From the UpTone website:  "Since many buyers--especially REGEN owners--already have an energizing supply of the right voltage/current (12V/1.5A, 9V/2A, or 7.5V/2.5A)"

 

You can use a splitter to power two LPS-1's, but the energizer in that case would need to be able to provide double the current needed to power one LPS-1.

Thank you for that answer.

 

Cheers,

 

[Middy]

I hope it's ok to mention another product but the point being using the canare quad. I swapped out the main cable on the sbooster as part one of a mod. Apologies Uptone I couldn't afford the LPS2 at the time. but my lps1 magic...Oh the ISO regen..

 

There are internal settings I want to hard wire but had a bit if time to do this.

From the unit to the black box..

 Thier wire is a strange design the neg wire is stripped and wound around the positive. I nearly scrapped it thinking it was a shield wire....

I know another here wants to Mod the IFI DC PURIFIER like me ... one long soldered canare lead.... Beggers have to be modders... Baby bump mean no more spending now...

 

 

The black box is black araldite encased....but you can tack on the remaining wire.

It has made a difference so I will continue ....a very nice difference.

Genuinely thanks for the advice Dr Swenson...

 

Just one small point for safety. I was going to use the quad on the AC side on the internal wiring. The 2 wires on the quad match together easily match the single wire guage inside on the PCB.

Splitting down 2 smaller Guage wires is that ok? 

 

Thanks all and have fun

Indubitably 

Dave 

 

[JohnSwenson]

7 hours ago, Speedskater said:

Belden 1804A cable  would make a nice Star-Quad  XLR balanced interconnect cable for harsh EMI/RFI environments (like near theater lighting systems). Not something most hi-fi systems need.

But it's not a good choice for RCA unbalanced interconnects. Belden makes many good coax cables with heavy braided shields.

With it's small conductors it's a bad choice for a DC supply cable.

I'm not sure why starquad is bad for RCA, cables, IF you use the shielding topology I recommend it works spectacularly well. One pair of the quad is connected to the inner pin of the RCA plug and the other pair is connected to the outer conductor of the connector. The shield does not get connected in any way to either RCA connector, instead a separate external wire connects the two ends of the shield.

 

This construction offers exceptionally good shielding from both the shield and the starquad geometry. This is much better than coax because with coax proper shielding does not happen. Without the connection from one end of the shield to the other shielding only happens at high frequencies. With the above shielding is highly effective from DC through high frequencies. 

 

The starquad works perfectly well with a "single ended" signal, as long as the shield is NOT connected to the plugs. The "hot" and its return form a perfectly symmetrical signal for the starquad. The problem happens when you try and use the starquad with the shield the way most people do it, this results in an asymmetrical arrange which unbalances the  current in the starquad. With the shield connected the way I recommend this does not happen.

 

The only issue is that the capacitance a higher than a coax. If you are driving the cable with a high impedance output and using a long cable (100ft or more) you definitely can have a problem from the higher capacitance, but most audio gear has low enough output impedance that for normal lengths used in home audio systems this is not a problem.

 

John S.

[Speedskater]

Sorry John, I'll stick with the writing of, Neil Muncy, Henry Ott, Bill Whitlock, Jim Brown and others. All write that coax is the way to go.

 

Henry Ott writes:

 

Unbalanced Interface Cables

.......................we can conclude that for the case of an unbalanced interface, the only property of the cable that has any significant effect on the common-impedance noise coupling is the shield resistance.

 

http://www.hottconsultants.com/pdf_files/Audio Interconnections.pdf

[asdf1000]

1 hour ago, JohnSwenson said:

IF you use the shielding topology I recommend it works spectacularly well.

 

Thanks so much again @JohnSwenson

 

I'm trying your shielding topology with BJC Cat 6a ethernet also (easy to modify because it's already got a floating shield in place).

 

Rather than chat via PM it's probably best to ask here, to save you from answering the same questions from 100 people.

 

I've happily sacrificed one of my unused BJC Cat 6a ethernet cables for learning purposes.

 

From the photos attached, it looks to be the foil type shield ? If I understood correctly, if the ethernet cable has a foil type shield then I'd need to cut through the foil and find the drain wire - then, the external wire would then be soldered to this drain wire.

 

But as I cut through the foil and then through the white insulation I don't see any drain wire - I only see 4 twisted pairs of conductors.

 

Am I missing something obvious?

 

Since I can't see a drain wire, would the external wire simply need to be soldered to the foil shield that's visible?

 

Many thanks again

 

 

 

 

 

[Forehaven]

1 hour ago, JohnSwenson said:

I'm not sure why starquad is bad for RCA, cables, IF you use the shielding topology I recommend it works spectacularly well. ...

John S.

So what's a John S. "highly recommended" starquad cable for RCA interconnects? ;))  I'm using Mogami Mic wire now.  Just curious as your cable wouldn't be that hard to do.

 

And as long as I have your ear John, I really need to utilize some 90 degree 2.1x5.5mm plugs.  Can you recommend something for me that'll work with this starquad 4SG?

 

Thanks for the great posts and information John!

Chris

[lmitche]

54 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

Thanks so much again @JohnSwenson

 

I'm trying your shielding topology with BJC Cat 6a ethernet also (easy to modify because it's already got a floating shield in place).

 

Rather than chat via PM it's probably best to ask here, to save you from answering the same questions from 100 people.

 

I've happily sacrificed one of my unused BJC Cat 6a ethernet cables for learning purposes.

 

From the photos attached, it looks to be the foil type shield ? If I understood correctly, if the ethernet cable has a foil type shield then I'd need to cut through the foil and find the drain wire - then, the external wire would then be soldered to this drain wire.

 

But as I cut through the foil and then through the white insulation I don't see any drain wire - I only see 4 twisted pairs of conductors.

 

Am I missing something obvious?

 

Since I can't see a drain wire, would the external wire simply need to be soldered to the foil shield that's visible?

 

Many thanks again

 

 

 

 

 

Em2016, the BJC CAT6a already has a floating shield and no ground wire per John's recommended design. I learned this when I pulled several runs of 100 plus feet and had to terminate the cable ends myself.

[asdf1000]

6 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Em2016, the BJC CAT6a already has a floating shield and no ground wire per John's recommended design. I learned this when I pulled several runs of 100 plus feet and had to terminate the cable ends myself.

 

Thanks Imitche. Yes the floating shield takes care of stopping leakage currents but my understanding is the floating shielding can still benefit from John's recommended external wire mod. I'm just looking for clarification of where to solder the external wire, since I can't see the drain wire under the foil shield.

 

Let's wait for clarification from @JohnSwenson whenever he gets a spare minute

[R1200CL]

3 hours ago, Forehaven said:

And as long as I have your ear John, I really need to utilize some 90 degree 2.1x5.5mm plugs.  Can you recommend something for me that'll work with this starquad 4SG?

 

Oyaide has:

 

[R1200CL]

2 hours ago, Em2016 said:

Thanks Imitche. Yes the floating shield takes care of stopping leakage currents but my understanding is the floating shielding can still benefit from John's recommended external wire mod. I'm just looking for clarification of where to solder the external wire, since I can't see the drain wire under the foil shield.

 

As I understand, this is the principle:

 

 

And you should let the plug be part of the shield when it comes to Ethernet and USB cables. 

(Not for RCA and I suppose XLR)

[agladstone]

On 5/7/2017 at 4:00 PM, R1200CL said:

Here is order info for the cable. 

 

https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/dc01.html

 

 

I have 2 HDPlex 100 LPSU's , they use a locking barrel plug on the HDPlex end (I don't know the proper name of this type of plug, but it looks like a balanced XLR plug, but with 2 female "pins", not 3). 

Do you think it would be possible for Ghentaudio to custom make  these canare star quad D.C. Cables with that type of plug on one end? 

[R1200CL]

2 hours ago, lmitche said:

Em2016, the BJC CAT6a already has a floating shield and no ground wire per John's recommended design. 

 

That is not how I understand JSSG, as the shield shall be a loop where the return wire is a very thin one.. I thaught that was the main important thing and whole point with JSSG.  (Yes no ground as well). 

 

Also so if you study Teregärtner plug, it is connected to the shield. I have not studied the standard, but I guess it's saying something abour plug part of shield or not. For USB it says I been told. 

[R1200CL]

2 minutes ago, agladstone said:

Do you think it would be possible

 

I'm believer of everything possible. ?

 

Let us know if I"m wrong. 

 

[tboooe]

3 minutes ago, agladstone said:

I have 2 HDPlex 100 LPSU's , they use a locking barrel plug on the HDPlex end (I don't know the proper name of this type of plug, but it looks like a balanced XLR plug, but with 2 female "pins", not 3). 

Do you think it would be possible for Ghentaudio to custom make  these canare star quad D.C. Cables with that type of plug on one end? 

It's a GX16-2 connector.  I just made a DC cable using this and the Canare 4s8 cable.  It's pretty easy.

[agladstone]

Just now, R1200CL said:

 

I'm believer of everything possible. ?

 

Let us know if I"m wrong. 

 

I suppose the best thing for me to do is to email ghent audio directly about this? 

Does anyone know the actual / proper name for the type of barrel connector the HDPlex 100 uses? 

[agladstone]

2 minutes ago, tboooe said:

It's a GX16-2 connector.  I just made a DC cable using this and the Canare 4s8 cable.  It's pretty easy.

Thank you! I have never soldered anything before, is it possible to make a DIY cable using the screw down 2.5mm and the GX-16-2 connectors without doing any soldering (with the star quad Canare 4s6 ?

[tboooe]

8 hours ago, agladstone said:

Thank you! I have never soldered anything before, is it possible to make a DIY cable using the screw down 2.5mm and the GX-16-2 connectors without doing any soldering (with the star quad Canare 4s6 ?

First of all, dont be afraid to solder!  Buy a decent soldering iron on Amazon then practice.

 

That being said, I do think it possible to make this cable without soldering.  As you mentioned, use the screw down DC connector.  On the GX16-2 end, you can probably use some heat shrink, slip it over each of the two terminals and 4S6 pigtails then heat it up.  The heatshrink should shrink enough to establish good contact.

[Cornan]

I just found this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-2-Pin-2-Way-dc-ac-300v-10a18-24awg-Electrical-Wire-Auto-Connector-Set-Free/32495458860.html?spm=2114.40010608.4.1.bhpZJ1

 

 

Looks like something that would work great for a DIY Canare 4S6 Y-split cable. ?

I'll guess it even will be possible to do a 3- or 4-split bable using a bunch of these! ?

[ElviaCaprice]

4 minutes ago, Cornan said:

I just found this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-2-Pin-2-Way-dc-ac-300v-10a18-24awg-Electrical-Wire-Auto-Connector-Set-Free/32495458860.html?spm=2114.40010608.4.1.bhpZJ1

 

 

Looks like something that would work great for a DIY Canare 4S6 Y-split cable. ?

 

It think it would be too small with the 4S6.  Built for 18-24AWG