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Author Topic: Restoring a coiled cable  (Read 6792 times)

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Offline engicoder

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Restoring a coiled cable
« on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 14:53:11 »
I picked up an IBM Model F XT recently. The board itself was in very good shape, but unfortunately, it had been stored for years with the cable stretched and wrapped around the board. As a result, the cord was permanently stretched, the tight coil that it originally had was long gone. Following is the process and results of my attempt to restore the original coiling.

Process:

  • Thoroughly clean cable.
  • Wrap cable tightly around 3/8" wood dowel. (I used aluminum wire to hold the cable to the dowel)
  • Suspend in preheated 250F (93C) oven
  • "Bake" for 2 hours.
  • Plunge in ice bath for 1 hour.
  • Place in freezer for 1 hour.
  • Allow to return to room temparature.
  • Remove from stick.

Photos:

  • Before:
    97953-0
  • On the wood dowel:
    97959-1
  • After:
    97957-2
Results:

I am very pleased with the results. The resulting coil looks very much like the original. Time will tell if it holds up to being stretched on occasion.
When they are produced at the factory, they reverse the coil which is supposed to give the coil more spring due to the stresses created. I did not try that yet as its a PITA with an assembled cable.



« Last Edit: Mon, 20 April 2015, 15:08:17 by engicoder »
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Offline chyros

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 15:45:56 »
Wow, that's excellent! Very well done, it looks really nice! :)

I might try this method myself if I get a board someday that has a stretched cable like this...
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Offline jdcarpe

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 15:49:01 »
Very good info! I feel like this should be in Making Stuff Together, even though it's technically restoring, not making.
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Offline Muffin860

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 16:02:23 »
Wow! I'm definitely bookmarking this for layer use.
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Offline engicoder

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 16:40:55 »
Quote from: jdcarpe on Mon, 20 April 2015, 15:49:01
Very good info! I feel like this should be in Making Stuff Together, even though it's technically restoring, not making.

I debated that myself. Where is "Fixing broken S&%$" sub forum?  ;D
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Offline E TwentyNine

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 17:39:58 »
I've done this a little simpler with a sink of hot water, then in the freezer, then letting it stay on the dowel for a few days.

Has held up for over a year.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 18:58:10 »
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Mon, 20 April 2015, 17:39:58

I've done this a little simpler with a sink of hot water, then in the freezer, then letting it stay on the dowel for a few days.


That cable looks fabulous!

I have tried an even more minimal approach, because I have come to fear immersing wires in water - in my mind's eye I consider the water wicking back into the braided cable by capillary action and causing corrosion at the joint, and behind it, over time.

The dowel wrap is exactly what I did, but I simply gave it a few hours of direct sunlight on the porch rail and then left it wrapped on the stick, indoors, for about a week. It was a huge improvement, if not 100% perfect.

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Over the past few decades there has been a redistribution of dignity — upward. The Republicans valorized entrepreneurs, CEOs and Wall Street. The Democratic Party became dominated by people in the creative class, who attended competitive colleges, moved to affluent metro areas, married each other and ladled advantages onto their kids so they could leap even farther ahead. There was a bipartisan embrace of a culture of individualism, which opens up a lot of space for people with resources and social support but means loneliness and abandonment for people without. Four years of college became the definition of the good life, which left roughly two-thirds of the country out. And so came the crisis that Biden was elected to address — the poisonous combination of elite insularity and vicious populist resentment. A group of people so enraged by a lack of respect that they are willing to risk death by Covid if they get to stick a middle finger in the air against those who they think look down on them. They are willing to torch our institutions because they are so resentful against the people who run them. The Democratic spending bills are economic packages that serve moral and cultural purposes. They should be measured by their cultural impact, not merely by some wonky analysis. In real, tangible ways, they would redistribute dignity back downward. They would support hundreds of thousands of jobs for home health care workers, child care workers, construction workers, metal workers, supply chain workers. They would ease the indignity millions of parents face having to raise their children in poverty.  – David Brooks NYT 2021

Offline jwaz

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:02:21 »
I was just contemplating the best way to accomplish this the other day. Great work engicoder :thumb:
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Offline engicoder

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:20:39 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Mon, 20 April 2015, 18:58:10
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Mon, 20 April 2015, 17:39:58

I've done this a little simpler with a sink of hot water, then in the freezer, then letting it stay on the dowel for a few days.


That cable looks fabulous!

I have tried an even more minimal approach, because I have come to fear immersing wires in water - in my mind's eye I consider the water wicking back into the braided cable by capillary action and causing corrosion at the joint, and behind it, over time.

The dowel wrap is exactly what I did, but I simply gave it a few hours of direct sunlight on the porch rail and then left it wrapped on the stick, indoors, for about a week. It was a huge improvement, if not 100% perfect.

I've read about several people using the sun method, so seems like an equally valid method. One put the cable wrapped on the stick on the dash board of a car in the sun.

I shared your fears about water. When I quenched the cable in water, I made sure the ends stayed dry and only submerged the coiled portion.
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Offline engicoder

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:23:18 »
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Mon, 20 April 2015, 17:39:58
I've done this a little simpler with a sink of hot water, then in the freezer, then letting it stay on the dowel for a few days.

Has held up for over a year.

I read about this method as well. I wasn't sure how hot the water should be. Seems like boiling would be ok, considering I was baking at well over boiling temperatures. What temp did you use.
I though baking would work better since the temp would rise more slowly and would have a good long time to re-arrange the molecular bonds, etc, but sounds like the hot water method worked fine for you.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:37:01 »
Quote from: engicoder on Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:20:39
When I quenched the cable in water, I made sure the ends stayed dry and only submerged the coiled portion.

On rare occasions when I feel the need to use soap and water on a cable, so I use the corner of a baggie and a rubber band to keep the ends dry.
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Over the past few decades there has been a redistribution of dignity — upward. The Republicans valorized entrepreneurs, CEOs and Wall Street. The Democratic Party became dominated by people in the creative class, who attended competitive colleges, moved to affluent metro areas, married each other and ladled advantages onto their kids so they could leap even farther ahead. There was a bipartisan embrace of a culture of individualism, which opens up a lot of space for people with resources and social support but means loneliness and abandonment for people without. Four years of college became the definition of the good life, which left roughly two-thirds of the country out. And so came the crisis that Biden was elected to address — the poisonous combination of elite insularity and vicious populist resentment. A group of people so enraged by a lack of respect that they are willing to risk death by Covid if they get to stick a middle finger in the air against those who they think look down on them. They are willing to torch our institutions because they are so resentful against the people who run them. The Democratic spending bills are economic packages that serve moral and cultural purposes. They should be measured by their cultural impact, not merely by some wonky analysis. In real, tangible ways, they would redistribute dignity back downward. They would support hundreds of thousands of jobs for home health care workers, child care workers, construction workers, metal workers, supply chain workers. They would ease the indignity millions of parents face having to raise their children in poverty.  – David Brooks NYT 2021

Offline E TwentyNine

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #11 on: Tue, 21 April 2015, 08:10:30 »
Quote from: engicoder on Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:23:18
I read about this method as well. I wasn't sure how hot the water should be. Seems like boiling would be ok, considering I was baking at well over boiling temperatures. What temp did you use.

Straight out of the tap.  And I kept the ends out of the water.
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Offline engicoder

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #12 on: Tue, 21 April 2015, 09:44:13 »
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Tue, 21 April 2015, 08:10:30
Quote from: engicoder on Mon, 20 April 2015, 19:23:18
I read about this method as well. I wasn't sure how hot the water should be. Seems like boiling would be ok, considering I was baking at well over boiling temperatures. What temp did you use.

Straight out of the tap.  And I kept the ends out of the water.

Thanks for the info.
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Offline Skechup

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Re: Restoring a coiled cable
« Reply #13 on: Tue, 21 April 2015, 13:30:14 »
Oh man, that's an awesome idea.

I was thinking about how to fix coiled wired which had been stretched but never did I have an idea which is this efficient!
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